pizzatime,
The keys to my success have been to constantly get my name out into the public eye. No, there’s no such thing as “overadvertising”… if you do it correctly. It’s a little hard to explain but different forms of advertising attack different demographic groups. I’ve preached this from day one that if you truly want to succeed with advertising: be creative, never become complacent, and always, always make sure you’re doing it.
I’ve just opened a new store. Right now, I budget about 5% of my sales for advertising. This 5% budget includes print, radio, newspaper wrap, database mailing, and doorhangers.
Here’s how my advertising works:
Week 1
Radio spot
Flyers in barracks (I’m a military store)
database mailing
Week 2
Radio spot
newspaper wrap
Flyers in barracks
database mailing
school nights
Week 3
Direct mail
Flyers in barracks
database mailing
school nights
Week 4
Flyers in barracks
database mailing
We doorhang each week, every week… weather permitting.
Radio spot…$250/month
Direct mail…$430/month
Print material…$100/month
School nights…$700/month
newspaper wrap…$230/month
database mailing…$340/month
The best part about the school nights (I donate 20% of my sales to the school those nights) is that they’re donations, or as your accountant would like to say… write-offs. One thing about radio spots (and this is a lesson I learned the hard way), you do NOT need to advertise from 6 am - 6 pm, which is what most stations try to sell you. You can actually tell your radio station you want to be on between the hours of 4 and 7 (<~~ example). This will save you a whole lot of money approaching it from this angle. Hope this helps. -J_r0kk
