High End Magazines....

ruskent

My next step in advertising i figured would be high end magazines.

Here we Have 'New Jersey Monthly" Its a great mag. I can do a 1/4 page ad full color for 2500 bucks a month. I figured 2500 bucks a month aint bad.

Now this is advertising i was planning on starting spring of 08.

Every month when i get the magazine their are more and more design/build landscape companies in it. There are 5 more this month then last.

People keep uping their ad sizes.

Now the people that been in for years who started out with 1/2 pages ads, now have full page 10k a month adds!!!

Seems like i'd be wasting my money now compeiting against 15 other guys.

Now there is one guy who has ran just a 1/4 page ad for YEARS. I am sure he does excellent, since i have seen his had for atleast 6 years.

What do you guys think?

POOLMANinCT

content & repetition will always supercede media

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Teetorbilt

I haven't done this in a while but it sounds really inexpensive. It may be the area. I was paying $3.5-5K for a 1/4 page 4 color in the late '80's/early 90's. It did pay off quite well, big ads pay big bucks.

I juggled ads in a few different mags and spent $100K the first year. Gross also went up over 500% in 5 yrs.

Watch your placement closely and try to tie in with the articles. In a month about kitchen remods, reduce the size of your ad and maybe even go B&W if you primarily do landscaping. Bust out all of the stops when the landscaping issue is coming out. Upper corners are best, RH being the most prized. You're going to have to work with the mag peeps (and it takes time) to get premier ads. Bribes also work to some extent.

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RobertCDF

For that kind of money with that much competition... I would send sales letters or postcards to a lot of the people who get that magazine... If your willing to spend that much a month I think a real good direct mail campaign could pay off very well. Think about sending a postcard or sales letter EVERY month to the same 2,000 people month after month. I bet you will see some very good returns after a little bit.

But that is just my opinion.

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Robert Shaw
Colorado Springs Custom Decks
Colorado Custom Decks
Custom Composite Decks

woodmagman

I would speak to a marketing expert in your area. Someone who knows your client base and the type of advertising that infulences them........The cost should be based on sales, not how many copies of the magazine is sold.

ruskent

I do a ton of direct mailing. But i think i am going to entirely change the way i do it. Right now i have a list of 5000 names of what i though would be who i want to target. I am not getting the results i wanted.

I think i need to stick with targeting customers with new homes. It seems like the people that have lived in their house 3 years and still do not have landscaping are able to pay their mortage. If they do not do work outside right away it means money is tight.

I think i need to take it a step future and target people as soon as they buy the land.

I want to to less mailings, alot less. Maybe 500-1000 names. But i want to make sure these are the right customers. Then i want to mail them a 8x11 envlope with a big full color catolog about my company. So basically i want to cut my mailing list down, but hit the people with a much better marketing peice.

I am not looking to sign 50 projects a year. If i could only get these big jobs, if i able to sell 5 a year i'd be sitting good.

For 5k a month i can do a sweet direct mail package. But what gets me thinking about the magazines, is the fact that i see the same people in them over and over. Something must be working for them.

bill r

To start off my business a couple of years ago, I did a mailing. This bus. is logistically difficult because of moving the barge. It's a nightmare to relocate.

So I wanted to control location very carefully. So I went to county records places and got (digital camera) residential waterfront property owners. I was pleasantly surprised to find that I could often determine from the records whether they already had over-water improvements or not, and sometimes how old they were.

Long story short, out of 350 pieces, I eventually got more than 100 calls. I spent about a week preparing the mailing.

Now I am fully aware that any marketing expert will tell you that is a damn lie. And you'll probably believe him. But I know it happened.

Waiting room mags? Go ahead, but...

BTW, the letter had like 3 sentences: 'lining up work in your area' blah blah.
Does that make me a guerilla marketer? Duh.

ruskent

Bill i belive your results!! It takes alot of leg work to get results that good.

I do not think buying a mailing list is enough. I fee like i am just throwing a big blanket out there even though i am sorted by income, house value, married, kids, etc.

bill r

For the kind of money you guys are talking about, you could hire a copter and photgrapher and actually inspect the backyards. I really need to get my rig on the road so that I could move around better.

ruskent

Never thought about the helicopter! Kinda of like Sam walton flying around in his plane to see where housing was booming.

Same Old

Keep in mind that magazine ads generally take 3-6 months to start producing leads.
5000 is half the minimum order for the direct marketing Co. I use. Perhaps you could enlarge your area and change the demographics on your list a little. Understand that bill, while successful at his campaign, is an extremely specialized contractor. You have a much wider demographic you are trying to hit. Play with your direct criteria first would be my suggestion.
But whatever, I'm just sayin'

bill r

Yeah I live in a demographically unusual area, and waterfront people have already declared that they have a propensity for the water. They're easy to identify. The point is: figure out how to identify your prospects before you try to communicate with them. Who is inclined to invest in hardscape? Can you identify by occupation? by type of residence? by family circumstance? etc. That's what I was trying to pass along. And income level is certainly important. But its not a 'golden chalice'. Take horse-lovers, for instance. Some are rich and some are poor, but they all love horses. Maybe people who aspire to be more like Tony Soprano all want pools. Can you figure out who watches Sopranos? That kind of stuff.

Mike Finley

I think you will find this to be a great advertising source for you, I'm of the same thinking, we have high-quality local magazines too, such as 5280 and Denver Woman. There is no doubt that those magazines are getting into the hands of the type of customers we want, just like yours would be, the question is are they effective? That is what you have to determine.

For example

Advertising is a newspapers service directory is effective because people go to the service directory looking to hire somebody.

Advertisingin a newspapers general pages is less effective because people are reading news and not searching to hire somebody.

BUT - the big difference is the people hiring out of the service directory are small jobs, looking for what they believe is advertsing in there (small time guys)

- the fewers jobs you will get out of the ads run in the general pages will be bigger jobs, people looking for what they believe they are seeing in a display ad (bigger time guys)

The difference will be that service directory ads will bring immediate results (but smaller jobs), the display ads will bring jobs in over time (bigger jobs)

The moral to all that is that the display ads in a high-end magazine will do the same thing over time, they will bring in the bigger jobs, but it will be a trickle not a flood. If 5 jobs a year is all you figure you need to make the cost worth it then it's a no brainer to me. That's one job every 2 months, shouldn't be a problem.

And myself, like you, I see the fact that all those very expensive ads are running year after year means something.

You might think it won't work, but you might think about calling the numbers in those ads and talking to them personally. Some won't tell you much, but you would be suprised at the ones who will tell you all you want to know about how effective the ads are that they are running there.

ruskent

I've talked to people in other trades that use the magazine and they give them nothing but praise.

The main think that it comes down to is i need to be able to afford this. I know i have to run atleast half a year. I need to make sure i have the money to commit to this.


I may not be able to go with as big of a ad as my compeititors, but i think i can design a better ad. You could take almost any two ads in the magazines and switch the names of the company and the text in each ad would still be true.

Matt

Mike Finley

I think that is also an often underlooked strategy. With the dollar amounts I know you are talking about the ad pull is all the more important. I hope you go for it.

So you can report back. Pioneers get all the arrows you know.

ultimatetouch

Where would I find out what the high end mags are in my town? I imagine I would be looking for a mag like better homes and gardens but geo targeted.
Those prices Ruskent, thats a ballsy move for you. What the hell thats what being in business is all about, take the chances while your young.

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Ultimatetouch
Illinois Remodeling Company, Kitchen Remodeling Chicago, Room Additions Illinois

PressurePros

One of the best one line posts I have read.

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Ken Fenner
Pressure Washing PA
Roof Cleaning Services PA

Mike Finley

These magazines shouldn't be hard to find. Go to the newstand and look around.

MeridianNE

I just Advertised in the New York Resident Magazine. I was Able to pull an amazing deal. 4400 bucks got me 1 full 4 color page Mothers day gift giving special edition plus a 1/4 page for an additional 7 weeks and a listing in the services directory. It is one of NYC top high end publications. I was able to neg. after saying no twice. they Gave me the full page as a addition to my 1/4 page. to sign me on. and added 2 additional weeks. I am hoping it works. i think it should. What do you all think?

ultimatetouch

Let us know if it does, if it doesn't dont be afraid to do it again.

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Ultimatetouch
Illinois Remodeling Company, Kitchen Remodeling Chicago, Room Additions Illinois