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greenoak
10-27-2010, 07:19 AM
we are getting ready for our christmas openhouse....and this week will mail out 4000 postcards,arrange 3 newspaper ads, send an email to our 1500 people,prepare 300 gift bags for the attendees with coupons,do a radio ad, and decide on 2 or 3 facebook posts about it and maybe a facebook ad..... its a week full of decisions...the 4000 stamps cost 28 cents each!!!
thats why im so interested in marketing talk, theories and examples......its pretty crucial to us...and something we spend a lot of money on...and hope for the best....
..
oh, and revamp totally about 1/4th of the store into a winter wonderland....
i think we spend just over 5 percent on the marketing for the event.. the stamps are just terrible...about 900$$...but weve always done it and the turnout is right so we hate to rock the boat....
anyone know the right percent for marketing? the mba percent? or whatever you consider the right percent...
its a stressful week...to say the least!!!

Spider
10-27-2010, 08:53 AM
Don't forget to have fun, Ann. Having your own business is not supposed to be a burden!

greenoak
10-27-2010, 09:30 AM
its not....but this week is a huge amount of work.... and all the marketing decisions come into play big time!!!!
actually i often have fun at work...is that bad?
i am staking out a day for girl things with friends.we'll see how that goes...
.. and have fun about every night wth dh...

ADV007
11-02-2010, 05:51 PM
Hey greenoak! What type of industry are you involved in? This sounds like a big event!

A good rule of thumb to stick by to control your advertising cost is spending between 7-10% of your overall sales back into your business. One good way to track the success of the campaign is to look at the lead cost. I know direct mailing and radio tends to be expensive so this should give you a good idea of how much it costs to bring a lead to your business for future decisions.

It would help to get feedback on what type of industry you are involved in to give you some beneficial information. One way you may be able to cut down on your mailing price is to segment the list if you have not done so already...

If you could give me more information maybe I could help out!

Hope the best for you!

greenoak
11-02-2010, 07:44 PM
we have a big retail store.we are a destination store...mainly antiques and rehabbed stuff... Green Oak Antiques--Located in Rochester Indiana. Privately Owned Antique Shop. Online Sales (http://www.greenoakantiques.com) .....and a big mailing list of actual buyers in the store, , 4000.... spread over lots and lots of zipcodes..... we do billboards, web,snail mail, email,1900 on it... ....going up on facebook1000 likes on our page there.., going down on newspapers....our ad spending usually runs under 10percent....
we have key phrases that we have used for years and years....
we send out snail mail 4 times a year..usually drawing in 500 to1000 buyers...we are out in the country in rural indiana....and recently have little events using just the web once in a while in between...that seems so easy and free!!!.....the 4 big events are so good i hate to rock the boat or do anything to dilute them....
so far, except our tv ad , we do everything in house....including the website...
i love hearing marketing ideas!!! especially trying to use facebook as well as possible right now....
our current thing, the christmas openhouse, is 3 days away....we are in year 32.and everything feels different...we have had to change a lotin the last few years!!! .

ADV007
11-02-2010, 09:49 PM
Wow it sounds like you have a very strong business with a great following of customers! Thanks for the feedback, I love hearing this! You are very right, don't rock the boat with the 4 big events because as you know, if it's not broke don't break it :)

Many things you said is great news! I wouldn't be worried about how expensive the direct mailing is because your mailing to previous customers who already bought from you so they know and trust you... Rather than mailing to just a "cold" list you are mailing to people who know and trust you. The conversion should be much higher here.

I checked out your website and facebook page. The facebook profile looks great! I can see that you place large emphasis on the events which is great.

As far as some input about marketing ideas that I could give you are:

-Are you making sure that the direct mail piece's copy is tailored to your previous customers? If not you should be tailoring the copy to ensure an even higher conversion rate

-Maybe think about reformatting your website to clean up the "clutter" and drive more purchasing... I didn't check too-much in depth but do you have an online store where customers can order from directly from your site? I saw the link that directs consumers to the blog but didn't see a clear checkout cart for people to use. If so, make sure it is prevalent and easy for users to see. If not, I would highly suggest thinking about doing this because you would expand your reach to consumers who are unable to visit your store and events in Indiana

-I searched on google and you guys come up well on the SEO listings which is great! I also noticed their is literally no competition for Pay Per Click campaigns which you should consider. With such little competition the advertising cost would be cheap through this method. Also, it doesn't hurt to appear more than once on the same page

These are just a couple quick things that I saw -- I know some of them were more internet-focused but in my experience some of the highest converting leads come from your website. More often than not they tend to be higher paying customer's too because they are doing research on your product and company!

I hope this helps! If you have any questions feel free to ask!

greenoak
11-02-2010, 10:59 PM
thanks...its a handful!!! i appreciate your comments...and attention...
what do you mean about the pay per click campaigns?
we dont sell on our site and dont want to..we are all about cash and carry......we look at it as a billboard that tempts people to come in.....its brought us some wonderful big spenders....and also is used by all kinds of just normal customers ...
..im hoping to clean it up a bit in january.... its hard...you add one thing and it messess up others...
.putting facebook on there has made it horribly unsymetrical....im thinking about turning it over to someone , a pro i have a lot of respect for..., and just closing my eyes and letting him do it... i dont want a shopping cart ...
we are doing a 3 day facebook ad right now... spending 60$ targeting a 50 mile circle around us....
i love my blog...the magpie one....but facebook is so much more local and has attracted so many more people that i am really neglecting my blog...

ADV007
11-03-2010, 08:52 PM
Hey greenoak...

Sorry for the delay in response it's been a busy day...

It sounds like you are experienceing and have experienced success by not selling online, which is great! I totally understand that.

The Pay Per Click campaigns are the advertising being ran on search engines such as Google, BING, and Yahoo!. I have mostly used Google because it brings in the most traffic but BING is starting to make it's way. Basically when you do a search on Google "sponsored links" show up in the top of the page and down the right side of the page. When somebody clicks on the ad it will cost the owner of the ad money (Hence pay-per-click). It is a good marketing avenue because you are only paying for real traffic. Like facebook advertising you can set a radius in where you want to advertise, what keywords, etc.

That's good you're putting in the time to clean up the website in January because it truly will help! I know it's hard for some business owners to even pay attention to their site because they are more concerned about the production side of their business. That's great you know and trust someone who is willing to do that for you!

I am curious about your facebook advertising campaign... Did you set it up? I would be curious to see the analytics and traffic report for the campaign because $60 for three days seems expensive. Did you set it up to pay on an impression basis? If you change it to a cost per click contract you could save money and only be paying for real traffic. If you could give a little feedback I could provide some help to anchor the cost here.

Checked out your magpie blog too! I like it as well! It is really clean and organized... The bird grabs my attention right away! Keep up the good work!

greenoak
11-05-2010, 06:05 PM
from what ive heard i probably dont get enough traffic to do the pay per click on google...also i wouldnt want to give it the space...

im so confused on facebook...whether to do pay per click or impressions.... i can see both working...and we get as many clicks when we do impressions...i guess i look at it as a newspaper kind of...where they might see the greenoak name 20 times before coming out...so i dont see the impresssions as wasted... remember its all local...this open house ad spent 41$ got 388,000 impressions and 46 clicks....in 3 days....
..the 60$ figure came in because i said i want to spend 60$ in 3 days, i guess it didnt use up all the money...,,,,we set it up .....i have so many facebook questions!!! but we have added about 40 more fans in just a few days....1045...so something major is happening....
the website, i never ask for advice on , when im here ...because i know its so messed up and substandard and totally under the conventional standards here...one guy on here even said it made him sick..really!!!!..
.but it brings us thousands of$$$$$$ every year...from the buyers who come from far away just because they saw the site and followed up with me...2 businesses this year bought lots, i mean 3 or 4k without even being here, thanks to the site.... that doesnt count the smaller buyers ...and it is really heavily used and mentioned a whole lot by the new customers who come...they like it....... i do want to get it cleaned up tho...
but how would i know if it would still bring me as much business as it does now? our store is also big and messy with lots of good parts...as usual, too many sides to everything....ha ha...
i like the blog...its more national in readers and tons smaller than the facebook readers.......

Spider
11-06-2010, 06:21 PM
from what ive heard i probably dont get enough traffic to do the pay per click on google...also i wouldnt want to give it the space...I agree with you, Ann. I really cannot understand anyone wanting to put Adwords on their business site. Why would one put links to one's competition right on their homepage? Crazy!


...the website, i never ask for advice on , when im here ...because i know its so messed up and substandard and totally under the conventional standards here...one guy on here even said it made him sick..really!!!!..
.but it brings us thousands of$$$$$$ every year...from the buyers who come from far away just because they saw the site and followed up with me...2 businesses this year bought lots, i mean 3 or 4k without even being here, thanks to the site.... that doesnt count the smaller buyers ...and it is really heavily used and mentioned a whole lot by the new customers who come...they like it....... i do want to get it cleaned up tho...
but how would i know if it would still bring me as much business as it does now? our store is also big and messy with lots of good parts...as usual, too many sides to everything....ha ha....I like your site just the way it is, Ann. It's what an antique - secondhand furniture place is all about - it's like a street market, new discoveries to be found round every corner. Never mind if it offends the webdesigners - what does your accountant say about it?! if it brings in thousands of dollars, I'd be very reluctant to change it, no matter how supposedly messy it is.

In fact, if that was my site, I'd refuse to change anything until whoever wants to change it can come up with a design, put it on the web for some time and prove to me with their receipts that their nice clean design does better than the scruffy one. If I felt inclined to come up with a "well-designed" site, I would put that up as competition to my scruffy site and see which one does best.

But, you are not asking for advice so don't take it as such - take it as me agreeing with you.

greenoak
11-06-2010, 07:18 PM
isnt it wierd spider..
..thats kind of how i feel too..but it probably could use being fluffed up a little..
...thanks....ann

billbenson
11-06-2010, 11:29 PM
I agree with you, Ann. I really cannot understand anyone wanting to put Adwords on their business site. Why would one put links to one's competition right on their homepage? Crazy!

Spider you are confusing adwords and adsense. Adwords are Adsense ads on other competitors sites to bring them to your site.

Ann, Adwords could be pretty inexpensive for you if done right. If you are already ranking high in the local searches I don't see a point. If you aren't doing well locally, it could help, but I don't think that is your case. If at some time in the future you wanted to go national, then Adwords could work if done right. It's a pretty big learning curve though.

greenoak
11-06-2010, 11:50 PM
i dont have anything to go national with..
.and im coming up 3rd in indiana antiques.so i ageree .
..need a better keyword tho...

ADV007
11-08-2010, 06:15 PM
from what ive heard i probably dont get enough traffic to do the pay per click on google...also i wouldnt want to give it the space...

im so confused on facebook...whether to do pay per click or impressions.... i can see both working...and we get as many clicks when we do impressions...i guess i look at it as a newspaper kind of...where they might see the greenoak name 20 times before coming out...so i dont see the impresssions as wasted... remember its all local...this open house ad spent 41$ got 388,000 impressions and 46 clicks....in 3 days....
..the 60$ figure came in because i said i want to spend 60$ in 3 days, i guess it didnt use up all the money...,,,,we set it up .....i have so many facebook questions!!! but we have added about 40 more fans in just a few days....1045...so something major is happening....
the website, i never ask for advice on , when im here ...because i know its so messed up and substandard and totally under the conventional standards here...one guy on here even said it made him sick..really!!!!..
.but it brings us thousands of$$$$$$ every year...from the buyers who come from far away just because they saw the site and followed up with me...2 businesses this year bought lots, i mean 3 or 4k without even being here, thanks to the site.... that doesnt count the smaller buyers ...and it is really heavily used and mentioned a whole lot by the new customers who come...they like it....... i do want to get it cleaned up tho...
but how would i know if it would still bring me as much business as it does now? our store is also big and messy with lots of good parts...as usual, too many sides to everything....ha ha...
i like the blog...its more national in readers and tons smaller than the facebook readers.......

Hey Greenoak,

That makes more sense then.. I was unsure how you came up with the $60 figure. Setting it at a $20 daily maximum budget across three days sounds reasonable...

And to clear up some confusion about whether to do the pay per click or impression campaign... Based on your numbers it pulled some real effective traffic which is good! Just a quick rundown of the campaign from my eyes:

Your average cost per click is at $0.89 - great cost per click price - this is cheap
Your click through rate is at 0.01% - quite low - average click through rates should be between 1%-3% (although they do yield lower on facebook campaigns -- still shoot for 1%-2%) - because your spending on an impression basis you should look into improving this
Your conversion rate - do you have any data on how many people actually purchased something through the facebook campaign? Are you tracking these leads?

Also, a good way to determine if redesigning your web site brings you more business than you are currently getting is by tracking it through their end. I may get 'techy' and throw some jargon at you but basically web designers can "proxy" a website and record the tracking of how much business is being brought in (through calls, requests, etc.). Another easy way is to buy phone numbers that are not being used and put them on the website. If this seems confusing, you could also run a website offer that stands out to buyers and they will mention it when they call or visit the store (this is less effective because not every single person will mention it but it will give you an idea).

If you have any questions feel free to ask! I love helping out!

Hope you had a great weekend!

ADV007
11-08-2010, 06:22 PM
I agree with you, Ann. I really cannot understand anyone wanting to put Adwords on their business site. Why would one put links to one's competition right on their homepage? Crazy!

Hi Spider,

Just want to clear up some confusion here... Adwords does not go on a business' site, rather it goes on Google's site. You may be thinking of Adsense which is completely different. Adsense is an advertising avenue in which business owners are paid for any traffic that is generated through an Adsence ad that is on their site. This is mainly used for affiliates.

Hope this was helpful!

greenoak
11-08-2010, 07:57 PM
thanks advoo7,,i dont understand what a click thru rate is....
,,our marketing is working, but its like a braid, there are so many parts working together at once, facebook, email , mail, word of mouth,radio and 4 newspapers, past history etc etc.... ....and hard to get the buyers to respond like you guys always suggest..ive tried...... ha ha..... we had 300 sales in 7 hrs, with 3 clerks.... on saturday 2 or 300 folks in the store at once is pretty overwhelming....
the result of all this marketing.....WALLA.. we had a great sale....and now have to deal with about 1000 pieces of paper with customers emails and addressess on them, which need to be entered into our database..thats a whole lot of work ....most probably are there already , but we have to check each one..... the names came from a drawing for the door prize....we are out in the country so no one comes in just to register like they do in downtowns sometimes......

a lot of marketing advice is about starting up a marketing plan...i think our store has shown some long term things..... like the value of repitition of what works,,our first openhouse wasnt like this..... but it was good and we built on that and kept getting better and better and bigger and bigger numbers....except the last couple of years...this year topped them all tho...so thankful...

huggytree
11-09-2010, 09:08 PM
10 percent is my max for generating a job....i have a few business people who i pay 10 percent of the job to as a finders fee...when i get them a job they give me 10 percent back......if it costs me more than $10 to make $100 its not worth it....all costs have to be passed on to the consumer...if it costs you $20 to make $100 then you must raise your prices.....if you get it down to $5 per $100 then you can lower your costs....lower costs = more customers

greenoak
11-10-2010, 08:11 AM
i hear you..and those numbers apply to us too..... and we are quite a bit under the 10% for this event.....
but your numbers wouldnt apply to all businesses.. a gold dealer i know. would gladly buy and sell just making 20% profit..he sells big amounts to individuals...... it really all depends, and grocery stores work on super low margins,
its not always so black and white...
heres an example i face sometimes....in antiques if i found something i know you would buy, and be grateful i found, and i could only make 20% on it what should i do? its a sure sale.and you would be happy to buy it ..?? its fast and easy and kind of a perk for a good customer......
also for us, we could look at it differently on a huge volume day if it was getting rid of dead merchandise....like our yardsale, where we bring in a few K$ in thngs that would be headed for the goodwill or just came in free thru the year.......also new ads can get you some long term customers, and one big ad expense like our tv commercial cant be judged just in the month it ran....

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