church bulletin ad

[huggytree]

i finally decided to advertise in the church bulletin...there are 5 other plumbers advertising...more plumbers than any other business....well now there's 6

i chose a double size/color ad....im making it brighter and better than the other 5

its $850 for the year

anyone with any experience with church advertising? all im looking for is $850 in returns

since my income has dramatically changed this past year the wife has been bugging me about the amount of charity we give to church...this will help end the issue and hopefully get me a job or 2 a year

[Steve B]

I'll bet it will be successful. I was sooooo bored in church as a kid I can still remember most of the advertisors 40 years later. I had nothing else to do but read the bulletin - over and over and over. Of course, it was a lot of funeral homes.

[jamesray50]

My church didn't have ads in their bulletin.

[Harold Mansfield]

Interesting. I've never seen ads in church either. Too bad there's so many other plumbers in it, not sure how big the congregation is, but that is a lot of competition in such a small area.
Should be an interesting experiment to see who has the better ad copy, and marketing..if nothing else. $850 is not a lot to ask for a return over the course of a year.
Sounds like a good investment.

[Business Attorney]

I have used companies from time to time who have ads in our church bulletin and think it is likely to pay off for you. Even if it doesn't have a direct pay off in the short run, I think Steve's comment about reading the bulletin over and over is telling. Although I've never hired the majority of the companies that advertise in our bulletin because I haven't needed their particular services, the ones that advertise have certainly gained name recognition in the process, which makes it more likely that I will hire them if a need arises.

[huggytree]

4 plumbers have small B/W ads and 2 of the are one the inside of the back cover

1 double sized and in color, but the print is very poor...no logo (dont think he even has one)...just large typeset print

mine will feature a bright yellow bkgrnd and have nice logo's, some company info and have mine/my wifes names with 'church members' under it

there are a couple of other professional looking ads (non plumbers), but over all most of the back page is pretty plain...mine will stand out, so atleast ill be noticed...if it doesnt do well i will experiment with a photo next year...maybe a family one....i find women prefer to see who they are hiring ahead of time...it makes them feel more comfortable with the person..like they know them in a way....for small jobs its women who typically do the phone calls

[Spider]

I always look upon this kind of advertising as more charitable support than real advertising. My wife has a good sized ad in our local community newsletter. We get some business from it but the value is in being seen as part of the community - one of the neighbors. A newsletter of this type serves to tie the community together, and is more a local branding ad than a bring-in-business ad. Where a place for such advertising is available, I think it is essential for small businesses to participate.

[AaronConway]

I've done a church bulletin with my past business and always considered it a donation to the church and not really advertising. I don't know about your church but with ours the church received the majority of the advertising fee (I think aroudn 75%). From the user perspective, the bulletin is the first place I check whenever I need a service.

Aaron

[n_touch]

I have had a few clients that have gone this route, and it worked out well for them. I would suggest finding some of the other churches in your area that you may advertise in as well. From my perspective home services seem to well in the church advertisements, since most people are more inclined to trust a business that they see in their church directory. Give us an update after a while to see how it worked out for you. Good luck.