Radio Ads

Any body tried or do any radio advertising . If so how did it work and what was your main focus on in the ad . I am looking at doing some in the spring to try to gain more residential accounts .My main focus being liscened and insured (to try to get rid of low ballers) and offer a 10 % of to any new customers . Whats is some of you guys ideas ? Thanks for any help you can give . Brian

[lukus223]

Lawn care business tips

Originally Posted by outdoorservivesllc Any body tried or do any radio advertising . If so how did it work and what was your main focus on in the ad . I am looking at doing some in the spring to try to gain more residential accounts .My main focus being liscened and insured (to try to get rid of low ballers) and offer a 10 % of to any new customers . Whats is some of you guys ideas ? Thanks for any help you can give . Brian I like the idea. I've never heard a LCO ad on our radio stations here. I would recommend to talk to a sales rep and get pricing. I looked at local television where it flashed your biz card with other local businesses and it was over a grand for a min buy. I would also say to make a stronger offer than 10%. It has to be enough to make them want to call.

[picframer]

Based on my experience in the security industry we had a GPS tracking product and the rights to it no one else did, we thought what a great opportunity and we spent thousands on radio advertising, results, next to NIL.

It was suggested we try those TV ad's, the ones where you go to a certain channel and it tells you what is on at what time and what channel on half the screen, the other half is scrolling advertisements, sometimes talking ad's, we tried that and the results were stunning.

Another thing that worked amazing for us was advertising on the benches at bus stops in target areas and advertising on city bus's.

I have never tried any of these in the Lawn/Yard Care so I have no idea what the results would be but I can tell you it's expensive and I personally found other ways to bring in more business than we could handle in 2009. I already have Landscaping jobs, wood chipping and excavation jobs coming in from people I have never dealt with and it's January and we are buried with snow.

Something happened this evening, I generally don't drive the trucks in the winter, I drive my Diesel Jetta, anyhow I decided to take myself out for a coffee and muffin at a local spot 15 min from the house and took one of the trucks, no specific reason, as I was getting in my truck to leave a fellow knocked on the window, said his son's house had burnt and they were looking to hire an excavation company and was wondering if it was something I might be interested in. I am going to have a look at the site tomorrow as I have two excavators that are heated so the temps don't really matter.

I have found aside from using my network and referrals, small newspaper ad's in specific areas and my post cards are what grew the company to where it is today. The website has been amazing also but I find getting high rankings very, very easy to do.

Perhaps in 2011 we will look at a spring trade home show but we are already getting to the point where we have to step back and what I mean by that when my waiting list gets to 4 weeks for a service, I hate putting people off.

The spraying program should be fine as I added two additional tractors for mowing and spraying and a new 20 foot trailer should be here this week which will free up another trailer that the lawn care guys can use, the 20 foot one will allow me to haul an excavator and tractor with a loader at the same time, the savings will be such that it will pay for itself it less than 90 days.

I still think and believe direct advertising will give the best results but that is just me.

All that sounds good I am doing some coupon type ads in the newspaper also this spring . As for buses and benches our city owns the buses and they wont do ads (which I personally think is stupid it would help pay for them ) as for benches they use to do them and the city said it was against the ordinances so they took all them out . I do have a bench at our county fair grounds though .I'm just looking for a advertising way that isn't used by all my competitors . Haven't done the post cards yet and don't think anyone else has either around here so that might be a good idea. As for tv it's about 4 times the cost of radio for the local info station . I do phone book ads also seems like i get most of my calls from yellowbook.com though .

Anymore input would be appreciated though .

Thanks Brian

[Steve]

You can read quite a bit on here about radio and tv ads.

I have yet to see one person that was happy with using radio or tv ads on the forum ever!

I would avoid it and find other, more personable ways to interact and meet folks in your area.

Are you a member of any local clubs or organizations? Are you marketing within your social network?

It was suggested we try those TV ad's, the ones where you go to a certain channel and it tells you what is on at what time and what channel on half the screen, the other half is scrolling advertisements, sometimes talking ad's, we tried that and the results were stunning.

Was this on the weather channel? What is your view on why this worked better over other ads?

[picframer]

Originally Posted by Steve

Was this on the weather channel? What is your view on why this worked better over other ads?

No it was on the channel that tells you what is on at what time on half the screen then the other half is scrolling ad's, they scroll then display for about 15 seconds, you buy how many you want per day and at what times, peak times are of course more money.

It is very rare I watch TV but I do check in sometimes to see what is on, I have never seen a lawncare company, I recall at least here it was much cheaper than the radio.

I agree with you on radio ad's, I have yet to talk to anyone within many industries that had results that made the cost worth while.

[Steve]

No it was on the channel that tells you what is on at what time on half the screen then the other half is scrolling ad's, they scroll then display for about 15 seconds, you buy how many you want per day and at what times, peak times are of course more money.

I guess like a TV Guide channel?

The thing I wonder with that is many cable systems seem to now have a built in guide to show what's playing on the channels so would this cut down on the amount of people viewing such a channel then?

[picframer]

Originally Posted by Steve

I guess like a TV Guide channel?

The thing I wonder with that is many cable systems seem to now have a built in guide to show what's playing on the channels so would this cut down on the amount of people viewing such a channel then?

Yes like TV Guide, but TV Guide is no longer available here.

Personally I just check the internet, type in my postal code and it tells me or we have HDMI at home which I honestly do not know how to use but if you want to watch a show you put it's name in and then go to work and it will record up to 60 gig's of those shows for you to watch.

[Steve]

It's fascinating as technology changes so does the value of these different marketing options.

I like the idea. I've never heard a LCO ad on our radio stations here.

When I see this happen, I tend to think of two things. Either it's a great opportunity because no one is using it or it doesn't work and that is why no one uses it.

My main focus being liscened and insured (to try to get rid of low ballers) and offer a 10 % of to any new customers . Whats is some of you guys ideas ?

Do you mean low baller customers or competitors and how do you utilize that you are licensed and insured to weed them out?