What Can You Do With A $500/Mo Ad Budget?

[DavidKaye]

So, I'm looking into radio advertising for the next step in my computer consulting business, now that cities are restricting distribution of phone books.

What can I get for $500 a month on local Bay Area radio? Good question.

Well, here's an example:

--begin quote--

:30 Spots per week, to run 4-weeks per month:
-7x :30's per week M-F, 5a-6a
-5x :30's per week M-F, 7p-12m
-Bonus :30's as available
INVESTMENT PER MONTH: $508

The above would come in at a CPM of $6.61. With any luck we will get some decent bonus spots which would drastically reduce the CPM.

--end quote--


Conclusions: I'd be getting just 12 spots per week, or 48 per month (approx). Yeah, if the station hasn't sold all its inventory, I'd be getting some bonus spots on top of that. The unfortunate part is that I'd be unlikely to get much/any response for the first week or two.

Why not? Well, common advertising wisdom says that an audience needs to get 8 impressions before they're stirred into action.

Also, another thing about the Class B time (I assume they call it Class B) is that if my ads stir people to action, they may be calling me at odd times. So, I'm thinking that maybe I should set up a special number with voicemail for this campaign to take the calls 24/7.

Of course, what I really need to do this right is a $2500 a month ad budget and a Kickstarter account so that some generous people who believe in me will help me over this first hurdle. I don't see that happening, so I'm on the $500 hot dog 'n' beans budget for now.

Oddly enough, the very best response I've ever gotten from advertising is from a little newsletter sent to people's homes. Unfortunately, since they've curtailed the mail delivery and put it online the response has dropped to near zero. There's a LOT to be said for printed matter delivered right to your door.

But in the meanwhile, since the People Who Think They Know Marketing are killing every print opportunity for the small entrepreneur, it looks like radio or local cable TV might be my only options.

The question is, should I or shouldn't I?

 

[michael hagerty]

So, I'm looking into radio advertising for the next step in my computer consulting business, now that cities are restricting distribution of phone books.

What can I get for $500 a month on local Bay Area radio? Good question.

Well, here's an example:

--begin quote--

:30 Spots per week, to run 4-weeks per month:
-7x :30's per week M-F, 5a-6a
-5x :30's per week M-F, 7p-12m
-Bonus :30's as available
INVESTMENT PER MONTH: $508

The above would come in at a CPM of $6.61. With any luck we will get some decent bonus spots which would drastically reduce the CPM.

--end quote--


Conclusions: I'd be getting just 12 spots per week, or 48 per month (approx). Yeah, if the station hasn't sold all its inventory, I'd be getting some bonus spots on top of that. The unfortunate part is that I'd be unlikely to get much/any response for the first week or two.

Why not? Well, common advertising wisdom says that an audience needs to get 8 impressions before they're stirred into action.

Also, another thing about the Class B time (I assume they call it Class B) is that if my ads stir people to action, they may be calling me at odd times. So, I'm thinking that maybe I should set up a special number with voicemail for this campaign to take the calls 24/7.

Of course, what I really need to do this right is a $2500 a month ad budget and a Kickstarter account so that some generous people who believe in me will help me over this first hurdle. I don't see that happening, so I'm on the $500 hot dog 'n' beans budget for now.

Oddly enough, the very best response I've ever gotten from advertising is from a little newsletter sent to people's homes. Unfortunately, since they've curtailed the mail delivery and put it online the response has dropped to near zero. There's a LOT to be said for printed matter delivered right to your door.

But in the meanwhile, since the People Who Think They Know Marketing are killing every print opportunity for the small entrepreneur, it looks like radio or local cable TV might be my only options.

The question is, should I or shouldn't I?

Big question: What are the ratings like? Could be a bargain or you could be flushing $508.

 

[DavidKaye]

Big question: What are the ratings like? Could be a bargain or you could be flushing $508.

It doesn't matter as long as the demographics are correct and they're quoting me a correct CPM, which I'm sure they are. The station is rated in Arbitron, though not highly.

 

[michael hagerty]

Big question: What are the ratings like? Could be a bargain or you could be flushing $508.

It doesn't matter as long as the demographics are correct and they're quoting me a correct CPM, which I'm sure they are. The station is rated in Arbitron, though not highly.

If that's the case, then what's your "should I or shouldn't I"?

 

[DavidKaye]

If that's the case, then what's your "should I or shouldn't I"?

I don't know if I'd have success or not. I do computer tech support. Nobody else in my business is using radio advertising. Either it's been tried elsewhere and failed or nobody has thought to do it, or nobody else is financially solvent to want to commit $500 a month to doing it.

Being a pioneer is tough. C Crane was (and remains) the only radio retailer to advertise on the radio. It's worked very well for them, but they advertise to a very specific market niche: AM radio freaks. But other than that, listen to the radio ads you hear and they're mostly snake oil.

This is why it's a tough decision for me to make. $500 a month is a very small commitment for a typical advertiser, but in my industry it's a big commitment.

This is why I'm hoping for any been-there-done-that stories, etc.

 

[kirksan]

It sounds like the best course depends on your typical customers. I worked as consultant for some time and never needed to advertise; most of my clients were corporations and I found new ones through word of mouth. If the type of work you do is more geared to helping folks at home with their personal computers, then your target customer is probably non-techincal and older. My gut tells me that radio maybe a decent way to reach these folks.

I am a radio freak, but local radio is declining as podcasts and other media become more prevalent. The folks left listening to local radio are more likely to be non-technical, and those are the ones you're trying to reach. If you do try it, please report back, it would be interesting to see how it turns out.

A couple of other ideas, again, assuming you're targeting prospects needing help with home computers, would be weekly magazines or Google AdWords. Publications like the Bay Guardian or SF Weekly are widely read and reach the demo you're looking at. Well crafted Google AdWords can be amazingly successful, although make sure you have a well designed website. If your site is clunky and dated it's a big turnoff and prospects won't stay long enough to become customers. I can't overstate this enough.

If you're like me and don't have the design chops to build your own site, try a template company like SquareSpace or hire someone through an online source, elance.com is good. Disclaimer: Elance has given me money.

You could also invest some time in basic SEO. Google search is highly localized these days and for many folks it's their home page; seriously, many people think Google is the Internet. If someone in your home town searches for "help setting up wireless router in Hayward (or wherever)?" and your name and website aren't one of the first couple of results, you're doing something wrong.

 

[DavidKaye]

My gut tells me that radio maybe a decent way to reach these folks.

Thanks. It seems appropriate to me, too. I'm just wondering why nobody else, not even Geek Squad, has tried this medium.

A couple of other ideas, again, assuming you're targeting prospects needing help with home computers, would be weekly magazines or Google AdWords.

I have not found any periodical that works -- neighborhood newspapers, regional magazines, etc. They've all failed. But it stands to reason. If someone needs a techie why would they look in a newspaper or magazine to find someone? Google AdWords will probably not work at the budget I have because there are a lot of techies out there, and also a lot of my customers have one computer and if that's out they're certainly not going to be able to find me online.

Publications like the Bay Guardian or SF Weekly are widely read and reach the demo you're looking at.

SFBG brought in 1 response in 10 impressions, the most colossal waste of money I've had so far. SFW offered a better deal, but the response was 2 in in 10 impressions. Again, not good. The SF Advertiser was extremely cheap and brought in 3 responses, but all were really really weird people I really don't want to deal with again.

 

[Shoot From Hip]

Some questions:
* You haven't said anything about the message. Is there a compelling reason to use your service?
* What kind of return do you require to consider the campaign a success?
* Are you differentiating between the ads generating leads vs. generating sales? Radio can make the phone ring, but can't close the deal just through an ad without the compelling reason.
* Are you choosing 5-6am and 7p-12m based on specific parameters, or based on when you get the best rates?
* You haven't said whether you are aiming at business or consumer clients. Might you be better served spending $200/month with Craigslist?
* I would not count on bonus spots. They are just that...without a commitment of how many, you should expect none and then be pleasantly surprised if you get any. Are the bonus slated for the same time periods?
* If you travel (in other words, go to someone's house or business to do the repairs), you would definitely need some type of device to take messages.

 

[DavidKaye]

Some questions:
* You haven't said anything about the message. Is there a compelling reason to use your service?
* What kind of return do you require to consider the campaign a success?
* Are you differentiating between the ads generating leads vs. generating sales? Radio can make the phone ring, but can't close the deal just through an ad without the compelling reason.
* Are you choosing 5-6am and 7p-12m based on specific parameters, or based on when you get the best rates?
* You haven't said whether you are aiming at business or consumer clients. Might you be better served spending $200/month with Craigslist?
* I would not count on bonus spots. They are just that...without a commitment of how many, you should expect none and then be pleasantly surprised if you get any. Are the bonus slated for the same time periods?
* If you travel (in other words, go to someone's house or business to do the repairs), you would definitely need some type of device to take messages.

My customers seem to think there's a compelling reason, but the problem is that these are for the most part individual users. I'm like the household plumber in this regard. People don't call plumbers unless they need to have something fixed. Well, when I fix things they stay fixed, even malware problems. While my customers have friends they don't seem to have enough friends (maybe they don't get out of the house) to assure a steady stream of referrals that techs who support businesses do.

For a $500 per month expenditure I expect to get 20 customers at $100 per, or a gross of about 4x my spending. With only an average of 48 spots a month I'm wondering if I can crack that.

I'm thinking only of sales. I have a phenomenal closure rate. When I speak with someone on the phone I get over a 19 out of 20 closure rate.

The ad rep chose the times; they are within the Arbitron rated period but outside of prime time. Again, I'm sure they're not going to lie to me about actual CPM, so the number of listeners doesn't matter as long as the CPM is accurate. And it's around 6 which is about 1/3 of what is a typical CPM these days.

$200 a month with Craigslist? When have they been charging for business ads in SF? Because CL ads are free there is so much noise that posting there is useless except for specialized businesses. I know a tile layer who does very well via CL; I also know a violin teacher and a personal chef who do well. But I know lots of techies who've had no response whatever from CL. I've never gotten a client from CL, either. The key to CL success is offering something unique people can search for.

I did contact Yelp since I had gotten a couple clients from them -- and I didn't even know I was listed in Yelp until I got my first client. However, Yelp wanted a minimum $600 a month with a 4 month commitment. They would not tell me anything about numbers of hits, clickthroughs, etc. So, Yelp seemed too shady for me. I want numbers.

As for answering the line, I answer personally unless I'm on the road, out of phone range, or with a client. I had thought of setting up a voicemail number specifically for this campaign because people, especially older folks, often are awake at all hours and have no idea what time it is when they call. Nothing pisses me off more than being awakened by someone at 6:30am with a question about a printer jam.

Looking from the broadcaster's perspective, an average rate of $10 per spot is pretty much rock bottom, but what is the quality of the listeners? They'd use the yellow pages (if they were still available) to get service. Heck, there are some phone books I haven't been in in over 2 years where I still get the occasional call because they've held onto those old books (given that they're not getting new ones, I guess).

But radio is another thing. A print ad in a phone book screams legitimacy because people know phone books are expensive and the advertiser must be at least fairly stable to be in there. But radio is often seen as fly-by-night, given the erection pills and other garbage ads., and the fact that there is nothing concrete for the listener to hold in their hands.

I have emails in to some other radio stations to see what they have to offer.

 

[weav]

What would be the opportunity cost in doing that campaign for a couple months? What would you be sacrificing, using the $500 that way for those months?

 

[DavidKaye]

What would be the opportunity cost in doing that campaign for a couple months? What would you be sacrificing, using the $500 that way for those months?

I'm not exactly sure what you mean. If you mean spreading out the $500 over 2 or 3 months that would lessen the impact because there'd be too much time between impressions. Or if you mean what kind of discount could I get if I committed to multiple months, I'm not sure I'd get any, but the guy's going to get back to me next week on the campaign and maybe he'll be able to work out something.

Wouldn't you know it: I got a service call today (for tomorrow) from someone who saw my ad in the Marin phone book. It's been 2 years since I was in that book!

I haven't gotten any response back from the other stations I've contacted. Either the holiday is messing up people or they don't think someone like me is worth bothering with.

 

[oaktree]

Radio sales 1-0-1 ...

It solely about REACH and FREQENCY. The more listeners in a given demo cell (reach) the more they can be counted on with a certain amount of FREQENCY.

How much frequency: There is a proven guarantee to making a spot campaign successful. It is this ...

5x a day, 7x a week for a minimum of 13 weeks. That's the "pre-result" phase. The next phase is picking the best days: Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Wednesday, Monday & Tuesday in that order. Take the spots in the last two or maybe three days ... and move those spots to add to the first three days. It sounds, then, like you're all over the radio for another 13 weeks. Then, repeat from the 1st 13-week plan for the next quarter and the 2nd plan in the last quarter.

"I don't have that kind of money". Guess what? Your "unrealstic expectation" of rampant success is not guaranteed. You need the Gross Impressions as much as the CPM to figure out.

Also to figure out: Are these ROS or dayparted times? Are they feature content such as news only or in talk sements, music, AM, FM, what?

Except for Paul Harvey, one spot a day for Hardware Hank just doesn't work ... and there is no Paul Harvey anymore. His spots ran between his weekday and weekend shows, giving clients up to three potential "landings" per day --morning, noon, or late afternoon.


And it worked ....with a huge audience, of course.

What market are you looking at? $500 a month can work in some small markets ... but where? Good luck!

 

[DavidKaye]

5x a day, 7x a week for a minimum of 13 weeks. That's the "pre-result" phase. The next phase is picking the best days: Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Wednesday, Monday & Tuesday in that order. Take the spots in the last two or maybe three days ... and move those spots to add to the first three days. It sounds, then, like you're all over the radio for another 13 weeks. Then, repeat from the 1st 13-week plan for the next quarter and the 2nd plan in the last quarter.

Neither New Pane nor C Crane had 5 by 7 schedules and yet both are successful today. Initially, New Pane was only twice a week and only on Bill Wattenburg's 10pm to 1am Saturday/Sunday show. That was it. I know this to be the case because the owner and I met one day and talked about how he began his campaign. Turned out that he and Wattenburg had property near each other and had come to know each other.

C Crane originally bought only non-rated times (11pm to 5am) on blowtorch AMs, and I believe KGO was the first. Bob Crane and I talked about this at one time. I think he next added KEX and then I think KFI.

"I don't have that kind of money". Guess what? Your "unrealstic expectation" of rampant success is not guaranteed. You need the Gross Impressions as much as the CPM to figure out.

Unrealistic expectation of rampant success? What are you smoking? I laid it out clearly the pros and cons of my idea. Obviously I'm not comfortable with is and am hashing it out here to clarify things for me one way or the other. I have no expectation of "rampant success" at all, but just adding a few new clients and building on that.

 

[SFStatic]

Oaktree is correct. $500 a month might work in some small markets. In larger ones or major markets, you might as well light the $500 on fire, it won't buy enough to move the needle even a little bit.

 

[DavidKaye]

Oaktree is correct. $500 a month might work in some small markets. In larger ones or major markets, you might as well light the $500 on fire, it won't buy enough to move the needle even a little bit.

What you're saying is that you're going to get more water if you dip a drinking glass into a small creek versus a river. It's still the same amount of water if the size of the glass is the same.

Why do you say that? Have you actually bought radio advertising? Or do you have some stats to back up what you say? It really shouldn't matter whether I'm buying in a big market or a small one if the CPM is the same. I'd still have X number of listeners.

What it comes down to is whether it's possible to get radio advertising at less than $10 a spot and whether 48 of those spots will get me 20 customers over the month.

 

[SFStatic]

David- I have actually bought radio advertiser as general manager of an auto dealership, and have sold it. I have managed the programming departments of 3 Bay Area radio stations. So, yes, I know what I'm talking about.

 

[DavidKaye]

David- I have actually bought radio advertiser as general manager of an auto dealership, and have sold it. I have managed the programming departments of 3 Bay Area radio stations. So, yes, I know what I'm talking about.

Okay, point taken.

 

[rickityone]

A few thoughts from a guy who used to be a radio time buyer.

You mentioned it takes x number of ad plays before a person registers your ad in their brain. It used to be called "conscious impressions" - who knows what it is called now. But, whatever it's called, repetition is the way to get recognition.

I think the idea is very worthwhile and I would give it three months at least to build recognition.

Instead of spreading them out over a month, I might concentrate them over a two week period of time, thus getting greater frequency for my money and shortening the time span before your listener recognizes your name. Furthermore, I might bunch my spots on say, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday - once again to focus the listener on your name.

Why buy thirties - that's a lot of time to fill? Maybe they would sell you 15's and you could get more mileage for your money. Your ad should tell your listener exactly what you do, who are and how to get in touch with you in order to fulfill whatever need they might have, in your case computer repair.

Consider if the station has a regular news show, or weather, or drive or sports segment. Consider something to the effect of "Radio X traffic on the 10 is brought to you by David's Computer repair, David specializes in fixing your sic Windows computer or Mac, call David when you're in computer trouble xxx-xxx-xxxx.

Bargain with the station for fixed time spots, even if they aren't prime time. If the station has some sort of restriction on the number of times your spot can air in an hour, suggest you'd like a spot at ten before the hour and ten after the hour.

Spots dribbled out through the day and night will be way less effective than spots that are bunched fairly close together so the listener will hear them and remember David is the guy to call when the computer is sick.

I would also suggest you listen to the station you advertise on, better yet even like it.

A computer show, by the way would be a natural to by air time in, either on the show, or on the news or top of the hour break, etc.

I think selling things on the radio is still a great way to, who's to say what medium is the best these days, audiences are fragmented, tv networks are sinking, print is pooped out, the internet ... well who knows.

It's your money, but I say, go for it. What have I got to lose?

rickity
www.gulchradio.com

 

[DavidKaye]

I think the idea is very worthwhile and I would give it three months at least to build recognition.

Good idea.

Instead of spreading them out over a month, I might concentrate them over a two week period of time, thus getting greater frequency for my money and shortening the time span before your listener recognizes your name. Furthermore, I might bunch my spots on say, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday - once again to focus the listener on your name.

EXCELLENT idea! Silly me -- that's a DUH comment. I should have thought about this from the very beginning. Repetition in rapid succession makes WAY more sense.

Why buy thirties - that's a lot of time to fill? Maybe they would sell you 15's and you could get more mileage for your money.

The salesguy offered me 30s, and I didn't inquire further just yet. I guess I could do 15s, but the station runs syndication during the hours I specified, so they'd have to match it with a promo or something to make the hole into a 30, which they might not be willing to do. I'll ask though. It never hurts to ask.

Consider if the station has a regular news show, or weather, or drive or sports segment. Consider something to the effect of "Radio X traffic on the 10 is brought to you by David's Computer repair, David specializes in fixing your sic Windows computer or Mac, call David when you're in computer trouble xxx-xxx-xxxx.

My only problem would be affordability in the daypart and I'm not sure if I'd get a rush of calls. I like to be able to handle calls personally because I have a very high closing rate. Voicemail not so much. I'll give it some thought, though.

Bargain with the station for fixed time spots, even if they aren't prime time. If the station has some sort of restriction on the number of times your spot can air in an hour, suggest you'd like a spot at ten before the hour and ten after the hour.

Oh? Is there some reason for this?

Spots dribbled out through the day and night will be way less effective than spots that are bunched fairly close together so the listener will hear them and remember David is the guy to call when the computer is sick.

Yes indeed. This is why I posted here originally. Being so close to a situation I'm aware that I could miss crucial things. I'm well aware that close-bunched spots are more effective than those that are spread out but for the life of me I never thought to consider spacing them into 2-week campaigns and/or packing them into certain days of the week. Sometimes you're so close to the billboard that you can't see what's on it.

I would also suggest you listen to the station you advertise on, better yet even like it.

I do listen, though I'm more concerned about reaching the proper demographics than whether I personally like it or not.

A computer show, by the way would be a natural to by air time in, either on the show, or on the news or top of the hour break, etc.

I'm not sure I agree with this, though. Listening to people like Kim Komando and Leo Laporte it seems that most callers are techies who fix their own stuff. Most of my customers are people who are expert in other fields such as publishing, investments, real estate, retired, etc., and don't want to mess with their computers. They just want things done.

It's your money, but I say, go for it. What have I got to lose?

My vote of confidence? Well, I'm definitely going to rethink things more toward what you suggested. I'm either finding a niche nobody else has explored (I've done that one before) or I'm wasting my money. But then, heck, I'll know what not to do.

Thanks for the info and sharing your experience.