advertising your mat..

[cowgirl]

i am new to mats but not so to advertising..i have been in that business for 25 years..in all size markets..from small towns to Chicago..but i have never been on the client side till now..

i opened my mat..and got a bit off business in the first two weeks..then i started a radio campaign the ad was voiced by me..and it has run for a month..the results are amazing even to me..the response was fast..within 72 hours..and 85% of the new customer walking in the door were telling me that they were on the way to another mat when they heard the ad..
i can not open my mouth in town without people telling me hay it is you..the girl with the mat on the radio..LOL..

the cost was pretty low..( though if you are in a city it would be a lot more) and it got to just the customer i needed ..

if you are opening anew matt in a small to med market..and you want more details PM me..

but i would tell anyone to give radio a try..for matts it works great..

anyone else ever advertise?? how do you do it what has worked for you??

[AlanR]

I don't know what the rates are in your area, but locally it's about $300 for a 15-second spot. Methinks I'll stick to my door-hangers.

[James2011]

most laundry customers come from nearby locations...within 3 miles....so, radio ad is too wide, so a little bit waste of $$ I think..
"Mouth to Mouth" is the best ...

[DaveLevenson]

[ QUOTE ]
if you are opening anew matt in a small to med market..and you want more details PM me...but i would tell anyone to give radio a try..for matts it works great..


[/ QUOTE ]

It's good to know that it works for you. Tell us a little more -- how big is your community? How many stations are you on, out of how many serving your area?

Here in the NYC suburbs, the AM and FM radio bands are so full there is absolutely no dead space -- hundreds of stations catering to all kinds of special tastes, and in many languages. No one station gets more than a tiny market share, other than a few big network-affiliated stations. But they cover a metropolitan area of 16 million people or so, far too big for a business that serves a five- or ten-mile radius.

[petefritz]

What is the population of the town?

[cowgirl]

we live in a area that is rural..about 100,000 spread over a 100 mile radius..i was on three stations..one adult contemporary,one oldies,and am talk..it is impossible where i live to use paper ( only one and it is published two times a week..most people go to the post office for mail and toss advertising before leveling.. i put up signs and had them all stolen..but the radio is working great..an month cost me 600.00

not the best choice for a big market but for a small town or a medium market i think that it is the place to be..

you can still buy a 3o second ad of under 20 bucks..ans with a direct read by the mat owner and the right programs ...it has been outstanding.

[kellyjo134]

My husband and I placed a coupon ad in the local paper for one month. One person came in with the coupon and it was a regular customer. It seems to me that the most powerful form of advertising is television and a close second is radio. Sadly, I don't think people are reading much any more -- maybe they don't have time.

[blackstone]

I'm opening a new mat end of April...for the first grand opening month, aside from door prizes everyday, etc., we're donating 50 cents from TLs and 20s plus $1 for 30s and 60s to charity. Each wash gets a ballot to choose from ten charities. At the end of the month, top 3 vote getters each get a third.
For the rest of the year, we're doing a promotion to support the unemployed with reduced coin laundry and deals on dry cleaning interview suits.
All this will be done with press releases and a direct mailing.