Radio VS Print Advertising…I Get More for My Money with Radio
I’ve read many articles on how jewelers use print over any other medium of advertising. I use radio over print. Sometimes radio is a little more costly…but it depends on how you look at it. I’ve gotten anywhere from 20-25 spots (a mixture of :15 sec and :60 sec) over a period of 3 or 4 days for approximately $900 to $1800 depending on the station and the time of year. Regarding print…I’ve really only advertised in our Neighbors section which targets South Charlotte and is where my store is located. The Neighbors Section is only a part of Sunday’s paper and cost about $1500 for the full back page in entire color—but I could only attract one zip code for that $1500…approximately 30,000 or so homes. Obviously the prices differ drastically depending on the state, city, zip, etc.
BUT with radio advertising, the stations were willing to do a lot more for me. Some radio stations offered the store a free banner on their website (during the week of my advertising of course). I asked one radio station to give me a shot out after every traffic…For example: I77 is backed up from Arrowwood to 295, “This traffic is brought to you by Guliani’s Fine Jewelry, visit them this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday for their Spring Annual Event with 20% off nearly every item in store.”
Then came along a brilliant idea from my mom and dad. By now I’ve mentioned my parents first started off as colored stone and melee wholesales in downtown Miami (Rainbow Stone House was the stores name) and I currently own every colored stone (shape and size) you can think of. So mom-dad told me to give away some of the stones to the radio stations’ listeners (to get the stores name out there even more). Well, I liked the idea but I didn’t want the stones to loose their value—meaning I didn’t want the radio station to just give them away without any sort of event or theme—or so forth. So during our November Sale the station and Guliani’s came up with the “Rocks for Love Contest.”
Take a look at it below. Unfortunately, I cannot take credit for the You Tube Video. It was an MP3 and I couldn’t figure out how to put it on my blog so Mr. Dan Blank with Reed Business created this video using his Mac. Thanks Dan.
I always get more for my money with radio advertising because their willing to throw in some freebies. This contest generated a whole bunch of new clientele that heard the contest on the radio all day. I donated two gemstones to be given by 107.9 the Link per day (Mon-Fri). Our event was Thursday-Sunday. The contest generated lots of buzz—we did have to set each stone in a free sterling silver mounting because the radio station wanted to give something away to their clients and the clients not to have to receive a stone and then spend money to have it mounted.
Regarding print advertising—any ways you all have been given freebies? Any specific contests that generated great response (whether advertised over the net, direct mail or radio)?
JACK800 commented:
I don’t have an answer to your specific questions re:
contest, etc. I do have a question about the small, incremental
marketing steps that form the basis for larger, more significant
decisions. Internet - I just did a Google search on
“Guliani’s Fine Jewelry”. Your store web site was
not on the first 5 pages of results. A search on
“Guliani’s Jewelry” had the same result. Do you
have a web presence? Google and SuperPages.com don’t think
so. How are your new and potential customers going to find you?
Affluent customers are bigger users of the internet than the less
affluent. Customer demographic data – Is your POS system able
to capture any basic demographic information such as zip code or
phone number. Knowing where your existing customers live is a great
tool to use when making media buying decisions. Your customers may
not be big Sunday paper readers, but may be faithful “city
magazine/special section” readers. Knowing that you
don’t have customers coming in from an area where you should
have customers is also important information. Marketing calendar
– A good marketing calendar combined with relevant sales data
can supply a direction if not scope and specifics for sales and
marketing expenses. Periods of lower expected sales could be the
time for a direct mail/experiential campaigns: a south sea night
with pearls and pearl education, a Canadian night with Canadian
diamonds, etc… Geographically specific calendar events:
Openings, Annual festivals/anniversaries, etc, are an opportunity
to tie your products/services to a relevant circumstance:
“Have your diamonds cleaned and ready for your night at the
???”
JACK800 commented:
I don’t have an answer to your specific questions re:
contest, etc. I do have a question about the small, incremental
marketing steps that form the basis for larger, more significant
decisions. Internet - I just did a Google search on
“Guliani’s Fine Jewelry”. Your store web site was
not on the first 5 pages of results. A search on
“Guliani’s Jewelry” had the same result. Do you
have a web presence? Google and SuperPages.com don’t think
so. How are your new and potential customers going to find you?
Affluent customers are bigger users of the internet than the less
affluent. Customer demographic data – Is your POS system able
to capture any basic demographic information such as zip code or
phone number. Knowing where your existing customers live is a great
tool to use when making media buying decisions. Your customers may
not be big Sunday paper readers, but may be faithful “city
magazine/special section” readers. Knowing that you
don’t have customers coming in from an area where you should
have customers is also important information. Marketing calendar
– A good marketing calendar combined with relevant sales data
can supply a direction if not scope and specifics for sales and
marketing expenses. Periods of lower expected sales could be the
time for a direct mail/experiential campaigns: a south sea night
with pearls and pearl education, a Canadian night with Canadian
diamonds, etc… Geographically specific calendar events:
Openings, Annual festivals/anniversaries, etc, are an opportunity
to tie your products/services to a relevant circumstance:
“Have your diamonds cleaned and ready for your night at the
???”
Neena Patel commented:
Thanks for the interesting post. I have an advertising question
from the point of view of a supplier. We offer finely cut Canadian
Cushion diamonds; what mediums would you recommend to promote this
niche product to fine retail jewelers? Your opinion on which
magazines would be the most effective is also welcome. Currently
under consideration are JCK, JQ, Couture International, Modern
Jeweler, Canadian Jeweller, IDEX, and RAP.
Jenny Seligmann commented:
I took out a print ad in a Bridal Magazine a year or so ago. The
publisher approached me about using some of my stores jewelry in
the photo shoot for the front cover. I was pretty excited to get
the mention in the magazine and the extra exposure. Unfortunately,
when I received the magazine I noticed that the credit was
accidentally given to another jeweler. The publisher worked to make
it up to me, but what a dissapointment.
