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Rustler
Rustler
February 14, 2018

Ads

  • February 14, 2018
  • 7 replies
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I understand that there are very few real business owners on this site, and this question/discussion is really aimed at them.

 

At some point the business moves to paid advertising.    So my questions are:

1. How do you determine which type of paid advertising it is that you will use?  (radio, TV, print, newspaper, magazines, fliers, direct mail, etc)

2.  And once you made that decision, how do you track ROI?  (Return on Investment)

Please, let's keep this to paid advertising.

      7 replies

      EmilyCowan
      EmilyCowan
      February 14, 2018

      Hi @Rustler - great question! The decision to allocate hard-earned dollars for paid advertising can be a daunting one. The adage "You have to spend money to make money" is very true, but where and how to spend strategically - that's a tough one.

       

      To help get this discussion going, do you think you might clarify what you mean by "real business owners"? As in, small business owners as opposed to self-employed? If so, is that a useful distinction in this context? I know plenty of self-employed folks (myself included) who spend real money on advertising, even if it's just forking over the cash for a Premium account on LinkedIn. Or maybe I'm misunderstanding? Help me out here!

        Rustler
        RustlerAuthor
        February 14, 2018
        @EmilyCowanwrote:

        Hi @Rustler - great question! The decision to allocate hard-earned dollars for paid advertising can be a daunting one. The adage "You have to spend money to make money" is very true, but where and how to spend strategically - that's a tough one.

         

        To help get this discussion going, do you think you might clarify what you mean by "real business owners"? As in, small business owners as opposed to self-employed?

        There is no distiction between a business owner (taxed as a sole proprietor) and the appelation of self-employed.  If a sole proprietor, business owner is not self employed - then what is he?  They both file the exact same tax form (schedule C), operate under the same Tax accounting principles, etc.  Because intuit uses different titles does not make it so in real life.

         

        A real business owner (as I see it) operates in the general public space.  They never know who the client/customer might be.  They deal with phone calls from the curious, or an irate customer, or one checking on an order, or status of the repair.  They may be receiving shipments, and shipping out, all in the same day with no real warning that can be scheduled.  Walk in customers with problems, questions etc. 

         

        A world of difference between having a distinctly limited set of clients you work for.

          EmilyCowan
          EmilyCowan
          February 14, 2018
          @Rustler wrote:

          There is no distiction between a business owner (taxed as a sole proprietor) and the appelation of self-employed.  If a sole proprietor, business owner is not self employed - then what is he?  They both file the exact same tax form (schedule C), operate under the same Tax accounting principles, etc.  Because intuit uses different titles does not make it so in real life.

           

          A real business owner (as I see it) operates in the general public space.  They never know who the client/customer might be.  They deal with phone calls from the curious, or an irate customer, or one checking on an order, or status of the repair.  They may be receiving shipments, and shipping out, all in the same day with no real warning that can be scheduled.  Walk in customers with problems, questions etc. 

           

           

          Ok, @Rustler - got it, thanks for clarifying! I only bring up the small business/self employed designations because many people who work for themselves don't consider themselves "real business owners," although there's a very strong argument that they should.

           

          Take, for example, our awesome Content Chief @WillowOlder - she makes her living as a freelance writer and editor. Her clients could be magazines, websites, or the crazy guy who needs a ghost writer for his self-published memoir. She's not manufacturing lug nuts (although she may well do this for fun on weekends - she's quite handy!) but she still has a product and a customer base, cranky clients, money in and money out, and taxable income. Does she consider herself a "business owner"? Probably not, and filling out the same Schedule C as the sole proprietor lug-nut manufacturer won't make it so as far as she's concerned.

           

          So back to your original question, about how "real businesses" advertise, I'd say pretty much everyone on QB Community might have something to say about that!

            EmilyMockett
            EmilyMockett
            February 14, 2018

            I think it is dependant on what type of business you run? Most businesses now rely heavily on their online presence ... 


            Social media is a very powerful tool for advertising in the modern day and age. I have used Facebook to advertise recently and it provides analytics of who had viewed your advert, where in the world as well as some very other useful insights which you could argue is a measurement on ROI depending on how you use this data. 

             

            We also use Mail Chimp which is an email marketing company allowing you to send out a huge amount of emails in one go. They do a 'Free Forever' campaign for start up businesses which includes 2000 subscribers and 12000 emails per month which is quite a few if the business is small. However this does rely on you having a database of potential client/current clients details such as email addresses. If you do however wish to up this there are some pricing structures in place on their website.

             

            I hope this helps a little.

             

            Kind Regards,

             

            Emily 

             

              A
              Anonymous
              February 14, 2018

              @Rustler, I get the feeling you know your customer base well. Go for the medium that is most popular for them - reach them where they're at. Don't count out non-digital solutions. 

               

              ROI - do you want end-to-end journey conversion, as in I paid to reach x clients and the next week I got y sales, or do you just want to measure total impact, as in now z people know about my business?

               

              I've done advertising for my cafes, startup and online spaces. 

                jessbru99568
                jessbru99568
                February 15, 2018

                @Rustler,

                Yes, we used all free advertising for the first while of being up and running. Now, we have moved to both free and paid advertising. Both work in different ways. With advertising it all depends on the crowd that is trying to be reached and how much money you have to put out for it. 

                1.  For us it all depends what is available and when. Also, how much we have to put out for it. We have recently been contacted by a few companies to advertise with them. We have been in Newspapers, magazines, sponsorships, and some direct mailings. We have found our best advertising to be Word of mouth. The absolute best advertising. :)

                 

                2. Our return on investment is counted mostly by coupon codes or links. We can track how much each brought in and how well its doing promoting. 

                 

                Hope this helps! :)

                  B
                  bgraciepeanuts
                  February 15, 2018

                  I am  both a business owner (s-corp retail repair service business with 5 employees), and have a past in selling advertising, internet marketing and business coaching. 

                   

                  In my opinion paid advertising if any you do depends on the nature of your business, your competitors, and your prospective customers. 

                   

                  What may work for someone in one type of business/market may not in another. I was the first in my sector on Yelp in 2007 (not paid for first couple years but had a profile), we built a great reputation there and went out competitors finally got into it we went paid, which is well worth it for us. We are in a very affluent and tech savvy area and most of our customers find us online, then we have a good repeat and referral business too. 

                   

                  In the beginning I did a lot of Adwords campaigns too.  It did help give us a bit of momentum. It all really depends on what you're offering, and to whom. 

                    Rustler
                    RustlerAuthor
                    February 16, 2018

                    Let's close this, thanks for trying

                     

                    I'm going to start a new thread called ads 2 - well never mind the new thread thing  is a loop to correct a red x or hightled error and there are none.

                    hopefully I can present what I am curious about in a better way another time.

                     

                     

                    EmilyMockett
                    EmilyMockett
                    February 20, 2018

                    Hi Rustler,

                     

                    You have had an overwhelming repsonse with this discussion. So much so that I came across this article today and thought of your post. I hope it is helpful: 

                     

                    https://quickbooks.intuit.com/uk/resources/accountants-and-bookkeepers/never-waste-money-marketing-fundamental-principles-place/.

                     

                    Kind Regards,

                     

                    Emily

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