Advertising recommendations in Canberra?

Blingiton said :

Hi all

Thank you for your suggestions and feedback so far. It’s a great help!

I’m an interior decorator so I need a visual advertising medium to showcase my projects. My business challenges the misconception that interior decorating is only for those with fat wallets. If anything, I save my clients a huge amount of money by passing on my trade discounts, usually equating to 25-50% off full retail for everything from tiling to furnishings.

My clients include first home buyers right through to high-end clients. I’m open to any ideas you might have for spreading the word.

Keen to hear more thoughts 🙂

I would recommend still finding out more about your target market. It seems kinda vague, as if you want to target whole spectrum of people…..which if that is the case, I suggest a glossy “advertorial” or some such piece in a Canberra Times magazine/lift out/ lifestyle section.

Also, I understand word of mouth is stupidly effective. If you look into some referral programs you might get good results for a lot less than traditional advertising.

But like I said, I would find more out about your market. Who your clients have been in the past might be an accident, or part of your strategy. But do you want this to be the case in the future? I would spend my time deciding who I am targeting, cause otherwise how will you know if you succeed?

cbjcurtin’s info is excellent. You should have a think about marketing mix, how to get the best bang for your buck but also how to keep it going. How to find your market, and how to appeal to them.

If you’re up for social media, that’s a great way to go as you engage with your customers and potential customers AND many you engage with become advertisor proxies for you. It’s not for everyone but for those who can grapple with it, it cuts through a lot of the resistance people have to advertising.

If you want to showcase your projects, then things like the TV deal, and the free colour local mag/papers would enable that. Coupled with an on-going social media presence, you should see an increase in interest and awareness.

Thanks for the encouragement and detailed response cbjcurtin. The SC10 advertising sounds fairly reasonable. I had considered the letterbox drop but I think you’ve made a good point re: the ‘no junk’ crowd and getting lost in between all the other flyers and fan mail that land in letterboxes every day .

Good luck with your business too:)

Billington,

Canberra Weekly is great, cheaper rates than city news

Southern Cross Ten have deal on now where for $4000 you get an ad filmed and 60 spots mixed over a month on ten tv.

2cc and 2ca am radio are cheaper than fm, but have a different market, a lot of tradies listen to 2cc for example.

The Canberra Times is expencive, but if you can get a feature or advertorial in a relevent section I think you will do ok.

Facebook can be great for online ads, if you have a page online or on facebook you can really target your advertising so it hits the mark.

The Riot-act is great, we have only just started using it, but I know a lot of people who read here everyday. If you seach anything Canberra related you are sure to find a riot act article on it.

Direct Mailing might work for you, but we find that if your media does get delivered it is usually in with a large bunch of others. Also your target audience may be the same people who have NO JUNK Mail stickers.

Good luck with it all, Canberra needs good local small business, the way we are heading it wont supprise me if in ten years we have; woolies, coles, costco, aldi and jerry harvey owning everything.

Hi all

Thank you for your suggestions and feedback so far. It’s a great help!

I’m an interior decorator so I need a visual advertising medium to showcase my projects. My business challenges the misconception that interior decorating is only for those with fat wallets. If anything, I save my clients a huge amount of money by passing on my trade discounts, usually equating to 25-50% off full retail for everything from tiling to furnishings.

My clients include first home buyers right through to high-end clients. I’m open to any ideas you might have for spreading the word.

Keen to hear more thoughts 🙂

Malteser said :

What about radio? We have a couple of radio stations 106.3FM, 104.7FM and RawFM (depending on the type of business). Not sure about AM stations.

Do people still listen to radio?

Riotact of course! Why would you read one source with only one opinion? I read it first then see what was in the tabloids.

+1 for Radio.
If I hear a radio add and it’s remotely close to something I want/need/like to have/sounds fun/ sounds interesting I’ll probably act upon the add.

I like using local business so using local adds is always my first option.

Though in my hobby magazines I read them cover to cover including all the adds and will act upon the adds if it’s a) a Canberra/Queanbeyan Region add or b) I’m conviently close (Within a few suburbs)to the physical location of the shop (Syd/Melb/Adelaide)

What demagraphic are you looking to target?

I personally would highly recommend online advertising, though the OP didn’t mention the business segment, product or service they’re wishing to advertise so I would caution that online isn’t best for everything.

The advantage of online is it allows for sophisticated targeting the results measurement. Google, Facebook and similar services allow you to drill down by geography, even to city level. Facebook lets you customise by factors such as gender, age and so on.

You can fix budgets carefully, scale up or down the reach with an easy click depending on your circumstances.

The one thing I would caution is to choose carefully between impression advertising and click advertising.

Mysteryman said :

I personally wouldn’t bother with online advertising

LOL digital advertising is well on the rise and print is slowly dropping.
I’d say find some forums that are suited to your target audience and see if you can get some banners done.

If you think about it, an ad in a newspaper will only be there once while online banners etc can last for 30+ days.

Facebook and google are good tools in that they track what IP addresses go to what and can zero in on an exactly the audience you are after and you have control of how much you want to spend!

Isn’t all this putting the cart before the horse? Its all pretty meaningless to answer Blington’s question without knowing what type of media his/her target market is exposed to.

For all we know they could be exclusively readers of “The Australian”, or predominantly readers of Street Machine mag.

I would suggest doing some market research first. Or if you know who your target market is, then tell us, and we can answer you question with that context as well.

For what its worth, I don’t read any of the above except RiotAct and briefly persuse the crimes online (but as they are now a rehash of the smh there’s not much value in that either). Occassionally get the Sat edition of the crimes, but it’s usually Wed or Thurs before it gets looked at and then ends up as mulch weedmat. (Approx 6 sheets betweent he soil & mulch works a treat and eventually degrades.)

Depending on your business and target audience I’d stick to oline ads and Action (adds in and on the buses (sides & back) &/or bus shelters).

What about radio? We have a couple of radio stations 106.3FM, 104.7FM and RawFM (depending on the type of business). Not sure about AM stations.

Riotact. Definatly there.

sponsor a team in the a-league. i believe there is a gold plated [well, coasted] vacancy. call a mr lowy – any westfields should pop you through – and see what you can do. he’s keen to chat.

if you’re considering the crimes, i’d rekkun you might also investigate the smh and/or age, as they have strong readership in canberra and could bring interstate traffic to your business, if that’s relevant. just a thought (well, i read the age and i know astress is keen on the smh, which we get on saturdays for the good weekend now the import version of the age has stopped including it – shame on them!)

Further to my last post this thread may be of use.
http://the-riotact.com/advertising-agencies-in-canberra/22210

I think using an independent ad agency is probably a good option, it’s what they do.I’ve seen a few expensive DIY campaigns produce zilch results.
Maybe suggest a few of the ideas produced by Rioters like sport sponsorship,online ads,bus or taxi posters to the agency.I’ve even heard of a guy or business who has arrangements for bill posting in selected areas although mostly entertainment posters .
It could be money well spent in the long run.

What business or industry are we talking about? I tried some ads in the CT a while back for my retail venture – cost an arm and a leg, and while the business generated covered the cost of the ads there was buggerall profit left afterwards. I have customers now who are all using either the Weekly or City News or both. Whether they work or whether they’re just more affordable I couldn’t say.

I know an up and coming paintball team on the national scene looking for sponsors – can offer 24/7 exposure at their field and jersey logo etc – depends on what your $ and media type spread is – can send prospectus! 🙂

johnboy said :

Wow, quite the parasite aren’t you?

Fortunately not everyone tries to leach free content while removing from content providers a means to cover their costs.

And in great news for advertisers they only pay for banners which are displayed.

So the tiny number of low rent freeloaders like you don’t effect their advertising costs.

Yay! Somebody who recognises the the importance of advertising to our economy.

Without a doubt i’d recommend advertising on RiotACT but I also highly recommend the Canberra Weekly. The rates are very affordable and we have had a really good response to our ads.

Mysteryman said :

If it was me…

I personally wouldn’t bother with online advertising (with the possible exception of the RA “featured advertisement” articles). I use adblock to remove ads from all web pages as is. I know a lot of other people use it too. Something about online banner ads makes me distrustful of them.

Wouldn’t bother with the Chronicle, either. I throw that out without even opening it when/if it gets delivered.

I think CityNews and Canberra Weekly are better – quite a lot of people will flip through those while waiting for coffee, lunch, etc. I know a lot of people like to check the social pages to see if they or there friends have been pictured.

Just my opinion, of course. I’m not a marketing guru.

Wow, quite the parasite aren’t you?

Fortunately not everyone tries to leach free content while removing from content providers a means to cover their costs.

And in great news for advertisers they only pay for banners which are displayed.

So the tiny number of low rent freeloaders like you don’t effect their advertising costs.

If it was me…

I personally wouldn’t bother with online advertising (with the possible exception of the RA “featured advertisement” articles). I use adblock to remove ads from all web pages as is. I know a lot of other people use it too. Something about online banner ads makes me distrustful of them.

Wouldn’t bother with the Chronicle, either. I throw that out without even opening it when/if it gets delivered.

I think CityNews and Canberra Weekly are better – quite a lot of people will flip through those while waiting for coffee, lunch, etc. I know a lot of people like to check the social pages to see if they or there friends have been pictured.

Just my opinion, of course. I’m not a marketing guru.

Yes, quite funny asking a question on a site where the OP knows a huge chunk of Canberrans would see and read it, with the question being: “Where can I advertise where a huge chunk of Canberrans would see it?”! Hahahaha! You may have subconsciously found your answer…. 🙂

Yes- don’t forget RiotACT! I have had dealings with a number of business who have had advertising features on this site as a direct result of their articles on RA. All have been positive experiences. I have loved the detailed info in these features and in some cases have gone back and searched for the thread months later with a view to contacting the business.

A particularly memorable one was Rachael Hunter from Dominion Finance- big tick for her for the way she interacted and engaged with everyone on the site in terms of giving frank and helpful answers to questions and concerns.

http://the-riotact.com/advertise