$20,000 to spend: Direct Mail or Billboard?
Posted by: Chris Burslem
in MyBlog
on Aug 24, 2010 
We had a reader pose us this question:
I’ve read — possibly in INSTORE — that you should aim to spend an amount equivalent to 5 percent of total sales as your advertising budget. For me that’s about $20,000 a year. In 2011, I also want to focus most of my ad dollars on one main medium (2011 is going to be the year I do everything right). So I’m thinking either billboard or direct mail? What do you recommend? Billboards in my neighborhood run $700 to $2500 a month.
Our answer? We're going to play it safe and say go for the direct mail. We know of a lot of jewelers who have done really well with billboards but worry that $20,000 won't be enough to pull off a professional campaign that lasts the whole year. Actually, this is the point where we'd normally call in our experts and nod sagely as they tell you what to do. But this time we thought we'd try Instoremag.com first. So, dear reader, what do you think? Billboards or direct mail? Or perhaps something else all together.
An example that comes to mind for having existing clients come back more frequently is using a combination of direct mail, text messaging and emails all with a specific theme/campaign. It could be a loyalty program that you sent out the direct mail letter to, to invite them into the program, then each month send an email newsletter with what's new, specials and how many loyalty points they have, and then have 'spot' specials or VIP nights that clients receive a text message invite to. You can also limit how many loyalty points they can use at once, that way they have have to keep coming back to use them, rather than using them in one go. You can also use the direct mail, email or text message as a way to ask your existing clients to refer a friend. It could be a 'one for you and one for your friend' type gift card or special.
That's just a few thoughts, and I'd definitely start from the beginning and really define the purpose of the campaign and how much revenue, how many new clients or how much repeat business you expect for the $20,000 investment