The local Mexican restaurant is getting new tables. There are 20 tables in the main dining area, and they all have advertising on them like this. The tables/advertising will remain in place for two and a half years, after which some will be moved to a smaller dining area.
Mrs. L.A., RN, BSN, Certified Foot Care Specialist, is thinking about buying a 2-inch by 4-inch space for her home foot care nursing service she started one year ago. She’s just able to pay her bills, except for her deferred student loan. She could go back to home health care; but while she likes the work, she’s had some bad bosses. She could go to nursing homes and other facilities; but while she would have more patients, she would only be paid about half of her (very reasonable) fee. She needs to get the word out that she’s here. Neither one of us has experience in marketing. While her ‘business model’ is providing medical foot care to people for whom it’s difficult to leave their homes, some of them do get out to eat from time to time. Their children and caregivers also go out to eat. If she can get four new patients that she sees every other month for a year, that will pay for the ad. Who knows? Maybe she’ll get a bunch of new patients.
Do many other restaurants in your area have advertising on their tables? I’m in the mid west and I remember seeing such, but not for years.
Now that most folks have smart phones there’s no need to read advertising or sugar packets. Facebook, email, SDMB. I’d rather do that in place of ketchup bottles.
If they’re just starting doing this, and it’s not the norm in your area, the price for an ad is probably going to be relatively low. And it sounds like your wife is looking to expand her business, which kind of requires advertising. So the question isn’t whether she should advertise, but only how. If this is an inexpensive form of advertising, then it might be a good option.
I always wind up reading the table ads. I’ve never actually called any of the people but that’s more to do with me not needing their services than anything else. I think those ads come across as the business being community-oriented and a bit old fashioned and stable, which isn’t a bad thing in the “in-home foot care for home-bound patients” business.
But, without actually knowing the financials, it’s hard to say. I don’t think that the concept itself is a bad one.
I don’t know about ‘many’, but they’re not unusual. Mrs. L.A.'s clientele are generally older; people who have trouble taking care of their own feet, and/or have medical conditions. While some people do pull out their phones, most people we see interact with one another. The tabletops are another thing for them to see, much like the decorations in the restaurants. If they have a phone, they might take a picture of an ad that interests them.
That cheap advertising, IME, works well.
There’s a bar nearby my store that does advertising on their place mats. Very similar to this.
Years ago we started putting ads on them as well. It was like $100 for 5000 of them*. As soon as we started doing it, a lot of people started coming in because they saw it. It certainly made a difference.
Then to change it up after running it for a while, we started having them print that our ad upside down or mirrored (hold the place mat up to a light and look through the back). Every time we made some little change like that, people would mention it in the store.
Give it a shot. As long as the price is reasonable, you don’t have a whole lot to lose.
*They way it works there, is that when they’re getting low, the person who makes them (who IIRC, drinks there) figures out who wants to put ads on the next run. Collects the money, makes the place mats and your ad ‘runs’ until they have more printed.
Even if you don’t call them, someday when you do need that service and you go looking for a business that provides it, that name will stick out see it.
People really do like the ‘shop local’ thing. While it’s hardly universal, a lot of people will go to a business specifically because it’s not some huge chain.
I don’t know the actual cost, but I think it’s over $1,000 for the second-smallest option she wants. That’s with the 20% discount if she makes two payments, as opposed to 12 monthly payments. The tabletops are not as crowded as some I’ve seen, so there will be some visibility; and the ads will remain in place for two and a half years, plus a ‘bonus’ period when the tables are moved to the other dining area.
Currently, she is distributing flyers to various places (care facilities, credit unions, wherever they’ll let her put them), and she is getting referrals from people at the home health care service she used to work for.
That’s what I was thinking. People read ads. Even if they don’t need what you’re offering, they might need it later. We usually eat in the bar (yet), which doesn’t have ad tables. Yesterday I saw an ad for a gun dealer (gunsmith?). I need to start selling off my 30-year collection, so next time we go to the restaurant I’ll take a picture of his ad.
In-home health care is very local. There are several foot care nurses in Bellingham, but they don’t seem to want to cover Blaine/Birch Bay/Lynden/Everson.
Can you reserve ad space for a particular area of the tables? You don’t want your message covered up by chips and salsa, not to mention Mexican food drips.
Space is first-bought, first had. So you can choose the space that isn’t bought yet. The layout is not crowded. The wall end of the tables have the ad guy’s ads (2). They are covered up by the condiments. The middle of the table has the restaurant’s ‘brand’ (and a ‘Like us on Facebook’ with scannable tag under it). The bought ads are along the three sides of the tables, so they would not be where the chips and salsa are. In any case, it’s been my experience that ad-reading ends when the food plates come out.
This kind of advertising works best for an “everyone is a potential customer” type of business like a shoe store it seems to me that in home foot care is more of a specific target of customers. I think you’d be better off using google or facebook that will allow you to finely target who is seeing your ads. Obviously, there is some issue that the age group you need to target isn’t the most likely to respond to web ads but from what I’ve read there are a ton of old people on facebook so that would probably be my first attempt.
Another place ads for local businesses show up is the back of (some) church bulletins. The nice thing with them is the ad goes home with the person. I have no idea about the logistics though.
My former church did this. No ads on the first couple pages which had the service. The rest of the bulletin was news and updates and had ads. They decided to do this to reduce the announcement time. Instead of someone from the reading club getting 5 minutes to speak, it went in the bulletin. That would also be the listing of volunteer opportunities, the worship schedule, and all the stuff that has made announcement time drag on forever. A win/win and restaurants would often place an ad for a discount with the bulletin.
Ad guy here. Go for it, but only if it’s cheap. And I doubt you’ll get immediate calls from this medium; this’ll be more la case of “get placement in the back of people’s minds.” (Then when they see you mentioned on social media, they’ll think “I recognize that name. They must know what they’re doing.”)
Even better when they make it a coupon, ie “bring this bulletin in for $2.00 off, Sunday only”. That way you’re thinking about it during mass and since it ‘expires’ almost immediately, people go right from church to the restaurant.
I definitely don’t want to read or think about feet while I’m eating. I’m really squeamish about someone touching me with their feet. Shivers just thinking about it.
IMO, word of mouth and targeted marketing are the best ways to promote a small specialized business. Unless the work just isn’t worth the effort for half her rate, better to get twice as many clients paying half the rate who could bring in more clients. Marketing is largely a numbers game.
In addition a 2"x4" ad is really tiny, barely larger than a business card. Would you notice a business card if it was left on the table?
Related to business cards, whatever happened to the flyer you were working on? Did you ever complete the project or is she still using the flyers she made? I mentioned this in that thread, professionalism in advertising, especially in something as personal as foot care is very important. Given a choice with an obviously homemade flyer vs one that looks professionally done, I’d go with the professional looking one even if the cost was higher.
Once you get a professional looking flyer (with the tips you were given in the other thread, you were close to a high quality product), you might want to look into direct mailing or getting on the back of store receipts. I just got a Val-Pak envelope and don’t usually open them, but thought I’d check to see if there are any good coupons. One for car detailing caught my eye and I would have at least considered it if I didn’t already make plans to take my car in for a check-up and detailing at my dealership. Again, I usually don’t look at the back of store receipts, but the other day I happened to check and there were a couple of coupons that I clipped.
One of the key points the sharks on Shark Tank always make is that a successful businessperson is always hustling, not waiting for the customers to come to them. The shoe store has been mentioned, which I agree is a great tie-in. Manicure/pedicure salons and massage places could be another place to market. Also see if you can setup a table or small display at store. Doesn’t have to foot related. Also, consider swap meets/flea markets. Again, the point is to get out the public and not just wait for them to come to you.
Yup, that’s exactly what they did and we were a wonderful target. Congregation with a lot of people under 40, large LGBT, and not many teetotallers. The cocktails started flowing, we knew how to tip, and we definitely didn’t tie up a table all afternoon playing bridge!