M.D. Vaden
vadenphotography.com
Liked the other "forms of" advertising thread. Figured a good counterpart is comments about wasted advertising. Please express what you think is a waste of advertising.
This could be profession-wide - just your needs - or pertaining to how your local community functions / local culture & trends.
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1. Yellow pages. I'm surprised it's still a living fossil in our area. The fact that it's not entirely converted to just internet. It was not too bad here until other companies also made yellow pages, causing companies to advertise in two or three of them. Never worked well for me even when there was just one book. Our new ones just came to the door last week, and immediately were tossed in recycling. Did not even replace the previous year.
2. Flyers inserted in newspaper tubes that are NOT next to a mail box, unless the paper is still in the tube.
3. Business magnets stuck to unwanted or unsightly spots, rather than offering them (like a mocha stand owner voluntarily posting it on the fridge).
4. Trade show booth with only one side on an isle WHEN THERE WAS a corner booth available for $50 more, offering 2 sides exposed to hundreds of feet of view.
5. Pens with business name.
6. Calendars with business name. All I know is that we are given 8 of them a year or more, and 7 or more go in the trash.
I'd like to add, that my current flyer is gloss with color - paid $600 for 5000 of them. We put them around the 4 to 8 closest houses where we work. Now ... I'm very happy with the design. But ... I discovered that simple B & W flyers of 8.5" x 11" one sided also performed equally well. So unless it was for a trade show or something, I would simply go to the proven basic B & W.
And 15 years ago, I found that B & W flyers performed even better than color paper. Don't know why, maybe it's because it's easier to read.
This could be profession-wide - just your needs - or pertaining to how your local community functions / local culture & trends.
_____________________
1. Yellow pages. I'm surprised it's still a living fossil in our area. The fact that it's not entirely converted to just internet. It was not too bad here until other companies also made yellow pages, causing companies to advertise in two or three of them. Never worked well for me even when there was just one book. Our new ones just came to the door last week, and immediately were tossed in recycling. Did not even replace the previous year.
2. Flyers inserted in newspaper tubes that are NOT next to a mail box, unless the paper is still in the tube.
3. Business magnets stuck to unwanted or unsightly spots, rather than offering them (like a mocha stand owner voluntarily posting it on the fridge).
4. Trade show booth with only one side on an isle WHEN THERE WAS a corner booth available for $50 more, offering 2 sides exposed to hundreds of feet of view.
5. Pens with business name.
6. Calendars with business name. All I know is that we are given 8 of them a year or more, and 7 or more go in the trash.
I'd like to add, that my current flyer is gloss with color - paid $600 for 5000 of them. We put them around the 4 to 8 closest houses where we work. Now ... I'm very happy with the design. But ... I discovered that simple B & W flyers of 8.5" x 11" one sided also performed equally well. So unless it was for a trade show or something, I would simply go to the proven basic B & W.
And 15 years ago, I found that B & W flyers performed even better than color paper. Don't know why, maybe it's because it's easier to read.
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