Aside from the almighty word of mouth. What has been your best return on investment for advertising? I am contemplating a strategic direct mail out this spring to build a bigger client base.
I’ve been hanging door hangers when working in an area and so far just .02% ROI
What are some strategies you have used in the past that have not worked and why?
Thanks be the professionals that teach.
Have a great weekend.

In todays market I would say a good web site. Mailing is a one time viewing.

Google AdWords is a huge return for us...my websites get alot of traffic and sell for us. I build my own and build in all the SEO.

www.callthetrapper.com (just rebuilt that one 3 weeks ago...3rd rebuild to keep up with times)...other business is www.midwestbirdcontrol.com

Used to do a alot of direct mail but unless they have the problem right now it isn't effective like you would think.

Trade shows are excellent...kinda expensive but we get a big return on them...about $7 for each $1 it costs for shows over a year. Keep your brand the same no matter what you do in marketing and advertising. Also get the "Google my business" app and get set up on that

Pretty sure you will be disappointed with direct mail.

Brand new website isn't going to show up great for a few months. Going to need to supplement with google AdWords.

I think Thumbtack has good leads, but very few in my area.

Homeadvisor and Elocal are both AdWords arbiters, but if they are better than you at the AdWords game it makes sense.

Still learning how to correctly market with Facebook. Can't help much there. Did have some success last week. Hope it's a trend and not a fluke.

Maybe the best thing I did early on was go around to pest control only companies and offer my wildlife services to them. It kept their customers from going to a wildlife company that might do pest as well and then they lose their pest control contract. Most of them loved the idea.

Oh gosh. This can turn into a rabbit hole as advertising is always being changed and refined. At least it is for us.

I see companies large and small doing all sorts of things. They keep doing them, so I assume they work.

The smaller and younger companies need the business now, in order to survive. So they focus on ways to find people with an immediate problem.

Companies that are a bit more mature look for those that need immediate help, but also start to promote their brand. The younger companies don't have a brand yet. The branding establishes trust so you have a better shot with those who need help immediately, or at least you get a call and a chance to bid on the job.

Where your company is now, and where you want to be in 2, 5, and 7 years from now dictates the best course of action. What works for my company might not work for yours. What's your plan? What is your ideal client? What are their habits, lifestyle, and education?

My residential business is trappers wildlife control and for that business my website mixed with Google AdWords is hot ticket...then one or two lawn and garden shows...we have a very high success rate marketing in shows...finally figured out how to get people to look at the whole booth and stop a big # of people...pm me where you are from and will tell you how to do that...anyone that competes with me just will have to come to a show I am in to see what I do lol. Average ticket of biz per customer sits at about $400.00. we service about 500 clients a year

My commercial, industrial, and government business is Midwest bird control...that business uses big industry specific trade shows, very little Google AdWords, an awesome website presence, big LinkedIn presence, and word of mouth that coincides with extremely qualified work as well as being fully set up to do business with major corporations. (Basically a ton of office and computer time). Average ticket of biz per customer sits at about $13,000.00. We service maybe 20 customers a year

So to give you an idea about how you market and advertise is to know what kind of client you are looking for (not just one that spends money).

Been in biz 19 years and I absolutely love making the phone ring and thoroughly enjoy sales calls and love what I do.

Travis,


Magnetic business cards. They don’t get thrown away like paper ones. They end up on refrigerators and filing cabinets, and they’ll last forever.

They cost more than paper ones, but they’re still reasonably priced. Quality over quantity.


Good luck

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