Where to advertise in Galway

Eurochild

My other half has a business in the medical line in Galway which she wants to advertise. Would anyone be prepared to offer advice as to what they believe the most effective way to do this in Galway would be? Newspaper (paid or free)? Leaflets in the door? Local radio? Or is word-of-mouth the only effective way and would advertising be a waste of money? She's already in the Golden Pages.

SimpleSam06

Leaflets and flyers are problematic in Galway, since you can't do anything with them except put them in door to door, city council regulations. Doing the door to door thing is a fun experience in trying not to get bitten by dogs, not to mention that people are sick of the raft of flyers in the door daily. Forget putting them out in shopping centres too unless you can convince an insurer to give you public liability insurance for less than a year. Pity really as printing is so cheap. iSupply on the sea road(?) near the blue note bar are some of the fastest and cheapest around.

The papers can be alright, you'll pay through the nose for the Advertiser, maybe the Independent? Depending on your budget the radio can be a decent alternative, but you'll need a few grand to make any impact. Flirt FM the student station are very cheap however. Galway Bay has a waiting list as well. The web is a channel also, there are lots of directories and listings if s/he has a website. If not you can set up a blog or something and google for "Irish website directories". I've used the Galway business pages as well, thats free online classifieds specific to Galway.

You can also give a try to the binart guys, they have bins throughout the city centre, and on the prom (handy spot there) I think they are fairly reasonable. Maybe see if s/he can set up partnerships with associated businesses, if its massage, talk to acupuncturists and chiropracters, etc. Gyms are another good avenue. Possibly they can send one another business from time to time, or leave flyers in each other's offices. This kind of affiliate stuff can pay real dividends if its done right.

Joining a business network would be of limited value since they are mostly useful to businesses that service other businesses. I might try a run of 10 weeks of a good sized classified advert in the paper for a reasonably cheap experiment in the effectiveness of the papers, you can get discounts if you block buy them.

Buglim

Hi EuroChild

I'm in the advertising sales game (have sold in paper, outddor, internet and have worked also on the agency side) and I have to say that advice on a local level from SimpleSam is very good.

I would say stay away from the bins only for a number of reasons (research on bin advertising has been less than positive) that I will not get into here.

Best of luck

ScumLord

Who's going to want to buy your stuff?

snubbleste

You need to tell us who the target audience is and their income level. Do they use the Debenhams carpark or the Aldi carpark? Is this medical line a luxury or a necessity?

Eurochild

snubbleste wrote: »

You need to tell us who the target audience is and their income level. Do they use the Debenhams carpark or the Aldi carpark? Is this medical line a luxury or a necessity?

Thanks for all the replies, some excellent advice there. Her business is chiropody, i.e. feet. I was treading carefully in not going into specifics, I want to be clear that this is a genuine request for advice, not an attempt at a sneaky plug for her business! The target audience is everybody - she gets patients from all social strata and I would say her services were more of a necessity than a luxury.

Das Kitty

You see ads for things like that in the advertiser and the other free papers. As mentioned on here in the past though, the advertiser prices are massive, could be worth it though.

pencil

The Internet!

Eurochild - howadays the search engines are the first port of call for a LOT of people. Anyone that sits at a desk will turn to Google before they turn to the Golden pages or the Advertiser. Should they need a chiropodist - certainly anyone here on boards will use Google before they start looking at paper based media.

A search of Google for chiropodist galway, shows that NO other chiropodist in Galway have a website that appears in the first page of results! I would look to use my money to ensure that people searching for "chiropodist galway" were delivered to my site with my contact details.

If you are on a tight advertising budget, do the sums. A Goldenpages advert approx 4"x2" will cost approx €1200 (very approx) for one year - after a year it's another €1200. A €400 Advertiser advert is used to light the fire by the weekend!

In Galway there are dozens of companies building websites charging anything from €500 to €2000 for small simple sites. This, imho, is were you will get the best return for a small advertising budget.

I'll bet that within 3 weeks THIS page will be in the top 5 results for chiropodist galway

ScumLord

So basically your looking for people with sore feet. All you need to do is find out where people with sore feet hang out. Hand flyers into gyms, sports clubs.

I'm sure she knows what generally causes people to need her services. All ye need to do is find places where you'd get allot of these people in one place.

Mrs OBumble

pencil wrote: »

The Internet!

Eurochild - howadays the search engines are the first port of call for a LOT of people. Anyone that sits at a desk will turn to Google before they turn to the Golden pages or the Advertiser. Should they need a chiropodist - certainly anyone here on boards will use Google before they start looking at paper based media.

A search of Google for chiropodist galway, shows that NO other chiropodist in Galway have a website that appears in the first page of results! I would look to use my money to ensure that people searching for "chiropodist galway" were delivered to my site with my contact details.

If she's aiming at the young and educated, then I'd agree.

But I think many of the clients are likely to be elderly? My impression is that older people in Ireland are slow to change their habits, and perhaps don't use google as much as your average boards-dweller (deliberate understatement here!).

Agree re finding out where the prospective clients hang out ... maybe doctors surgeries rather than gyms though. Shoe-shops selling specialist shoes (eg the one in Middle Street).

Buglim

I'm sorry to say it Eurochild but most of the first few responses about the internet are either A) haven't got a clue build web sites or involved in this line C) once read something like this someplace else.

A web page combined with a service like adsense can give you returns and it may not. It can be just as much trial and error as anyplace else. If all advertising was this simple everyone would be doing it.

Now that I know what business you are in I would have presumed that many of your customers would be from a 40+ demographic??? if this is the case then traditional forms of media maybe the way to go.

pencil

Buglim wrote: »

I'm sorry to say it Eurochild but most of the first few responses about the internet are either
build web sites or involved in this line

Guilty as charged your honor

Buglim wrote: »

A web page combined with a service like adsense can give you returns and it may not.

I completely disagree with this. Adsence is a waste of money for such an uncompetitive search term such as "chiropodist galway".

Buglim wrote: »

It can be just as much trial and error as anyplace else. If all advertising was this simple everyone would be doing it.

Buglim, you been ill advised or have had bad luck with web developers. The POINT is - if you know what your doing it is that easy*! If you want proof search for 'chiropodist galway' now in google! In the search results note that this page is now in 7th position on the first page of results (as of 11:30am today). I knew this would be so....

Buglim wrote: »

Now that I know what business you are in I would have presumed that many of your customers would be from a 40+ demographic??? if this is the case then traditional forms of media maybe the way to go.

Somewhat agreed - 40+ demographic does have a lower interent usage. No advertising method is perfect and I'd still rather spend my money on a site that is there for years - rather than a throw way Advertiser Advert!

* the uncompetive nature of the term 'chiropodist galway' makes this easy to do. With other, more competitive, terms its much harder.

SimpleSam06

pencil wrote: »

I completely disagree with this. Adsence is a waste of money for such an uncompetitive search term such as "chiropodist galway".

Considering you won't spend any money until it is clicked on, how is it a waste of money?

pencil

SimpleSam06 wrote: »

Considering you won't spend any money until it is clicked on, how is it a waste of money?

Clicking on organic results are free!

Clicking on Organic results would not cost the owner of a site any money. The business in question doesn't have any competition for the terms they would want to be found for - hence relatively easy to achieve a top ranking for 'chiropodist galway' in organic results! There is no real need to pay for clicks with this scenerio.

Buglim

Hi SimpleSam

Sorry but that is a very simplified version of how it works and PI and Word Buy also has to be taken into account.

I am only talking about spending money to improve your chances and organic is not included in this.

pencil

Buglim wrote: »

Hi SimpleSam

Sorry but that is a very simplified version of how it works and PI and Word Buy also has to be taken into account.

For this particular business..... If you think so.... please elaborate.... If you can educate me I'll be thankful (seriously!)
[note: we are not talking about selling widgets to a worldwide market, we are talking about selling 'chiropody in Galway'!]

Buglim wrote: »

I am only talking about spending money to improve your chances and organic is not included in this.

Why not. Organic search results are the MOST important. Far, far, far, fewer people pay attention to 'paid results' than organic. Frankly, the only reason this business would pay for clicks is IF they had a poor website.

The OP asked for opinions on how to advertise their business.
imho, considering that NO other chiropodist in Galway is using the internet - the best way to achieve long lasting 'bang for your buck' is with a small well performing website.

SimpleSam06

pencil wrote: »

There is no real need to pay for clicks with this scenerio.

Oh I agree, but in terms of it being a waste of money, its only a waste if you get clicks that don't result in either increased coverage or a lead to a sale, ie malicious clicks. You are dead right that in this case it would be pointless however.

Buglim wrote: »

I am only talking about spending money to improve your chances and organic is not included in this.

Although the case could be made that whatever is charged for SEO services could be weighed against the cost per click from Adsense.

Another idea, maybe not much use in this business, is you can get a perforated film wrap for the back window of a taxi for maybe €100 to €120 a month. I'd only talk to drivers working for a company if you are doing that however. Handy little mobile advertisement rolling around the city streets for less than the cost of a large classified.

pencil

SimpleSam06 wrote: »

Another idea, maybe not much use in this business, is you can get a perforated film wrap for the back window of a taxi for maybe €100 to €120 a month. I'd only talk to drivers working for a company if you are doing that however. Handy little mobile advertisement rolling around the city streets for less than the cost of a large classified.

Not a bad idea! Be sure to get a Car thats on the road all the time!

Although the 100 every month is a lot!

Buglim

Hi Pencil

I'm not talking just about paid for results in Google and yes you are right it is a chiropodist in Galway and not a world wide campaign.

On the other hand I've just put Chiropodist Galway into google and have had 7k+ returns and you are telling me that no other Chiropodist in Galway is using the net??

I think the taxi idea isn't bad but Titan will get you a metro square bus side for approx €300 to €400 per month.

I think also that we have strayed away from the point of the original question whcih is basically, is advertising effective or not?

Yes it is and if you have the cash it can be an fairly exact science and if you do not then it maybe trial and error.

Fey!

Like the taxi idea, why not try posters on the buses? If you're aiming for an older age bracket, anyone over 65 has free travel, and a large amount of them will avail of it and use buses. (I'd be aiming for posters inside the bus, where you have a captive audience, rather than outside the bus, which has a wider audience).

I would also try targeting shops - people who are on their feet all day...

pencil

Buglim wrote: »

Hi Pencil

I'm not talking just about paid for results in Google and yes you are right it is a chiropodist in Galway and not a world wide campaign.

On the other hand I've just put Chiropodist Galway into google and have had 7k+ returns and you are telling me that no other Chiropodist in Galway is using the net??

Apologies - what I meant to say was: no website for a Galway based Chiropodist appears in the first 5 pages (fifty results) of google results (I stopped looking after 5 pages). Yes google does return 7k+ results, but they are result for various pages relating to Chiropody & Galway. The 7th position is now occupied by this page! Hence no Galway based Chiropodist is using the internet effectively (btw this applies to a lot of other industries).

Buglim wrote: »

I think the taxi idea isn't bad but Titan will get you a metro square bus side for approx €300 to €400 per month.

I'm not with you here, is this one bus shelter for 3-4 hundred per month?

Buglim wrote: »

I think also that we have strayed away from the point of the original question whcih is basically, is advertising effective or not?

Yes it is and if you have the cash it can be an fairly exact science and if you do not then it maybe trial and error.

Bang on.

Mrs OBumble

Buglim wrote: »

I think the taxi idea isn't bad but Titan will get you a metro square bus side for approx €300 to €400 per month.

I'm not sure that old people (I'm thinking chiropody is aimed at 60+s) will take much notice of piccies on the side of a taxi.

I'd go so far as to say that nothing would beat viral marketing (aka word-of-mouth) for older people.

Buglim

A lot of OAP's use the bus??

SimpleSam06

pencil wrote: »

Although the 100 every month is a lot!

Eh even if it only gets noiced by a dozen people a day, thats 360 a month, with say a conversion rate of one percent, for 3 to 4 customers a month - would that pay for itself? And in Galway traffic you're talking about a lot more than a dozen a day (unexpected side benefit of the congestion! ).

Buglim wrote: »

Yes it is and if you have the cash it can be an fairly exact science and if you do not then it maybe trial and error.

As they say, I know half of the money I spend on advertising is wasted, I just don't know which half! Definetely a cautious process of trial and error at first; set up a blog, get it listed in directories, print off flyers and drop them off in gyms, masseurs, acupuncturists, and maybe doctors' surgeries around about, and run a three month classified campaign in the independent and advertiser. Total cost under a grand, with the bulk of it going to the papers, and expand it from there.

JustMary wrote: »

I'd go so far as to say that nothing would beat viral marketing (aka word-of-mouth) for older people.

That really is the holy grail of advertising, and in this case I'd say it boils down to good customer service and say discounts for OAPs. Viral marketing is word of mouth ++, pretty hard to do right. A great example was the i102 104 thief, you had gangs of young people running up to complete strangers and asking them had they got money for them. Very impressive.

Buglim

True, I hope we haven't turned Eurochild off the idea:D

pencil

Buglim wrote: »

True, I hope we haven't turned Eurochild off the idea:D

No, but I reckon we've given them plenty to thing about - boards is great that way

sceptre

pencil wrote: »

I'll bet that within 3 weeks THIS page will be in the top 5 results for chiropodist galway

Looks like it took 18 hours to get to number 6:)

Number 5 now. That wasn't 3 weeks, was it?

SimpleSam06

Deleted User wrote: »

Number 5 now. That wasn't 3 weeks, was it?

Unfotunately not much use to the OP unless they *cough* put in a link here. Pretty handy for anyone wanting to open a chiropody clinic or their competition though.

Eurochild

SimpleSam06 wrote: »

Unfotunately not much use to the OP unless they *cough* put in a link here. Pretty handy for anyone wanting to open a chiropody clinic or their competition though.

Righty ho then, I can't look this gift horse in the mouth so I'm going to bust a gut over the weekend and try and have a website up and running by next week (with link!). I'm not a web designer but I have an IT background and have created reasonably decent looking websites (I hope) in the past for friends so I think I can knock together something and save €500 quid.

Any suggestions for what a prospective punter would like to see on such a site? Foot blog!? 101 horrible conditions of the foot!? Why feet matter...?! What about a domain name? .ie or .com?

Thanks again for all the free advice, genuinely appreciated. I'll have to see if I can negotiate a discount for boards.ie members

toiletduck

Sore feet? Put your ad on the rickshaws so!