Hello all, first time to the board. I find this forum very informative I help run a small hunting/outfitting service and need some help on advertising. We have tried print ads in local papers and I dont think it does much good. We also have a website and facebook page. We have tried google ad words and seo. We have gotten some calls from that however we are looking for ways to advertise more. The next thing we are thinking about trying is paying for ads on facebook. (Is this worth it?) Again I am new to the advertising game and trying to learn as much as I can so be easy. Thank you everyone in advance.
Set up a squeeze page with an opt in form so you can build your email list. Use Getresponse or Aweber for that. Put the link to your squeeze page on a Twitter profile then follow other people in your niche. Twitter is great for advertising.
Hi Jm! Learning more about proper online marketing is just suits you especially that you guys are just starting. marketingforthepeople.com is your complete roadmap for creating and leveraging online marketing to drive traffic to your website and build your brand. This might help a little.
Try craigslist. If you can run ads in close, large cities you should be able to get some leads. pm ehug on this forum since he had a post indicating craigslist posting services. Just ran a search on "hunting/outfitting forum" and found a number of them. You could join and get active on those. If they allow a signature use it to point back to your website. How about some sort of joint venture with a local taxidermy studio. When they buy from you they get a discount for their mount and the taxidermy studio gets more business A local raffle might also build business. Here (in Montana) a local church raffled an assault rifle donated by a local outfitter. They took some flak in the opinions section of the paper, but got a lot of publicity. Give (maybe free) classes at your local community college such as gun safety, wilderness survival, etc. If there is a local internet radio station do a talk program. You might have to pay them, but it can give you a lot of exposure. Contact outfitters in other parts of the country and setup some sort of reciprocal lead program and advertising. Some of their clients might be interested in your area. Send them an attractive poster to put on their wall. Create and give away an informative ebook or regular pamphlet. In my area we have a lot of truck stops and grocery stores with bulletin boards. Again a great poster or offer might bring in some business. Get featured in the local newspaper's business section. Have booklets printed on various things to do with your business with local information. Get several local restaurant to let you leave them on tables. Tourists and locals are always looking for something to do while waiting for their order. You could also have "war" stories. "There we were, surrounded by a very hungry wolf pack"" sorta thing based on your experiences. Everyone has some great stories. Even better, put a nominal price on it. We have several local places with tattered and dogeared copies of a local writers stories about life on the ranch and growing up in Montana. Every so often one of them sells. Hope some of this helps - Good Luck