Best of the ISP-Lists

What's the Best Advertising Medium?

The ISP-Advertising list discusses a constant topic of interest, advertising, and the relative effectiveness of paid outlets versus good old word-of-mouth.

[June 16, 2000]

On the ISP-Advertising list in June, RL posted this query on an evergreen topic:

"Last year in a survey of this list, 45 percent of members wrote that the single most effective medium for advertising was word of mouth. Other media were less effective (i.e., local radio accounted for 15 percent, an ISP's Web pages 11 percent, etc.) Is this information still accurate?"

One respondent allowed that the numbers were probably accurate, but took exception to one advertising outlet:

[M wrote] "I will tell you this: Don't waste a nickel on the Yellow Pages. We spent $1K a month for the most prominent spot under Internet services and Web hosting in our yellow pages. Since it was published, we've gotten $500 worth of business in total."

Another respondent disagreed and added some further explanation about the effectiveness of various media:

[RG wrote] "Our Yellow Page ads run in four local phone books, cost $600 a month and generate at the least $1,500. 71 percent of the signups we get come from people browsing phone books. Word of mouth works with the more technologically inclined customers. Contests, free-month giveaways and other promotions have done very little compared to the Yellow Pages. Also don't forget local radio. A couple of spots run in the morning drive slot will generate a lot of interest, generally for an outlay of around $500 to $1,000."

[On the subject of radio, BP added] "By far our most successful advertising has been radio: Over 50 percent of our signups are from radio ads. The key is how you use it: you must be creative. For you techies out there, use a professional who can get the attention of potential customers. We do our radio spots in conjunction with giveaways and prizes, make sure that the personality doing the ads actually uses the service, and get on-air ourselves to promote the services live."

[HC had an original idea] "One local ISP leased some VW Beetles and had their logo splashed on them. Those cars are quite eye catching as it is, with their funky colors and all, and the advertising is out there 24 hours a day; everybody notices them and, when asked, everyone knows that dot.com by name. What's a car lease for these days, $400 a month?"

BH added his two cents' worth on the current accuracy of the survey's findings:

"In general I think those percentages still hold up. By far, referrals from our customers are the most effective, and we take pains to encourage them to talk about us. Talk radio is miles ahead of conventional music radio for us. A colored line listing in the Yellow Pages seems to have generated some extra business, so I'm considering shrinking our display ad. We got no responses from a test of restaurant placemat ads, although I did get a list of everyone who filled out the information form on the placemats. This list is pretty useful and it includes a question about whether the person is interested in learning more about us. The only drawback is the over three month long delay."

Related Articles
The Value of Word of Mouth, on Ad Resource

Also see our other articles on advertising.

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