Offline promotion?

Do you ever do much offline promotion?

I'm starting a forum that is based around a specific city. So my target audience is fairly narrow, but they're fairly close in location too. So I'm wondering if people have any specific tactics for advertising offline locally? [Or even online locally.]

 

I'm doing much the same thing; I'm thinking of wearable promotional items like hats and t-shirts. I'm also considering getting a beach umbrella with the site logo (well, when I get a logo) and encouraging my family to set it up where it can be seen from the boardwalk

 

Word of mouth is good...is conversations with clients etc drop the forum into the conversation...mention it to who ever will listen...

Magazines are a good source of advertising...the type that suit your forum content.

 

I run a local site too and we have done a number of different things that work well...

First and foremost is word of mouth. Tell your friends, collegues, family what you are doing and ask them to spread the word too.

Secondly, make up business cards and fliers. We are a moms group so we post at local schools and I give business cards to other cool moms I meet at the park, store, etc.

Third, get in with local referring organizations. For us, we use child-centered services such as First Five and Parenting Institute to recommend us to their clients as an additional source of support.

Fourth, get out there in the community. Participate in events like fundraisers, community fairs, etc and make sure you bring freebies. Everyone likes freebies.

Hope that helps some!

 

What sorts of freebies did you have in mind MarisaSCM?

 

Freebies...like pens/pencils etc with forum address on them..things like that..not too much outlay but still freebies..

 

That's an excellent idea - it's subtle, but will do the trick. Do you tend to use any particular font and/or text coloring?

 

Haven't actually done any chris..just throwing idea's about.....but worth thinking about...

This type of product is what i mean...


Yo Promotions - Products

 

I hadn't thought about pens and pencils, but that could work nicely. Would you just leave them lying around for people to pick up or actively hand them out?

 

I would say both....

 

It's a strategy that I could see being effective, too. Think about it - we all use a pencil at least once a day (or not - maybe once a week) to do something, and I always find myself looking at the actual instrument while thinking or brainstorming. If someone were to print the name of a discussion community on one of its sides, I'd more than likely feel inclined to check it out.

Or, we could use some sort of subliminal messaging technique. :lol:

 

I have loads of pens from tile suppliers that have company logo or web address on...it's a cheap but effective way of getting your name out and about..


I think i might just get some printed...pencils are excellent idea as some trades use them all day long for marking tiles or wood etc...to cut.

 

If you do decide to give it a try, let us know how it goes.

 

After all, people often throw out business cards, or put them where they'll go unnoticed for long periods of time. It would be wasteful to throw out a good pencil or pen though.

 

Just noticed that company doesloads of promotional stuff...like mugs/cups...keyrings...but ot the cheapest of stuff to order..minimum quantities sharp bump the price up...like min 500 pens at 38p each...+ vat.

 

Would you hand out pens/pencils? Or go to local business and leave them lying around?

 

I would do both. Probably leave them laying around mostly though.

 

Depending on genre of forum you can also see about dropping them at local stores too. Drop off a pack of pens (with your logo) at a local gaming store in exchange for a plug on your website. Or if you have a pc forum drop off a mouse pad at a local repair site in exchange advertisement on your forum.

The networking business doesn't have to be limited to just what you are in. Cross advertise.

As to being a local community. Do up some pens, business cards, and other items and drop off at the local resturants, grocery store bulletin boards, and even donate the pens to like a visitors bureau or local town meeting.

 

One of the best ideas that I ever had for advertising was to drop off a few cartons of pens at local restaurants that don't supply pens for their staff. The servers at these places can spend quite a bit of money on buying pens only for the pens to be snatched up by guests. Usually these servers are using whatever types of pens they can get their hands on that are cheap. So remember that you can't expect them to endorse your website - they will just use your pens. Nevertheless, this technique can get the word out fast and is great if you're site has a local focus.

Note: One of the requests that I got from a server was that the pens have to be the "clicky" kind - not the ones with caps.

 

Very interesting. That way the server sees the pen, but so do all the patrons of the restaurant that are signing their receipts. And maybe they even take them home!