Successful advertising?

K

kmg

www.RockawayBilliards.com
Silver Member
Hi! What type of advertising have you found to be most successful?

We're in quite a slump and I want to pick things up. I'm willing to spend some $$ but want to spend it wisely.

Thanks for some input.

KMG
www.RockawayBilliards.com
 
Advertising

kmg said:
Hi! What type of advertising have you found to be most successful?

We're in quite a slump and I want to pick things up. I'm willing to spend some $$ but want to spend it wisely.

Thanks for some input.

KMG
www.RockawayBilliards.com
Click to expand...

Well in the 15 yrs i`ve been in business I have tried everything, matches, pens, newspapers, bulletin boards at grocery store, and my web site, etc. The only thing I have not done is t.v. and thats just to expensive.

Word of mouth seems to be the best of all.

All the rooms around me are all really slow now, no one can figure what the hell is going on. its scarey for sure.

I had to borrow from my savings to pay Octobers rent.

Thats all I have.

highrun55
mickey scott
 
We're in a slump down here in Florida too. Word of mouth advertising has worked the best for us. Flyers, mailers and newspaper ads havent done a thing for us over the years. We have owned this poolroom since 1974 and it has had it's share of ups and downs but, this time it's really slow. It doesn't help much when the poolroom 10 minutes away gives free pool if you drink alcohol!
All we can do is give good service, promote the proper way to play pool and make people feel glad that they came.
Good luck!
 
Back in the day we had our bar the best dollars were spent as added money to tournaments or running special tournaments. Flyers (diy - cheap) for your customers will generally get the word of mouth out. Send an email if you have a list. Get one of your beer vendors to do some banners (free).
Do something special - not the same old tournament.

Example -
One of our special deals was our bar games olympics (8 ball, 9 ball, darts, foosball, golden t and shuffle bowling) where players got points for how well they placed in each event. One event per week and the entry fee ($25) allowed them to play in all events. Quarters/time were extra. Use what you have (games) in your place. At the end we had a nice payout for top 6 (based on 10% of number of entries) and a banquet (most brought a dish) with $1 longnecks. I think our first olympics we had 63 or 64 participants. It was different but meant to be "fun". If you have a contact with your local paper (local or go section) see about getting a writeup (free).
 
Radio ad's have been our best so far, Print is ok. I would have to agree pool room business is down across the board not just in certian areas. We are very slow for this time of year. We need a good cold snap here:D
Word of mouth, Fourm's like here at AZ and having tourney's with added ( Dartman ;) ) $$ that can get you some kind of write up in a local paper are great ways to get attention. Don't be afraid to pick up the phone and call the local paper and let them know about your events. Also local business such as car dealerships, and if you have beer or liquor your vendors are great resources for sponsioship for events. If your lucky you wont have to spend a dime and get added $$ for your events and some free publicity form it as well. Our Viking tour stop $500 added event was 100 % sponsored by outside businesses. They got mentioned in a write up in our local paper as sponsors. I hang their company banners up for patorns to see all weekend and pass out business cards as well. They get some great exposure from it!
 
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We seem to get the most bang for the buck with our local cable rep. I run 200 commercials a month on ESPN, ESPN2, Spike, FX, Headline News,etc and 2 commercials on everymonday night football. It costs us $1200 a month and is well worth it, plus is cheaper than radio and most newspaper.
 
T-shirts, sweatshirts, caps, and jackets - advertising that pays for itself if you do it right.

In El Paso, I never had much success with radio ads at all. If I would have flushed that money down the crapper it would not have made a difference.

I would advertsie in the local miliary paper on Fort Bliss, put a coupon in there every other month, advertise specials... that was very successful - and I also offered free pool to Police, Fire, EMS, and Sheriff's office employees on Mondays and Thursdays (the slow nights). Amazingly successful.

Fundraisers are a smart move too. Find a local charity and have a fundraiser. Many newspapers and media will cover the fundraiser, which in turn is free advertising for your business. Of course, your heart has to be in the right place - I have spoken to room owners that despise fundraisers because they want all the money coming into the room to go into their register. :confused:

If someone attends the fundraiser and has a good time, then word of mouth kicks in.

Tracey, get with me, I can do a fundraiser at your room sometime in November - give me a call and I will let you know the specifics.
 
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