Is radio, TV or billboard advertising worth it for a service business?
Sometimes. Radio, TV and billboard ads can reach a whole area at once, so they can suit a service business with a wide service area, a service most households need sooner or later, and room for more work. They are hard to trace, because many people who hear or see them get in touch days later, often by searching your name. Give the ad its own phone number or short web address, ask every new customer how they heard of you, and judge the run by jobs won.
When broad local ads can suit a service business
- A wide service area, where most of the people the ad reaches could actually hire you.
- A service most households need at some point, such as heating and cooling, roofing or pest control.
- A message that fits in a few seconds: what you do, where, and one reason to call.
- A business that already answers every call quickly and has room for more jobs.
- Less suited: a narrow area, a specialist service few people need, or a budget that only covers a short run, since this kind of advertising often works through repetition.
Why they are hard to trace
Like print, these ads have no click to count, so an inquiry they prompt is usually recorded as search, and the ad gets no credit; the related answer on tracking leads from flyers, signs and vehicles explains why. What is particular to broadcast and roadside ads is the reach a seller quotes: it is how many people may have heard or seen the ad, not how many got in touch. The related answer on cost per click, impressions and reach explains how online ad reports define attention numbers like these.
Make the run traceable before it starts
The markers are the same as for print: a phone number and a short web address used only in that ad, and the source question on every call and form. The related answer on tracking leads from flyers, signs and vehicles covers all three; inquiries through the ad's own number or address go under campaign, each followed to won, lost or still open. What changes for broadcast and roadside ads:
- The number or address has to work when heard once or read from a passing car, so keep it short and easy to say.
- Keep the number working after the run ends, since some people may call it months later.
- Add radio, TV and billboard to the answers to the source question, with the station or the sign's location in the notes.
- Ask the seller for the dates and times the ad ran, so you can compare them with when calls and forms arrived.
Judging whether it paid for itself
The U.S. Small Business Administration's marketing guidance gives radio ads and billboards as examples of channels to list in a marketing plan, and says to compare your marketing and sales costs with the revenue they generate. As general advice, decide the window before the run starts, then add up the inquiries traced to it, the jobs won and what they were worth, against what the run cost.
Ask the seller for its shortest commitment, so a first run is a test rather than a long contract, and compare the same months year over year if your work is seasonal. The related answer on brand awareness or leads covers awareness work more generally.
Sources
Related answers
- How do you track leads from flyers, yard signs and truck wraps?
- Should your marketing build brand awareness or bring in leads?
- What do cost per click, impressions and reach mean in an ad report?
Lead generation and lead tracking
A lead that waits a day goes cold, and a lead with no source teaches you nothing. Ascent Vision fixes both.