Like all of you here, I'd like my business name to be known by everyone in Sheffield and not in a 'don't touch them with a barge pole' kind of way.

What I want to happen is when the good people of Sheffield are searching online for their new TV / Laptop / Computer / Gadget / Camera they'll see the name MoreComputers.com come up in the search results and think 'I've heard of them, they're from Sheffield'

So my question to you all is - What do you think would get our name seen by the most people for the money invested?

What would give me the most positive eyeball to pound note ratio?

I know the marketing experts say you should never do any marketing without a call to action and a direct response mechanism - I agree and that's how I generate sales for my business. But something tells me increasing awareness locally will help me cut through the online noise.

Any help is much appreciated.

Hi there,

With Sheffield having such a high student population, they're always a good target market to start with.
I'd advise starting the campaign by advertising to them before they have even arrived in the city. There are several publicatons that get sent out to the home addresses of new students once they have accepted their place at Uni in August. By advertising in one of these publications you are not only targeting them, but their parents (with the money) too.
That way by the time they arrive in Sheffield they are already aware of your brand or will have already purchased from you to kit out their new student accommodation with gadgets.

Then once they arrive in Sheffield there are lots of ways to get your message out to them but you are already a step ahead.

Hope it helps

James

One trick you are missing out by way of potential enquiries/sales i the optimisation of your website. You're not maximising your web pages with the best use of keywords.

So in order for more people to see you in the search engines, before thinking about name recognition, is making sure you are ranking high for keywords which convert from web visitor to sales.

You have a website with a lot going for it and those finishing touches with better keywords will catapult you forward.

I think the OP was talking more of (shudders) "brand awareness"

You could do what amazon do and bid on virtually every keyword.

Looking for sports nutrition the other day and an adwords ad said "(brand name) - best deals here" etc

it was amazon and they didn't actually have any in stock but... surprise surprise, I was on their website...

Thanks guys, to get this in perspective. I'll still be looking at ways to target students (James I think I may have contacted you in the past, but will get in touch again). I'll still be working hard on SEO and Google Adwords.

What I'm after are ideas specific to Sheffield awareness.

I see, was going to mention SEO but you need some local awareness. How about targetting local free newspapers, magazines etc for some cheap advertising..what about running a competition specific to Sheffielders..hell why not even get out on the street if you want local awareness..get a stall on the top of fargate and work it! get some attractive females to hand out flyers, how many computer geeks would take one?? lots!....get in peoples faces..offer something unique to Sheffielders, that only they can get from doing Busines with you.. T

flier with xyz% off to anyone with a sheffield postcode?

yes but their post mentioned 'when they come up in search results', and im guessing they are looking for ways to increase their overall rate of enquiries whatever they do.

and the question asked basically was what's the best return on investment for getting them noticed. Well the best way is high visibility or repeat visibility.... or both if you can afford it - but which most small business can't.

The search engines provide the latter option with good keyword choice and consistent SEO/SEM efforts.

PR stunts gain the highest visibility but it is short-lasting.

As a fellow on line retailer this is something that I consider quite often too. Because of your business model the student market would be a good one to target but what I would suggest you do is try and get involved with your local community. This will raise your profile in Sheffield, you can use it for PR purposes, and you will also feel good fromm helping people. It is will aso not just be a "PR stunt" but something that will get you noticed by the people of sheffield on an ongoing basis. I am involved with BIG and would recommend giving them a call to see if they can help!

I think it's repeat visibility I'm after. Something that's going to be around for a long time with the chance of a lot of people seeing it.

Not a tactical - short burst to grabs sales

Your key is that you are local. If anyone needs advice you can offer it to them. I would try and go about being an 'expert' in a local magazine - Activ8, Dronfield Eye, Grapevine etc. Have a regular monthly column discussing new technology, letting people know of new offers.

sponsor a local kids football league, its only cheap and your in the papers twice a week! About hundred quid a year. Goto www.junleague.com.

If you ask the billboard poster marketers about a campaign they will suggest running about 30 boards for up to 3 months. The same with full wrap bus adverts and taxis. A proper campaign would be about £10,000.

If you read the branding books they often say to create a "brand" costs in excess of £1 million.

If you want to halves with a bus wrap let me know.

There is only one way in my opinion and that is from recommendation.WOM.
I always go on a recommendation. I wouldnt dream of looking in yellow pages and always ignore leaflets through the door.
You need to be very savvy when you look for your target market and that needs a lot of analysing.

With mine, I know who my potential customers are and am working very hard to raise my profile with these customers. Being well known in your local area is a plus.
I am secretary of Crookes Forum aswell as running my own business .

My plan is that everyone will get to know me and respect me and the service that I offer potential clients.

If you ask the billboard poster marketers about a campaign they will suggest running about 30 boards for up to 3 months. The same with full wrap bus adverts and taxis. A proper campaign would be about £10,000.

If you read the branding books they often say to create a "brand" costs in excess of £1 million.

If you want to halves with a bus wrap let me know.

Thats why I love forums - classic late night post:thumbsup:

(PS - Can I be in too? - But we must advertise in the middle of Corrie...)

Someone picked up on doing a regular column in local press- if its repeat visibility u are after than this sort of thing is the way to go, but dont discount PR stunts like has been mentioned, if you want to make an impact consider well aimed stunts carefully..
All that said all internet consultants/ techy people I have talked to say SEO is the way to go...not a lot of Business people know how to do it effectively yet it really is vital, especially for an online retailer...
Also you will know who you are selling to already, is it students? is it older working people? you might want to consider marketing to a different segment, I mean students havent got much money anyway, and there are many students who have computers that have been bought by parents- so consider this (but again without looking at your Business carefully I don't know what you want to sell more of. Is it computers? parts? parifferals? services?)

P.S. Just remember when you get loads of Business make sure you can forfill the orders!!(and dont forget my commission either. I accept cheque and all major credit cards!!!! :)

Bests, T

Why not advertise on The Star's website? They have a high amount of page impressions and unique users per month.

I've heard their rates for banner and skyscraper advertising are quite competitive.

And you can also be specific about where you want your ads to appear, say for example on a technology page or a breaking news page.

I'd say that kind of advertising would be a ideal for what you're after, not necessarily looking for clicks and hits - just brand awareness.

Alternatively, you could try do something unique and out-of-the-box.

I've heard hundreds of people banging on about the comparethemeerkat.com adverts how they think it's daft etc. But, at the end of the day, if people are talking about the ads, then they're talking about the company and the brand.

On the flipside, I've not been asked yet if i've seen the new confused.com ads. They're obviously not as memorable because they follow a generic price comparison website ad patterns, real boring people, generic money-saving issues - boring.

The Compare the Market bods have done a very clever job, i'm not ashamed to admit i've been on that website to see what it's all about! So maybe this could be a route you could follow.

Good ideas, thanks, - playing devils advocate...

I like the idea of a regular magazine column - but wonder how many people would read it?
Could be quite time consuming for a limited number of readers.

Football team sponsorship would be good, we've done some and the cost of kits was more like £200 - I just wonder how many people would see it?

Local community involvement would be great, but again how many people would see it?

Buses and posters are expensive and short lived

WOM is key I agree - but there's always room for something extra

PR is cheap to do yourself - but again can be short lived

SEO is a major part of our business and ongoing development.

The Star website idea got me thinking, what's the most popular website for Sheffield people to visit? According to Alexa.com Sheffieldforum.co.uk is more popular than TheStar.co.uk

Anybody know of other ways to find out popular sites in Sheffield?

Compare the Meerkat is the best adverting I've seen for ages - funny, different and you remember who it's for. and yes I've been to the website also.


Any more ideas? I'm not adverse to taking a few chances to do something remarkable. Anybody got a highly visible location where we could create a huge poster or build a big logo?

the meerkats are very good - leaving aside the advertising budget which must be huge - its still a very good idea.

However, the alternative (bad idea) is to do something like the man sliding down the waterslide which makes both my kids laugh out loud.

Trouble is - no one at our house knows what it is advertising :loopy:

I have said this before but buses and posters are really for those who don't have to pay the bill in real money - it just goes on a balance sheet somewhere.

The posters near us are for large film promos. Buses are usually the colleges, hospitals, business link etc

Could you manufacture some controversy?

Years ago, I used to work near Worksop market and the council put the stall rents up 50p a week or something.

Most people would have just paid it but the stallholders got onto the front of the local rag - using it as a PR stunt..

"Council scrooges jack up stall rents again" or something went the headline

something that might be worth considering is trying to get in with the uni's to provide their disabled students with equipment - there is some aprovement stages (dont know whether these cost or not) you have to go through but having that under your belt will be brilliant from you as it means that people will know you are helpful, well stocked and have your head in the right place, as students with 'free stuff' will always pass on names esp when the people providing it are helpful.
other than that everyone seems to have come up with all my other ideas.

Amanda

Repeat business is down to the standard of service.Testimonials on the website are the key
www.aspergerawareness.co.uk (http://www.aspergerawareness.co.uk) .Testimonials are very powerful.

Being on the forum moves you up the ratings anyway.

Local community involvement would be great, but again how many people would see it?


Hi
We Love Sleep got into BiG through my colleague here at the Entrepreneur Exchange (thanks for mentioning us). We broker the involvement to make it as simple as possible for every one to get involved. We try our best to get press releases out for almost every single school or community interaction we do (currently up to approximately 200 since last September) as soon as I get the column inch data I can let you have it but our entrepreneurs do appear in the Star and the Telegraph on a regular basis (examples of 2 separate stories in last Fridays Telegraph, page 33 'Jo taps into girl power at school' and page 37 'Lawyers Stop the Clock') Plus there is obviously the parents at the schools, members of local communities who start to recognise the people and names around on a regular basis we try to open doors to a variety of different events which are not on the regular networking circuit and profile volunteers to each other as well as the wider public. Give me a buzz if you would like a bit more information, I’m happy to come out and meet with you 01709 336 738 liz.yoxall@be-sy.co.uk

Its not an age old question though is it! Seems you have excellent marketing schools already.!!!

I have never heard of more computers until I read this thread.

You should spend more time over at the Computer & Tech Chat on sheffield forum and start answering people questions. I can't say I have ever seen you posted over there to be honest.

In fact, there is a thread right now asking "where can I get a cheap laptop hard drive."

I don't know if you sell this item or not but right now not one person is recommending you.

If you at least answer every one of those kind of "Where can I get a...." question thread Even if you don't sell this particular item, help them out anyway. I bet people would start to promote you before year is out.

I also think you are best adding things like "Based in Sheffield, We sell, Ram, Graphic cards, CPU, MP3 players, cameras, e.t.c." to your signiture as I think that is more likely to provoke someone to click on your link.

More good stuff thanks all

'manufacture some controversy' I'm not massively comfortable with that phrase, but I get where you're coming from. I believe to get noticed you need to step out of the comfort zone. Accept that some people might not like your promotion, but for others it will work really well. If you try and please everyone, things are just a bit bland. That said I'd never go too far.

Free stuff for disabled students is another good idea for local publicity, I'm pretty sure we don't have the profit margins to achieve it but I'll have look.

I'm pleased to say our repeat business is growing all the time and we have some fantastic feedback. Perhaps I need to make more of it. http://www.morecomputers.co.uk/Testimonials.asp

LizG2008 very interested I'll give you a ring today

Br8inend Cheers

Thanks John, I've not wanted to come over all spammy in the tech forum, but would be happy to post more - just worried about it being seen as blatant advertising. But if you think I should give it a go, then I will. Thanks for the sig ideas, I can now see I'm guilty of assuming too much.

Thanks for all the input, but I still think with more brainstorming a golden idea/opportunity might surface. I'll ask the question in another way...

Say you had £3000 to attract as much attention (eyeballs) to you company logo as possible, what would you do?
Still talking about Sheffield and the surrounding area. Something that would keep on working over a good period of time or have enough impact so as not to be forgotten.

Hope these ideas are helping other people as much as they are me!

Thanks John, I've not wanted to come over all spammy in the tech forum, but would be happy to post more - just worried about it being seen as blatant advertising. But if you think I should give it a go, then I will.

I can somewhat see your point to the spammy side of my suggestion but when someone ask for something then you have every right to suggest your company because it is just as valid as the next poster since you are 100% on topic.

I would only class it as spam if you are:
1) Creating a new thread every so often pushing your product onto us.
2) Or attempt to sell something when no one asked for it. i.e. off topic.

Also, just giving free helpful techincal advice every now again without pushing the sale angle helps a lot because each post you make shows your company in the signiture.

See how it goes but do over do the sale part but keep on being helpful.