Creative Way To Advertise Locally

A while back one of my buddies was picking up pizza for his family.  When he picked up the pizza they also gave him one of their menus.

Now that’s nothing exciting, right?  All the pizza shops give out their menus when you buy pizza from them.  But this time was different…

It wasn’t just a menu with coupons.  This was a menu with ads from local businesses on it!  Now, you may be thinking… “David, what in the world are you talking about?”  Or, you may be thinking you’ve seen this before.

So I’m going to show you what I’m talking about.

Here’s a picture of the menu side:

Notice it’s one giant square menu (11″ x 11″ on glossy paper) with coupon offers.  And, at the bottom of the menu is an ad… “Need a Realtor?”

The ad is definitely great placement (if it’s being marketing to your correct prospects… more on that in a little bit), but I would have added an offer like, “Thinking of selling your home?  Call or Visit X to get your No-Cost Home Seller’s Guide!”  Give prospects a reason to respond.

Let’s move on to the back side of the menu shall we…:

Wowzers!  Look at all the ads.

Very creative idea… get a bunch of ads from local businesses, while the pizza shop gets free menus (I’m sure of this) and hands them out to all of their customers.

Now I’m not sure how much it costs to advertise, but I’m guessing it’s only pennies per flyer.

I think it would be another great marketing tool to use in your arsenal if you’re a local business.  But, there are a few things you must consider first…

Who’s Your Target Market?

If you’re a real estate agent looking for buyers, and the pizza shop is located in an area where most people rent then you could potential get pick up a lot of buyers.

But… if you’re a landscaper in the same neighborhood you probably wouldn’t get very much business, if any at all.

What’s Your Offer?

Noticed half of the ads have some sort of offer or coupon.  But what about the other ads?  A big mistake you could make is by not having an offer or Call-to-Action (CTA). 

Notice the “Phones N Games” ad.  They have a tiny little offer for a smart phone with the ad.  But, where’s the call to action?  They just give a location and that’s it.

You got to take people by their hands and direct their ways.  Make it easy for them to get what you want them to get.

That’s just a couple of pointers I wanted to… umm… point out.

Definitely a creative and inexpensive way to reach prospects for pennies each.

So, what are your thoughts?  Ever advertise on a menu before?

Leave your comments below.

Now go take action!