What incentive can I give them???

[Salima]

I am planning a poster campaign to promote our website (which is an online town and community portal) by getting small local shops to put up a poster for me in their shop windows

If I get loads of them up then people are definately bound to notice and this should hopefully get some more traffic to my site??

I would like to give something back in return which I thought would be a nice gesture and would hopefully ensure that the poster stays up for a while.

What I want to know is what incentive do you think would work best. I was toying with a few ideas and would love some feedback:

Offer them a free standard listing on my website? - This would consist of the business name, Address, online map and telephone number/fax in their relevant categories which we usually charge £60/year for

An entry into a monthly draw for a money-off voucher towards one of the featured restaurants in our Eating Out Section?

A pen???

Calendar?

Would love some help with further suggestions! If it helps you can have a look at my website and get some inspiration from there!

Thanks in advance.

Salima
www.kingstonontheweb.com

[Rob Holmes]

You could give them the choice BUT - if you're giving something and they are displaying the poster for you then surely you're going to have to keep an eye on them and make sure they stick to their part of the bargain?

Else why not have a competition for them - have a reference number on the poster and then each month display a different reference number and local people have to spot it around and about and then enter the competition to say where it is - each month the person entering the competition and the shop keeper both win a prize.

Just a thought :)

Rob

[PlainText]

I live in Chester and while there are local sites, they are all of special interest - one for restaurants, one for local gigs etc, one for kids, nothing that puts everything in one place to find. The last guy that tried to start a local business directory site was competing against several others and it flopped. It wasn't well thought out and it looked awful - too many spelling errors on the home page for one thing. The others aren't that great either and I've not bothered to list my own business because the sites don't have enough traffic.

If you want business listings you need to look good and professional but also develop a real feel that this is the one site that really caters to everyone in the community. That way you'll build your business traffic.

How about adding a forum for users? You could have sections on things to do, places to eat/drink, gigs/clubs, community issues etc. All these would encourage local people to participate in a local site and raise ideas and issues that concern them or express opinions. The restaurant website in Chester has a very active forum and we (the users) know that the restaurateurs read people's comments and take them seriously - it's a good way for them to get honest feedback on how they are perceived by customers.

Add listings for local places of worship, schools, sports facilities etc so that people feel they can find all the local info in one spot. Add contact details for the council, cops etc too, so you have all the community listings that people might need.

To get businesses to list themselves, they'll need to believe there is enough traffic to make it worth their while. The forum should encourage consumer traffic. But certainly in the first year, you could offer a free listing - if businesses see enough return, they'll be more willing to pay for the next year. A pen seems a bit mean but a monthly draw sounds good.

[Salima]

How about adding a forum for users? You could have sections on things to do, places to eat/drink, gigs/clubs, community issues etc. All these would encourage local people to participate in a local site and raise ideas and issues that concern them or express opinions. The restaurant website in Chester has a very active forum and we (the users) know that the restaurateurs read people's comments and take them seriously - it's a good way for them to get honest feedback on how they are perceived by customers.

Add listings for local places of worship, schools, sports facilities etc so that people feel they can find all the local info in one spot. Add contact details for the council, cops etc too, so you have all the community listings that people might need.

To get businesses to list themselves, they'll need to believe there is enough traffic to make it worth their while.

Thanks for that Plain Text but did you have a look at my site??

Check this section out please http://www.kingstonontheweb.com/mynews/news/

.....and please let me have your feedback

[Salima]

Else why not have a competition for them - have a reference number on the poster and then each month display a different reference number and local people have to spot it around and about and then enter the competition to say where it is - each month the person entering the competition and the shop keeper both win a prize.

Just a thought :)

Rob

Genius thought Rob! - I see two problems with it however,

1) wont shopkeepers get cheesed off with people coming into their shop just to look at the back of a poster?!

2) If the shopkeeper saw that it was their reference number that we were asking people to spot .... he could just get his family or mates to enter and win?

Do like the theme though!

[creative-keyrings]

Obviousley i feel you could give them a range of products i sell.

E.G. Promotional Keyrings (100 delivered for £49.00) or even mousemats, bottle openers, coasters, rulers, badges.

I have a load of personlised products in stock if any interest you pm me or email me on sales@creative-keyrings.co.uk

Regards,

Callum Slade

[creacom]

Hi Salima,

I really like Rob's competition idea. The one he suggested might have its flaws but I am sure there is something to be generated from it.

Good luck

Jacqui

[PlainText]

Thanks for that Plain Text but did you have a look at my site??

Check this section out please http://www.kingstonontheweb.com/mynews/news/

.....and please let me have your feedback

Ooops, I must admit I only looked at the home page briefly, as I was in the middle of cooking!

It looks pretty comprehensive, much more so that some city sites I've looked at.

[Salima]

I really like Rob's competition idea.



Me too! I have a headache now from thinking about it! What would you guys think about this suggestion?

-Each Poster has a reference number
-A two weekly draw is done, reference number pulled out of a hat
- Shopkeeper with the reference number wins a prize of either a featured listing in my directory (doesnt cost me anything really, value £180/year) or a meal for two (£20 ish) voucher ..... (or I could buy some bottles of good quality wine?)

......something along those lines?

[creacom]

Hi Salima,

The meal for 2 prize is good as is the advertising. I would stay clear of alcohol prizes though because it doesnt appeal to everyone.

Jacqui

[JustOneUK]

hey Salima... your site intriques me (well the network actually).. i know someone who was ..shall we say "burned" by the network that you have bought into.. it's certainly a few 1000 quid to buy one of the franchises, and with hype like "earn £100,000/year" it is certainly hard to resist.

how much time did it take you to make up your mind to join...and what research did you conduct before jumping in with both feet?

James.

[Jean@wincom]

I used to live in Kingston and I wish you'd been around then.

Your reference number draw is a good idea but first I would try just doing it once a month and perhaps put your meal voucher offer up to £30 - you can't get much for a tenner each these days, especially in the Kingston area. When I lived there it got first prize for being the most expensive town in England to live in. (Not quite why I left though - the council compulsorily purchased my flat and I couldn't afford to buy locally then).

If once a month doesn't work you could step it up to once a fortnight, but you'd have a problem doing it the other way around if it got too expensive.

[Salima]

hey Salima... your site intriques me (well the network actually).. i know someone who was ..shall we say "burned" by the network that you have bought into.. it's certainly a few 1000 quid to buy one of the franchises, and with hype like "earn £100,000/year" it is certainly hard to resist.

how much time did it take you to make up your mind to join...and what research did you conduct before jumping in with both feet?

James.

Hi James

Am sorry to hear your friend (?) had such a bad experience with the network. I cant say my experience is the same so far thank goodness. I guess it's like with all businesses/franchises - good for some/bad for some......some good things/some bad things
If you want to PM me with details of your friend's experiences , I would be more than happy to concur/rebutt where appropriate and give you my take on things.

[Salima]

I used to live in Kingston and I wish you'd been around then.

Aww - thanks Jean. Always nice to hear stuff like that, makes the struggles of the day worthwhile!

Good point about the expense, I was prob getting carried away there! actually it made me think maybe if I offer a variety of options e.g money off for a meal (which is the only thing that is going to cost me monetarily)or free job ad, option to sell a car for free, or free basic business listing then maybe I can do the draw regularly so that gives them a bit of incentive to keep the poster up as they have more of a chance and maybe it won't hit me so deep in the pocket!

Thanks again - wish you were (still) here!!

[Jean@wincom]

Cheers Salima - you should certainly include the options that don't cost you. Be interesting over time to see what they choose.

[ZARMarketing]

Perhaps I am missing the point here but it is to get traffic to the website - I presume you are putting the reference number on the poster but they have to enter it on the website along with contact details to officially enter the competition. Also a great method of gathering a potential list for future marketing campaigns.

I agree with the dinner for 2, it is a nice prize and shouldn't be too expensive!

Good luck!

[Salima]

Perhaps I am missing the point here but it is to get traffic to the website - I presume you are putting the reference number on the poster but they have to enter it on the website along with contact details to officially enter the competition. Also a great method of gathering a potential list for future marketing campaigns.

I agree with the dinner for 2, it is a nice prize and shouldn't be too expensive!

Good luck!
Well I was actually going to just focus on incentivising (?) shop keepers to keep the posters up. At the momment there is a Chinese Circus being advertised which is taking place near Hampton Court Palace and every other god damn shop has got these posters in them. As a result everyone knows there's a Chinese Circus happening in Town.
The incentive for the shopkeeper to keep the posters up is that they get free tickets and they also have to sell tickets!

So I am hoping if I get my poster up in every god damn shop by rewarding the shopkeeper then everyone will know that there is a new website happening in town. I am hoping that seeing the poster everywhere is going to get people clicking onto my site. but you're right - I need to give an incentive to get people visiting - but what?? HELP

[creative-keyrings]

Keyrings! Or a form of merchandise like a mousemat or a bottle opener. something useful.

I can help!!

[KateCB]

Ok, however, pulling a reference number out of a hat doesn't make the general public look or use the site - or the shopkeeper to continue to display - how do you monitor that the poster is really on display?

If you have a database of where the posters are, along with their reference numbers that you 'pull out of a hat' how do you know that people are looking? Are you rewarding for displaying the poster, and if so, how do you ensure that the same reference number doesn't get pulled out of the hat more than once in a 12 month period?

It could end up that you are paying a minimum of £20.00 a month to display your posters and receiveing little in return for the investment - monitoring effectiveness could be the stumbling block here...

Don't mean to sound like a pessimist, but I have been through similar things where everyone benefitted except our company and hindsight is a wonderful thing!

offering physical gifts is hard too - it has to be perceived to be valuable - keyrings, coaster etc are great knick knacks, but people don't perceive them as worth having - if they are being given something, it HAS to have a high peceived value...

Kate
http://www.martialdesign.co.uk

[PlainText]

Looking at it from the other end, why not offer a prize to the 100th person to register on the website, then the 500th, then the 1000th etc. Get local traders to not only display the poster offering this incentive but also to donate the prize (of high perceived value!) because if they know you are getting people to use the site they are more likely to think it worth their while to advertise on it.