Jan 29 — Plentyoffish.com is advertising on radio in 17 cities in the USA and on TV in Canada!?! Their revenue comes entirely from advertising, mostly from Google ad spots. – Mark Brooks (btw, this is the 1000th post on OPW)
Jan 29 — Plentyoffish.com is advertising on radio in 17 cities in the USA and on TV in Canada!?! Their revenue comes entirely from advertising, mostly from Google ad spots. – Mark Brooks (btw, this is the 1000th post on OPW)
Nothing outside online marketing works in this business (as far as we can tell). We have tried radio spots on various Christian radio stations (in years’ past) and as far as we could tell, we lost half our money. It is very difficult to track results (you have to compare zip codes the stations broadcast to, then compare the traffic with your historical traffic from those zips; any spike you assume is the result of the radio spots). People are not typically at their computer when they hear the ads, so they have to hear the ads over and over and over again (something like 17 times, according to industry experts, before it gets ingrained in their head), then go to their computer, type in the domain, register a trial profile, etc.
And, we are a subscription-supported business. A free site would be a tough sell. I guess any increase in traffic levels would mean more ad revenue, less the money for the ad spots. You may end up in the black, but I doubt it; the red would be more like it. The thing is, you would never really know.
Sam,
With all due respect, (and you deserve it with the solid business you’ve built) did you guys offer a totally FREE membership? I don’t know if Marcus’ spots will work – but I think you are not comparing apples and oranges to say nothing outside online marketing works. Cupid.com is pretty heavy in radio. eHarmony and Match have done a ton of TV and their success stories cannot be argued. I think you’re also assuming that both your media buying and creative (compared to Free and Dr. Phil for example) is as good as anyone else can do.
Bill, I am not sure what you mean by free versus not free membership. We have a free trial, but then we are paid.
My argument is that radio advertising does not pay for itself – not that it does not generate traffic. Cupid.com is not a fair comparison to either us or POF.
How do you know that TV, etc has worked for Match or eHarmony, in ROI terms? Certainly, it has raised their profile (and that of the entire industry), but has it paid for itself?
The radio sales reps we dealt with tried to sell us on the “branding” aspect. But, that doesn’t pay my bills, at least, not in the short-term. It is doubtless it would in the long-term, either.
I am making assumptions based on the following:
eHarmony raised a ton of money with what I would consider a weaker web marketing presence than most and their primary advertising being TV.
Look at Match.com’s marketing cost in their financials not to mention their overall returns. They have been on TV for years now- and they continue to buy it.
In regards to FREE – Markus has the premium of offering ALWAYS FREE – instead of free trial and that may significantly effect conversions. His radio may also have the same effect of buying a billboard on highway 101 near Menlo Park
What I am really saying is that you may want to rethink that your campaigns are the perfect barometer for others results. I’m not saying you will ever want to try it again, but don’t kid yourself that everyone else spends money without looking at an end result. Sure the late 90’s had people paying 20X the real value for a billboard on highway 101 outside Menlo Park to get in the mindset of a VC, but those days are mostly over and people are concerned about profits (of course there is the occasional thing like True paying $20 a profile to see their name near the top of a the online media measuring sites). Sure there are ego buys still happening, there will many this next Sunday for sure. I am not suggesting you do radio again, but realize that so many components fall into the media equation: ad copy, talent, placement, reach, frequency and of course cost.
All that said, I like online myself, because I like the ability to more accurately measure results. But I know there’s more than one right answer.
Bill,
Perhaps there are other medium besides online marketing (although, intuitively, it make sense to first and foremost promote a virtual business in a virtual world). However, I am not in a position to find out:
a) I doubt it will work;
b) I wouldn’t have the cash (or stomach) to do it (on a big scale) for anything longer than a brief period of time to find out for sure;
c) I enjoy my Mercielago today and want to keep enjoying it tomorrow;-)
Pretty tight fit for driving in that Sumo outfit, isn’t it Sam? 😉
I wish Markus was coming – I was looking forward to that.
What?? Markus is not coming?? Tell me it isn’t so! I guess the Sumo match challenge scared him off, eh?;-)
Markus continues to amaze me with his great efforts at promoting plenty of fish. He must be very loaded.