[Jason Hedges]

Hi all,

Just wondering if anyone prefers a certain time of the month to advertise more. I was thinking about last or first week of the month for more substantial advertising (leaflets / bigger adverts in papers etc.) as it would be more appealing to people paid around the end of the month.

Anyone tried or do this?

Kind regards,
Jason.

[AquaMagic]

Ive though about this before, it may be worth trying to get more leaflets out in the last or second to last week, or running larger ads at this time, not tested it though, has anyone esle?

Dene

[Mike Halliday]

depends what market you aim at, if your regular customer is the sort of person who runs out of money at the end of the month then aim your marketing at payday but if you work for the sort of person who has available funds no matter what time of the month it is then it doesn't matter.

I do a lot of work for OAPs who have large bank balances, so they get it done anytime

[ianharper]

Mike

i think most people underestimate OAP's, me included. I have thought a lot about it, and having seen your marketing and read posts that you mention it quite often.

your right they are first a gold mine, and they have the time to read leaflets and the free papers, also they are more likely to clean instead of renew.

I am going to try a new offers thats is aimed at them.

what is you experience with OAP's what type of extras would you do for them that you might not for young customers?

Respect

Ian Harper

[Mike Halliday]

I could write for hours on selling & cleaning aimed at Retired persons but I'll just put a few lines down for now & more later or might start a separate topic (as I don't want to hijack this topic) .

firstly you need to break it down into subcategories;

OAP woman (husband perhaps died)
OAP man ( Wife died)
OAP married Man & woman

and a special sub category for a 'retired person' who is not an OAP eg; a 58yr old man who has took early retirement.

once you have broken it down you can start thinking about what is important to each category, lets take a woman OAP on her own with her kids & grandkids living 200mls away, what is important to her? what part of an advertisement would catch her eye?

we move the furniture
local, police vetted tradesmen

and the universal thing all OAPs like
OAP DISCOUNT

can you see what I'm getting at? OAPs have specific worries & needs if you can target these needs & offer a solution they can be a goldmine.

more later...................

[Jason Hedges]

Great post Mike thanks for the info, think i'll forget about the price shoppers who only have money the first week of the month and concentrate my efforts more on the OAP's.

Carry on by the way, dont worry about hijacking the post....... What you've started is much more interesting!!

All the best,
Jason.

[ianharper]

Mike

oap or Senior Citizen

respect

Ian harper

[Jason Hedges]

Hi Ian,

Forgot about the float when we met up, any chance you can stick it in the post for me!

All the best,
Jason.

[Mike Halliday]

abit more.

a male OAP without a wife.

My Wife is a Community psychiatric nurse (CPN) it is her job to assess older adults and recommend any help they may need, she has many widowed men on her caseload and she says most of them do fit a set profile.

they tend to live their lives to a set routine, they are methodical and fear change or anything that varies from their idea of normality.

a man will get up at the same time, shave, get dressed ( often they will wear a clean shirt and tie) have the same breakfast and start the daily/weekly routine.

so once you know the profile you can adjust your marketing & sales pitch to best suit them.

without going to deep, they respond to a business approach, wear a tie, be formal, be authoritative, control the situation. Go for lots of little yeses before you close the deal with a big yes.

one thing to remember I'm referring to OAPs with money, they may have had their own companies, or been higher management, or independently wealthy. I'm not talking about the ones who live on state pensions waiting for their winter fuel allowance.

Mike

[Mike Halliday]

forgot the most important thing about men. 'protection of investment' their suite & carpets have to last them out, they won't buy new.

so tell them that your cleaning will help protect their investment and their suite will last them a live time. sell them protector!!

[Damian]

Mike , do you "dry-in" protector-(ie leave a drier on site) or leave it to do its natural thing?

Damian.

[Mike Osbourne]

Mike

You really have it sussed don't you.

 

[ollie]

i studied psychology with the ou and advertising was covered.
the theory goes that any successful advertiser will show you pictures or describe in text the life that you want a piece of..eg you might buy a certain brand of clothing because of the situation and surrounding its advertised in...not beacuse of the clothing. its called interpelation (i think without getting books out . lol) so the theory would go that if you put pics of a clean suite in a happy family environment on a leaflet the customer would subconsciously believe having the suite cleaned would create a happy family environment.....and so on.   its just a theory but one i can believe ...if you look at your trolley contents when you next exit asda, tesco etc    match them up to ads you may have seen on tv...i was suprised when i did it!

[Jason Hedges]

Thanks Mike,

Great information again! You really do know your stuff, good of you to share with us all. Will put some of your suggestions into practice.....

Ollie, very interesting makes sence now why all the big boys on their adverts have happy families on sofa / cute baby on carpet / sleeping dog on carpet etc.

Thanks again, very helpful.

All the best,
Jason.