Thread: Best use of advertising dollars...

I am placing ads this year for the Las Vegas Bellydance Intensive. I already have submitted a few ads, but I'd like some feedback about your favorite places to advertise.

I see 3 main categories of advertising for us this year:
1) National bellydance publications
2) Online advertising
3) Regional events (in the programs, etc)

Am I missing something painfully obvious? .w.: (yes, we already advertise here on BHUZ ,r:; )

I don't mind hearing about free advertising opportunities as well, but mostly I'm looking for feedback on where the best investment is for my advertising $.

We have a variety of markets because we cater to a large spectrum of bellydancers. This event has one track geared towards beginning/intermediate students (basics basics basics), one track for advanced Egyptian/Raks Sharqi/Lebanese/cabaret, and one track for advanced tribal/fusion/etc. So I understand that some advertising resources are more suitable to a particular flavor of the dance.

Any thoughts you have to share would be appreciated.

Much love,
Samira
Las Vegas Bellydance Intensive

Do you have an online email list? Probably something you already do, but send emails to everone who's attended the event or shown interest. Print up flyers and mail to local teachers asking them to put them up in their studios. If you're looking for GP attendance at shows, you can put them up on community bulletin boards (library, rec center). Also flyers at the ME restaurants/nightclubs that dancers are at if they'll allow it. I've never put on my own event so I'm not sure if that's no-brainer stuff or if it would help you at all!

tribe
livejournal

OK, I am on the other side of the world, so not sure if my 2 cents worth is entirely relevant....but, as a teacher, I really like to be sent lots of fliers to hand out to my students. I think encouragement and endorsement from a teacher can help motivate their students to attend, and I don't want to have to retype all the details and email/print them myself. I once received a promo DVD from an event organiser who sponsored Tito to teach here. I hadn't heard of him at that stage, but after watching the DVD I signed up for his workshops myself, and encouraged my students to attend also. So I think sending promo DVDs to dance studios may also be a worthwhile marketing tactic if you think they may not really understand what your event offers.

Chicagomecda.com offers free advertising space to those who offer a small discount to our members for events. ;)

Originally Posted by jewelbellydance

OK, I am on the other side of the world, so not sure if my 2 cents worth is entirely relevant....but, as a teacher, I really like to be sent lots of fliers to hand out to my students. I think encouragement and endorsement from a teacher can help motivate their students to attend, and I don't want to have to retype all the details and email/print them myself. I once received a promo DVD from an event organiser who sponsored Tito to teach here. I hadn't heard of him at that stage, but after watching the DVD I signed up for his workshops myself, and encouraged my students to attend also. So I think sending promo DVDs to dance studios may also be a worthwhile marketing tactic if you think they may not really understand what your event offers.

I think that your input is definitely worthwhile. I'm not sure how in the world I'd track down instructors & studios. Are there some fairly good resources out there? In the ballroom world there is a directory that is printed every year, but that's probably unlikely in the belly world. LOL.

Thoughts?

Originally Posted by sumayasaahir

Chicagomecda.com offers free advertising space to those who offer a small discount to our members for events. ;)

Very brilliant on the part of the Chicago Medca area. What sort of advertising is it? Online? Print? I'm going to have a shopping cart this year and I'd be happy to send a coupon code for your Chicago Medca members. I'll probably also offer Bhuzzers some sort of discount too. But I'll have to get that stuff worked out once I get my schedule finalized.

Thank you for the info.

Samira

*total self-promotion here* Meanwhile, for anyone who is interested, we do have a payment plan for our Super Early-Bird registration. It's 10 payments of $27.50 and you'll get first choice of classes once our schedule is live.

Originally Posted by Samira_dncr

I think that your input is definitely worthwhile. I'm not sure how in the world I'd track down instructors & studios. Are there some fairly good resources out there? In the ballroom world there is a directory that is printed every year, but that's probably unlikely in the belly world. LOL.

Thoughts?

If there's no central directory, here's some possible sources: Bhuz listings (hey, every spammer seems to get our details from here...but try not to spam people on the other side of the continent/world); Yellow pages dance section; google the web for dance schools; is there some central Parks and Rec registry? A lot of teachers on Bhuz seem to offer classes through this organisation.

Originally Posted by jewelbellydance

...but try not to spam people on the other side of the continent/world

LOL. No worries. It's probably not worth the postage. I'd rather use online advertising to reach a broader market.

I already have people coming from Spain and Venezuela to the Intensive next year. Of course, Vegas is a pretty attractive destination for many people.

Thanks for your thoughts...

I second the use of email marketing. But instead of sending out a single "flyer" type message, which is likely to get caught in spam filters, why not make a simple newsletter? Depending on the size of your list, it's really inexpensive (or FREE!)

You could give sneak peeks at some of the instructors and classes, maybe some discount coupons from some of the vendors (that would definitely get me to open the email!,) and a "Tip of the Month" from a teacher (like how to do a certain move, or apply false eyelashes.)

The trick with newsletters that are promoting an event is to give out some real information that people can use right away (ie, the Tip of the Month.) That way they associate your emails with something valuable they want, in addition to the sales pitch. They will start to look forward to hearing from you and may be persuaded to attend based on something you said in the letter. People don't often decide to attend an event based solely on a flyer or website...they need more info and good reasons to go.

If you have testimonials from other events, be sure to add them. They can be very persuasive.

To avoid Can-Spam issues, only send the newsletter to your current list and make sure you have an opt-out link. Then have a prominent opt-in box on your main website, so people can get continuing information from you about the event. For your opt-in box make sure you have a privacy statement that says something like "your information will never be sold or rented to anyone."

You can even set up a series of automatic emails (called autoresponders) which will go out in a certain order starting when a person opts-in. Check out Aweber.com for more info on how to do that really cheap (I think it's like $20 a month for unlimited messages.) I'm not affiliated, it's just a great resource.

Phew...that was long! Good luck! It looks like a fabulous event...wish I lived closer

Mira

It's all good advice. Thank you.

Do any of you have thoughts regarding the print magazines out there? Jareeda, Chronicles, Zahgareet, etc.? What sort of experience have you had with these particular print ads?

From the bellydance consumer's perspective:

I get Zaghareet. Usually I wonder why people put ads in there for their dancing, as it's a national audience and I can't go take classes with or hire a bellydancer who is across the country from me. However, for events, it works. That's how I found out about the Dina workshop in Montreal, which was not promoted at all in my area, but had a big full page ad in Zaghareet.
for me, zaghareet works advertising-wise for DVDs, big festivals/contests/workshops, but not so much for smaller, local stuff. For that, I would advise the person to advertise in their local magazine (like in New England, we have Middle Eastern Dance New England.)