Paid marketing suggestions

Hello,

I run a group called the HDA (Hampshire DJ Alliance) and we have a website.
I have a considerable fund to spend on marketing each year and am not sure what the best bet is?

Its to promote the website for all of the members, so online tech marketing, rather than being somewhere (e.g. a wedding fair). I think adwords are probably my first choice at the moment, but also wondering about becoming a member of UK Bride or something like that? The site is fine for SEO, so its really eternal marketing. :)

Any suggestions welcome.

http://dj-alliance.co.uk

My personal opinion is to get the website converting better first.

Just wording like "find a good DJ" could be so much better... do people want "good" or would they rather a "great dj" or "find your perfect dj".

What's the deal with the form? Who does it go to/how do you decide how to respond?

Could the members be filtered better at top level to quickly show DJs that match their requirements?

Beyond that Facebook advertising is still brilliant at getting in front of people, especially getting to people before they are looking for a service.

Out of interest, what do you consider to be a "considerable fund"?

Don't bother with UK Bride, 6 months of spamming people and all I have is a booking of which could have come from UK Bride or a wedding fayre or a direct enquiry via my website and a bundle of emails from people saying "I'm not interested".

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by rth_discos

What's the deal with the form? Who does it go to/how do you decide how to respond?

---

We are also working on the site although its top on rankings, the content could be better.

Not sure about this question, what do you mean?

I say considerable, its not loads but in the thousands.

No help to your query I am afraid, but think this is a great concept. It is excellent to see so many DJs of a similar calibre (and price) working together.

It is something I would love to do, but don't know enough DJs who would fit the bill. I network closely with a handful who work similar to myself and it is amazing the results this provides. My only fear in growing this is attracting DJs who turn it into a 'race to the bottom' with prices or those sucking up all leads to farm out to others :mad::mad:

One suggestion though, you dismissed wedding fayres, could it not be worth attending a few of the bigger fayres where no DJ is present to advertise your group as a whole - obviously the sticky bit will be which mug actually works on the fayre :D:D

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ppentertainments

No help to your query I am afraid, but think this is a great concept. It is excellent to see so many DJs of a similar calibre (and price) working together.

It is something I would love to do, but don't know enough DJs who would fit the bill. I network closely with a handful who work similar to myself and it is amazing the results this provides. My only fear in growing this is attracting DJs who turn it into a 'race to the bottom' with prices or those sucking up all leads to farm out to others :mad::mad:

One suggestion though, you dismissed wedding fayres, could it not be worth attending a few of the bigger fayres where no DJ is present to advertise your group as a whole - obviously the sticky bit will be which mug actually works on the fayre :D:D

---

Thanks

It is good, but we have been going over 6 years now, so there is a community spirit and a common sense of working together to better each other rather than the individual. most DJ's are of the higher price range, but the client can make the decision for the cheaper ones. It would be annoying if one member sniped all the enquiries as they went cheap, so keeping the doors closed to cheaper suppliers is the only option as once they are in they are in. i knew no one when I set it up, but am now proud to call all the members my friends (3 of them my best friends). Its a lovely bunch of people. :)

The problem with wedding fairs is having someone to manage them. Also we would all be competing against one another so its not so much in any specific members interest as unless they promoted themselves with brides, there is a good chance that they would not be selected, so 'whats the point'. I could pay them but feel the money can be spent elsewhere. Also people cant be bothered to help; it's hard enough to get someone volunteer to manage a meeting, let alone this. I am speaking from experience as i used to run a big wedding group. Same format, different suppliers and left as no one wanted to help out!! I had to get my heavily pregnant wife to help me as no one (out of 30 people) was free!!! Same with all the other jobs in the group so i eded up doing most of it as even if someone did volunteer, 7/10 time it would not be done properly.

Also, I would do wedding fairs, but i have 2 kids and would rather spend my Sundays with them, or if I had to - promoting my own business.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by yourdj

Not sure about this question, what do you mean?

---

From an end user point of view, you have no idea what happens when the form is submitted.

Do you send those details out to all of the DJs on the website? Or does one person receive it and send suggestions?

For an end user they want to know what happens when they submit a form - especially to a "directory" style website.

From a marketing point of view, I'd recommend a split between online advertising (Facebook and display would be my recommendation) and specialist print publications. If the spend is in the thousands, I'd be involving a marketing specialist. For example, I handle marketing for a number of clients, and can provide them with far better rates than they would achieve themselves.

But before any of that, I'd be diverting a percentage of the spend in to the website itself - it'll make the rest of the advertising spend work much harder.