• RME Gear & Apparel

Marketing strageties.....

pELYgroso

pELYgroso

'Merica
Location
LEHI, UT
Not sure where to put this...I don't want it to be restricted to the vendor only forum and it's not really gun realated....

We (for StealthGearUSA) have been trying to figure out where to put our small marketing budget. We have a company helping with SEO for a small charge (just started with them) so we're hopeful about that. I don't know much about that stragety...

We had a company posting for us on facebook, but the person in charge was 50/50 when it came to posting relevant articles and content, so I've been doing it myself now and have definitely seen direct sales from that effort.

We met with a lawyer on Friday about a patent (we already have patent pending) and were really discouraged at the end of that meeting.

for now, we're going to use the money that we may have used for the up-front patent costs for some marketing. So the question is, who has done small business marketing, and what have you done that has worked and not worked? We'd like to get more local exposure as well as national coverage.

Ideas:
google ad words
sponsorship of local teams, etc.
magazine ad
huge banner pulled by a plane flying over a big parade or something....
door flyers
get a sweet truck to drive through parades with our logos, etc.

these are just a few of many ideas, obviously. What do you all think?

Things that we have done/are doing:
gun shows -we do really well at these. When people see and feel the product they pull out their wallets!
we are currently working on some affiliate marketing strategies as well that will cost us based on sales generated.
we're working with a couple gun shops on getting them some sample holsters to test.
just sent a couple holsters to some writers at thetruthaboutguns.com, so hopefully they will get a review going
I've tried contacting some highly liked gun-related facebook pages to do a giveaway on their page, but people don't like to respond.

Our budget for now is around $2k-ish

Thanks guys!
 
Greg

Greg

I run a tight ship... wreck
Admin
Location
Grand Junction, CO
What would it take to get the big box hunting stores (Cabelas, Sportsmans, Bass Pro, etc) to stock your product? Probably way big, but if you could make that work out, I bet you'd be set for life! You'd just have to worry about supplying the product by the thousands!

Google AdWords is a good start, IMO... but it's easy to spend money and not get a lot of results. Who knows, it's very target advertising... it may work great for you.
 
ZUKEYPR

ZUKEYPR

Registered User
Location
651.78 miles East of the Rubicon
2Kish, you're already fighting a losing battle. That's not remotely enough to being an awreness campaign which is what you sound like you are seeking. Target your demographic and spend the funds on direct engagements, there you will see ROI, which if the product is good enough word will travel fast enough. Your demographic that I would begin with is Military and Law Enforcement, cop shops.

Sure Facebook is basically free, but we have nearly 1,500 pages and it doesn't do squat. Then again Facebook no longer attracts our target market 18-24 years of age. Facebooks demographic is quickly turning to over 40 years old.

Sponsorship of local teams can get expensive and get abused by the team. Look for the Army Marksmanship Team, they'll be in ST George for a major shooting competition coming soon in Spetember I think, I'd have to confirm that at work. They have just about every holster, ammo, and amorer on the planet trying to get them to endorse their product.

Personally I think the Gun Shows are your best bet.
 
R

rholbrook

Well-Known Member
Location
Kaysville, Ut
I don't profess to be a marketing guru at all. What I can provide you with is contacts that sell to the big box stores. Give me a call and we can talk next week
 
TJDukit

TJDukit

I.Y.A.A.Y.A.S.
Location
Clearfield
My friend and I wanted to sell our pens in Cabelas a few years ago. Didn't seem as hard as you might think we never did because of the volume we'd have to do, go to the store and talk to some managers if you are interested.
 
JL Rockies

JL Rockies

Binders Fulla Expo
Location
Draper
Hire a marketing firm. They can get you placed in print, tv shows, celeb endorsements etc.

Many will charge per project they work on for you.
 
SAMI

SAMI

Formerly Beardy McGee
Location
SLC, UT
$2k is extremely small, so I agree that you need to spend it on your direct target market.

I recommend:
look into year's worth of magazine ads, more Top of Mind Awareness type smaller ad, in gun magazines.
Look into online banner ads of popular guns websites, blogs, or forums.
Keep reaching out to those with big audiences to review your product.
Work deals with local gun stores. Especially local gun stores that sell big nationally. I can help with this.
Wrap part or all of your vehicles. Hell, pay to have mine wrapped and I'll have it wrapped with StealthgearUSA.
 
pELYgroso

pELYgroso

'Merica
Location
LEHI, UT
Thanks guys! Lots of ideas to work with! I'll be giving some of these a try! Feel free to keep the ideas flowing!

Zukeypr, it's interesting the the Facebook crowd is getting to be an older crowd. Where are all the young people going if not to facebook? What have you been marketing via facebook?
 
NYCEGUY01

NYCEGUY01

Well-Known Member
Location
Willard, UT
I think your best bet would be to just give me $2k-$3k of free goods and Ill tell everyone I know how great the stuff is. I will even give some of it away to my friends so they would also spread the word for us... Ill PM you my shipping address...LOL
 
Caleb

Caleb

Well-Known Member
Location
Riverton
Come up with some awesome stickers, and other promo items and include all that crap with every holster you sell. There's a reason companies like Magpul include stickers with everything (well, everything but their magazines oddly enough). This goes along the lines of what Sami is suggesting. If I see a cool or otherwise interesting sticker on another car, I check it out, when I'm sitting at lights I'll pull up websites I see on stickers. Make sure it's a quality die cut sticker though, not some crappy printed sticker. I'd rock one, even on my brand new truck.

SEO can really pay off if done correctly, it can also be a complete waste of time/money if not. As Greg mentioned, google Ad Words can do really well too, BUT you can burn money if you don't know what you're doing. Your SEO company should be able to help you with that as well.

Something to consider is now that you're doing we'll, revamp your website. Pay someone (like Shane) to take your site to the next level. A quality easy to use website will do wonders. Look at what AllJeep recently did with their site vs. their old site. If you're pushing SEO, you should have something appealing for your customers to come to and want to buy from.
 
pELYgroso

pELYgroso

'Merica
Location
LEHI, UT
Good advice, Caleb! Thanks! We have been sending nice vinyl die cut stickers w/ all of our holsters, and you're right, people like them! Although, they don't have a website on them. Just the crosshair w/ the SG in the middle logo. Should we include the website? my thoughts on that were to get the logo out there so people recognize it when they come across more information somewhere. Kinda like the ducks unlimited sticker of just a duck head's profile.

We'll be in touch Steve!
 
airmanwilliams

airmanwilliams

Well-Known Member
Location
Provo, Utah
I thinking getting in a few magazines and forums is the way to go. I have a completely different product but have had great luck in a few forums and that has grown tremendously into a great network. Although I dont have an article in it yet I just sent some stuff to a writer for Top Offroaders to do a review and many of his colleagues have called me already with orders and much of the guys family. Get a few reviews written in magazines and sale will jump a ton.
 
Caleb

Caleb

Well-Known Member
Location
Riverton
pELYgroso said:
Good advice, Caleb! Thanks! We have been sending nice vinyl die cut stickers w/ all of our holsters, and you're right, people like them! Although, they don't have a website on them. Just the crosshair w/ the SG in the middle logo. Should we include the website? my thoughts on that were to get the logo out there so people recognize it when they come across more information somewhere. Kinda like the ducks unlimited sticker of just a duck head's profile.

We'll be in touch Steve!
Click to expand...

I'd say include your website for sure. Your idea is a good idea if you had a huge marketing budget and people would be seeing your company in every magazine, at every trade show, etc. the fact is, you don't have a huge budget, so getting your name out there will be tougher, you may as well get it out there every chance you get.
 
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