Sep 18, 2007 Advertising Your Ice Cream Shop - 3 Levels By
Jason Lexell
Advertising your ice cream shop has three levels...
Our advertising program really boiled down to three areas. We had local advertising, regional advertising and national advertising. They each played a different role in our marketing mix to get customers in the door.
National Advertising
National advertising is generally done through network TV commercials from corporate to boost sales and increase brand awareness or introduce a special product. While this can be very effective it generally requires that there be a large number of franchise locations throughout the U.S. for it to be cost effective on a national level.
A McDonald's commercial during the Super Bowl would be an example of national advertising. It's expensive but reaches a very large number of people and can be cost effective if your franchise has enough locations.
For most ice cream businesses, this level of advertising just isn't cost effective, which is why you see very few national TV commercials advertising ice cream shops. This type of promotion is reserved for only the largest nationwide chains.
Regional Advertising
Regional advertising can be very effective if you or your franchise has a group of locations in a particular geographic region. For example, if your ice cream shop had other franchise locations throughout Tampa, you could take advantage of regional radio, newspaper and television ads.
This type of advertising usually consists of a combination of franchisee and corporate ad investment. Since you may have other franchisees in your region this could be a good opportunity to cooperate with them and share the advertising costs.
Examples of regional advertising include...
local television
radio
newspaper
regional magazines
Many franchisees look to develop in regions where other franchisees exist so they can advertise with them and share costs.
This allows you to get broader exposure without wasting money on eyes and ears from people in your region that might be too far from your location.
If you are investigating different ice cream franchise opportunities it's a good idea to find out how your franchise will help you here.
Local Advertising
Local advertising is by far the most common for most ice cream shop businesses. The primary reasons are because it is cost effective and more targeted.
With local advertising you can target a much narrower audience. For example 3-5 miles from your shop. It costs less and you don't waste lots of exposure on an audience you don't need.
Local advertising includes...
targeted direct mailings
coupons in local papers
val-pak marketing
billboards
park bench advertising
If you want to read more about marketing your ice cream shop, a great guide for you to read is called "Double Your Dipping" and you can read more about it by clicking on the link below.
Ice
Cream Products
