Discuss the fun task of marketing a t-shirt shop. Where to advertise, link building, word of mouth, press releases, search engine marketing, keyword advertising, magazines, etc.
Hello Everyone. I am new here, have been reading a lot of posts here for a while, but this is my first post. I have a few questions for anyone with the knowledge or willing to help me out. We have been looking (and I stress just LOOKING) into starting up a clothing company that would be geared towards action sports.
We have been doing massive amounts of research on this for a while now, and as of right now if we decided to do this it would definately be on a considerbaly small scale. Over the past few weeks we have been trying to put together a possible marketing plan. As of right now our marketing budget would only allow a few thousand dollars, but just yesterday we talked to a few people with considerably deeper pockets who may be interested in investing in this company if we decided to launch it.
After we put together this rough marketing plan we decided to start another one that would be for a larger budget. My question is does anyone know exactly what it might cost to place a half or full page ad in a national magazine? The one's we would most likey be looking into would be major snowbording, surfing, motocross, bmx, and skating zine's.
I did do a search on here for possible answers to my question and I found a few good threads, but was wondering if anyone else had a perspective on this. We haven't contacted the magazine's directly yet because we aren't even sure if this is going to get off the ground or not, maybe calling them is the only way to find out, but figured I'd give it a shot here. Any input or advice would be appreciated.
You're looking at a few thousand dollars, depending on the publication.
It could be anywhere from $3,000 to $5,000, and maybe even higher.
I don't think a startup would get much return on investment when you start talking about national magazine ads. Especially half, and full-page ads.
Depending on your method of sales (online, wholesale to retailers, both) your money would be MUCH better spent on online advertising, radio, and some other forms of brand building and awareness.
Greg is right. Also it depends on the circulation! If you want to reach a certain amount of readers say 1000-5000 readers (community publication), 5000-15,000 readers, or 20,000-50,000 readers or more. Prices vary in the size of the ad, where the ad will be placed, say its in the front page, or 3rd page, back cover of the publication?
Is it text? color? black and white? logo with web address? pictures of models and web address? etc.
It varies. You are looking at $5,500-$25,000 off the top...Hey if you have the cash, do it. As Greg said, try advertising online, see where it goes. When you are drafting your marketing plan, you should add that your company will look into advertising as well and provide an approximation. Investors want to see a detailed cost breakdown.
Call or email the publications and inquire. Once they provide you with numbers insert them in your marketing plan. List them one by one with bullet points so that your prospective investor can glance at it and make his/her own analysis. I find that they do not like to read long sentences. LOL! Keep it short, to the point and detailed.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TiGeRpAw_31
Hello Everyone. I am new here, have been reading a lot of posts here for a while, but this is my first post. I have a few questions for anyone with the knowledge or willing to help me out. We have been looking (and I stress just LOOKING) into starting up a clothing company that would be geared towards action sports.
We have been doing massive amounts of research on this for a while now, and as of right now if we decided to do this it would definately be on a considerbaly small scale. Over the past few weeks we have been trying to put together a possible marketing plan. As of right now our marketing budget would only allow a few thousand dollars, but just yesterday we talked to a few people with considerably deeper pockets who may be interested in investing in this company if we decided to launch it.
After we put together this rough marketing plan we decided to start another one that would be for a larger budget. My question is does anyone know exactly what it might cost to place a half or full page ad in a national magazine? The one's we would most likey be looking into would be major snowbording, surfing, motocross, bmx, and skating zine's.
I did do a search on here for possible answers to my question and I found a few good threads, but was wondering if anyone else had a perspective on this. We haven't contacted the magazine's directly yet because we aren't even sure if this is going to get off the ground or not, maybe calling them is the only way to find out, but figured I'd give it a shot here. Any input or advice would be appreciated.
We haven't contacted the magazine's directly yet because we aren't even sure if this is going to get off the ground or not, maybe calling them is the only way to find out, but figured I'd give it a shot here.
I would also suggest calling the magazine's directly. It doesn't matter that you're not ready to advertise, I'm sure they get a lot of calls that are just for research purposes.
btw, has anyone done this ? or know more about it..... see below.
Quote:
Originally Posted by T-BOT
I think when you place a fair size AD in a major mag, you can do something called an Adetorial ...or something like that (term ?). The Magazine would get a cut of the sales generated from the Add/promo/Interview. The details du-no.
I agree with calling direct, a lot of times they will send you a media kit and keep you on the hot list if an opportunity or deal arises. I remember one customer telling me they paid approximately $3,000 for a full color 1/16 page ad in a weekly fashion magazine with national circulation (can't remember the exact # of subscribers vs newstand copies sold).
we've done print advertising for two years now and my conclusion is that you will have a much greater response if you send your products into the editorial office and try to get them to feature your products - and it's free. only catch is your products have to be news-worthy enough. i am not saying print advertising doesn't work, but most new brands can't afford high-profile magazine ad rates. this year we signed onto a low circulation magazine that gave us a great multi-issue deal, turned out there was a reason why it was so cheap, probably nobody read that magazine. you really get what you paid for. another thing to consider is how will you recoup this money in sales, be realistic in your calculations and don't get ahead of yourselves. paid advertising is not always the best way to promote a brand, especially a new brand with limited resource.
I think when you place a fair size AD in a major mag, you can do something called an Adetorial ...or something like that (term ?).
The Magazine would get a cut of the sales generated from the Add/promo/Interview. The details du-no.
I think this type of thing would be a good starting point to kick things off with new brands and adv. in mags/newspapers etc.
At least the editors would know of you from there on. By simply mailing things in to them, if they are not working on a related article at the time.....well!!!!????
In all probabillity, the next time the Fashion editor decides to do an article on something that is related to what you do, they may ask YOU to provide a sample/photo of your product etc..... to use in their article. This would get your name in the article/publication for free.
fyi, you should never pay the price on the rate cards, it is not uncommon for some sales people to do it for half price (or even less than that), especially when it's toward the end of the sale window and they have open spots to fill.
some magazines do offer editorial write-up if you advertise, but then your sales guy will make any editorial write-up in the future a condition to you placing an ad.
most important thing is set an ad budget for the year and pace yourself so you don't run out of money before your business takes off since it takes a couple of years for people to be aware of a new brand, meaning you won't see big sales/orders for the first year or so.
fyi, you should never pay the price on the rate cards, it is not uncommon for some sales people to do it for half price (or even less than that), especially when it's toward the end of the sale window and they have open spots to fill.
I have a media relations background and I highly recommend that you consider promoting your shirts through getting blurbs here and there in the paper, or in sports magazines.
Studies show that ads have to appear approx. seven times before a buyer buys. And people are automatically skeptical of ads. But -- same information -- that a reporter is writing about creates less skepticism in the buyer. Plus it's free! (Except for your time to write a press release, contact a reporter.)
I don't mean this rudely, just making a point: if your product is for the sports market, you wouldn't contact The Enquirer or Vanity Fair. Your target is all about sports: the magazines, the guys themselves (send stuff to Lance Armstrong etc.).
If you want any further tips let me know. I hate to see people throw money down the drain. Good luck! ~ Alicia p.s. yes, I am selling shirts by doing pr in papers only.
Quote:
Originally Posted by RisingBlue7
Hi Matt,
Welcome to the forums!
Greg is right. Also it depends on the circulation! If you want to reach a certain amount of readers say 1000-5000 readers (community publication), 5000-15,000 readers, or 20,000-50,000 readers or more. Prices vary in the size of the ad, where the ad will be placed, say its in the front page, or 3rd page, back cover of the publication?
Is it text? color? black and white? logo with web address? pictures of models and web address? etc.
It varies. You are looking at $5,500-$25,000 off the top...Hey if you have the cash, do it. As Greg said, try advertising online, see where it goes. When you are drafting your marketing plan, you should add that your company will look into advertising as well and provide an approximation. Investors want to see a detailed cost breakdown.
Call or email the publications and inquire. Once they provide you with numbers insert them in your marketing plan. List them one by one with bullet points so that your prospective investor can glance at it and make his/her own analysis. I find that they do not like to read long sentences. LOL! Keep it short, to the point and detailed.
National Magazines? 
Re: National Magazines? 
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