Driven To Advertise

By Stacey Marolf

Put your car to work for you with signs and stickers.

As a studio owner, you’ve got lots to do. So how do you find time to market your studio? If every moment of your day is filled with teaching, choreographing, studio administration, and a myriad of other things, how do you get the most “bang for your buck” when it comes to advertising? The answer may be in your driveway right now: your car. Mobile marketing takes advantage of something you are already doing every day. When you’re driving to and from the studio, the grocery store, or the bank or heading out to dinner, you (and your staff, too) can be hard at work advertising your school.

How do you turn your car into a billboard? A marketing tool worth considering is a magnetic or adhesive sign. You’ve probably seen them before, on the back window or side of a car. Many online companies sell them. Several of them, Mesa Vista Press (www.autolettering.com) and Web Decal (www.webdecal.com) state their prices on their websites so you don’t have to contact them for a quote. Plus you can type in text to preview your work. At iPrint. com (www.102iprint.com) just click on the “magnetic signs” tab to get to the page where you can design your own sign online, which is an excellent way to determine what looks good and what doesn’t.

Decal Junky (www.decaljunky.com) offers vinyl stickers for a car’s rear window that feature ballet dancers, some of which you can add text to. Scroll down the home page and click on the word “ballet” on the left to see their offerings. The site doesn’t appear as professional as the others, but the prices are reasonable. (Note: These referrals are not endorsements.)

Tips to remember in designing your sign:

• Make sure your letters are large and bold enough to be seen from a distance.

• Keep the message short so that people driving by can read it at a glance.

• Do not use all capital letters (they make it less legible).

• Be sure to include your website address on your ads.

By putting a magnetic sign or vinyl sticker on your car you can advertise your business name, slogan, and website address to anyone within viewing range, including pedestrians and other drivers. Next time you are out and about, take note of how many people on the road can see your car as you drive. Also notice how often you find yourself reading signs or bumper stickers on cars, trucks, or vans. You might as well drive people to your studio while you’re driving around town!

Mobile Marketing Multiplied

There’s another way to use your car for advertising: bumper stickers. They’re inexpensive and can provide you with a fleet of mobile advertisers. Your students will beg their parents to put them on their cars. What makes bumper stickers work is simple emotion. The obvious feeling of pride that a bumper sticker proclaims attaches an emotion to the school; the sticker invites others to experience that feeling too, simply by signing up for classes. They’re the perfect place to display your school’s website address as well. That gives prospective clients a natural next step to take, leading them gently into becoming a loyal customer who would be proud to put your bumper sticker on their car.

Like most printed items, bumper stickers become considerably cheaper per unit the more you buy. You may pay $1 per sticker if you buy 200 and $0.50 each if you buy 500. The same design tips apply—keep it simple, big, and bold. Check your local directory for print or copy shops in your area that print bumper stickers in bulk. Many sites on the Internet do, and here are a few to get you started:

• www.MakeStickers.com

• www.4BumperStickers.com

• www.StickerNation.com

Now think for a minute: When was the last time you saw a bumper sticker for a dance school? This is an easy marketing technique, yet few studios use it—which is all the more reason for you to do so. Give free bumper stickers to your students. Perhaps they’ll cost you $0.50 each. Of the ones you give away, maybe half will actually end up on cars. But what you’ll have then is a team of mobile marketing units that advertise your studio day after day. Now that’s bang for your buck!

Illustration by Samantha Beachell