Print Ads

Overview

• Benefits
• Power of Newspapers
• How it Works
• Success Stories

No Place Like Home

Using traditional media advertising, ServiceMagic increased leads and impressions 15% with Google Print Ads.

Business

Homeowners who need a fence built, a room decorated, or a reliable cleaning service know how hard it can be to find qualified help. ServiceMagic wants to solve that problem as it aims to become the largest online marketplace connecting homeowners to prescreened service professionals. The company handles more than 250,000 requests each month from homeowners who can receive bids from up to four contractors at no charge. Service providers pay a fee for each targeted consumer lead that they receive. "We're looking to grow our business by more than 50 percent over the next year, so we need to extend our brand awareness and uncover more leads," explains Senior Vice President Craig Smith.

Approach

ServiceMagic must constantly balance the number of service professionals in its network with the demands of homeowners in different geographic areas. This requires a deft marketing approach, to drive demand from either homeowners or contractors to offset any imbalances between the two. Until recently, online marketing has been the sole means of matching homeowners with service professionals and boosting revenues. "We realize it is time to diversify our marketing mix and expand our reach beyond homeowners who spend a lot of time online," explains Craig.

Most of ServiceMagic's customers are homeowners age 30 to 40 with disposable income for home improvements. But Craig had a hunch that an even larger and more lucrative market would be well-heeled Baby Boomers. With the goal of reaching this demographic, ServiceMagic found that 70 to 72 percent of 40- to 54-year-olds with incomes over $100,000 subscribe to and regularly read their local newspaper, according to a 2005 Forrester Consumer Technographics study. This data led Craig to investigate Google Print Ads, a marketplace that enables advertisers and agencies to easily plan, procure and track newspaper media transactions over the web. "We wanted to connect with homeowners who might not act upon online marketing alone," says Craig. "But we also wanted the convenience of making all of our regional newspaper media purchases in one place."

ServiceMagic set up a regionally targeted print ad campaign in areas where the company needed to increase leads generated for its network of service professionals. Since ServiceMagic had a limited budget and was strategically focused on geographic reach, they employed an opportunistic bidding strategy to place ads in any newspaper section versus specifically targeting sections like Real Estate or Home. A clear call-to-action in each locally tailored ad promised hassle- free referrals at no charge.

"After our positive experience with Google Print Ads, we'll continue to use it for lead generation. And, although branding and lead generation are our primary goals, we also know our ads reach local service professionals, helping us continually build our base of qualified providers."

Results

With Google Print Ads, ServiceMagic immediately began attracting interested customers. By adding newspaper advertising to its existing online marketing efforts, the number of leads – homeowners who went online to fill out a form requesting services – increased 15 to 20 percent in areas where print ads ran. Overall website traffic increased 15 percent after the print campaign as well, making more consumers aware of the company's services.

"After our positive experience with Google Print Ads, we'll continue to use it for lead generation," Craig concludes. "And, although branding and lead generation are our primary goals, we also know our ads reach local service professionals, helping us continually build our base of qualified providers."