Advertising Folksy in magazines and maybe tv?

I started an idea on another thread but it has met with a lot of interest…including from admin…so I then thought that a lot of people might miss the thread…it is on the thread that says…we haven’t turned into ebay have we?..
However to save you trawling through a lot of chat I will repeat my idea here.
I have suggested that Folksy charge each shop owner £1 a year and use the money towards either tv advertising (probably not enough money for that) or even a full page ad in a classy magazine…with hopefully a linked article about Folksy.
£1 a year is nothing and if I (as a low paid pensioner) can afford it then I am sure we all could. There are hundreds of folksy shops and it could help us all.
Lots of ideas have been put forward. Personally I feel that £1 could be added to every shop keeper’s bill once a year…automatically done.
Sorry to those who have already read this on the other thread but not everyone will go there to see it…

11 Likes

I did post on the other thread, but thought I’d add the info here:

To advertise in Good Housekeeping a full page is Magazine is £26k. In comparison, to advertise in You Magazine that comes with the Mail on Sunday, a full page is £28.5k, a half page is £17k.

Advertising in national magazines is very expensive. :cry:

Along the lines of what I posted perhaps then we should look at things like butterflies uk magazine,maybe rspb has one,at the end of the day people interested in wild life could well be interested in handmade.

3 Likes

Judging by the number of us who are interested in wildlife you could be onto something!

Sam x

A full page in RSPB mag (I’m a member LOL, and being a bird person I’d be more than happy to advertise in there!) is £10k.

Going to magazines which have a niche market would I think cause some people to question which of those smaller magazines would be best; I mean I’m happy with RSPB (for example) but would someone who creates something that doesn’t naturally link in want what they see as their donation going that way? I think PR which then features Folksy in magazines (which Folksy have done) is the best way forward as it’s free. People are more likely to read it, than an advert which may not even register as people flick through a magazine.

Other selling sites do have big advertising budgets and run TV adverts, but they also have a large joining fee (NOTHS) or they have a huge amount of sellers (Etsy).

I know I may be coming across as negative, but I’d just be happy with car bumper stickers and Tote bag at the moment to be honest.

8 Likes

Rspb mag would be a good one Liz.

Country Living and Period Living probably too- and the new Reclaim magazine.

1 Like

Sounds a good idea - and don’t forget the magazine advertising rate card is rarely the price an advertiser pays. Maybe think the best media to target would be the ABC1 female demographic which would contain shoppers with pockets interested in a broad range of product areas, and therefore, anything RHS related gets my vote… :slight_smile:

1 Like

We need a bit of cold,hard in the bin and then talk about it Sam,I am up for it,this is a low budget site but light years ahead on support,no site I have been on would try to cut a deal with suppliers for a start.
I do agree with Liz,the stickers would be handy or if we were allowed to print something off on a bit of A4 and stick it inside the car with sellotape.

2 Likes

Would be great though if Folksy could provide free (or take it out of a shop opening fee or a annual advert fee) tote bags / car stickers etc to ALL the Folksy sellers. That would be a great advert !

2 Likes

It’s all so expensive isn’t it.

This is why I tried to get one tweet retweeted a few times to help spread the word- it just advertised Folksy. But it only got a handful of re tweets. Maybe if Folksy created an advert graphic, a small poster that we could all retweet or share every now and again, the name ‘Folksy’ might start sinking in?
I know we’re all busy plugging out own shops which is obviously out priority, but it might also been good to promote Folksy as a whole too- just a tweet, every now and again.

6 Likes

That’s true and we can already promote Folksy by sharing their Facebook posts on our personal pages as well as our shop pages.

Sam x

3 Likes

I do think we need more word of mouth and a way to get Folksy out there more. If I mention it to people I speak to in person, I have never known a none crafts person even know what I’m talking about, which is such a huge shame! We, as individuals all joined together, need to start a Folksy campaign!..somehow?

1 Like

I think the idea of Folksy adding £1 per year to seller’s fees is a good one. How many sellers are on Folksy - does anyone know? Car stickers is a good one too. Re advertising, I’d be wary of going to somewhere like RSPB as someone’s already said, it’s a very niche marketplace. How about National Trust magazine full page £25k, half £13,500, quarter £7,500. Good Housekeeping would be a very good one to advertise in - couldn’t find out about half page rates etc but they’ll be much cheaper. Or It doesn’t have to be a whole page - key time would be the magazine issue before Christmas so deadline for those sorts of magazines can be early.

1 Like

Hi Brenda - what have admin said to all this? I don’t often see much commenting by them.

Is there a way to get TV interested in us? It worked well for a local farmer,there is enough going on here to create a soap never mind a small series.
I agree a mag add would not need to be a whole page,even the size of an aceo would do on an outrageous coloured background to catch the eye.

1 Like

admin (AKA Camilla) said she thought it was a great idea…(see the thread where she replied…on “We haven’t turned into ebay have we?”…you will have to scroll down to find it)

1 Like

Kirsty Allsop plugged e*** and I doubt if they paid her thousands to do it…we need to find a way…

1 Like

Advertising in a magazine costs thousands per advert - if we all pay the £1 as suggested this would not cover it. An advert is so transient / temporary also - there needs to be more of an ongoing campaign - the totes and bumper stickers idea is better in this respect.

5 Likes

hi brenda - was that on tv?

I agree. Also it’s been mentioned that there’s 5000+ sellers on Folksy, but how many of those are active shops where people will pay their £1?

I’m pretty confident that Folksy, being a business itself, will have thought about advertising; the cost as well as what the advert would entail itself. I mean as a small business I’ve looked at adverts myself in local magazines and so I’m sure they have!

I think the best thing we can do in the immediate short term is just tell everyone about Folksy via our own social media. And if you buy on Folksy, tell people; show it off and shout about it. Nothing like personal recommendation.

5 Likes