Best way to advertise a Driving School

Macca206

Hi, last year I set up a driving school and its doign really well. Most of my business comes through word of mouth or my website.

I do google adwords plus also have it pretty far up the search. Apart from this I havent actually marketed/advertised in the past year aprt from having my car branded.

My target market is 20-30 year olds so Ive considered handing out leaflets at concerts/schools/luas and dart stops, writing to schools directly, sponsor local teams, put ads in launderettes and shops. Can anyone give me other ideas or maybe tips that they themselves used? Ive a very limited budget as wouldnt like to pay more than €5 per pupil received

forbairt

personally I'd forget about concerts .. your target audience will be drinking (more than likely ... as such unlikely to be really thinking .. oh cool I can get a driving instructor)

I'd really go with word of mouth ... maybe launch a ... get a free 1 hour lesson if you get me a client ... (client will have to mention that persons name)
(given that most clients will take what 10 - 20 hours with you assuming you are good of course)

Tesco notice boards (or similar in shops ... should be free I think ... saw people looking at them tonight so who knows)

Really I would go by word of mouth ... (I'm in the market for a driving instructor ) .. but being a webdesigner I know what I could do for someone ... I want word of mouth recommendations for the person.

Apart from that flyers in the door would be better ... (obviously your target audience is 20 - 30 year olds ... the majority of older people will either have a license ... and younger people may not have the money to spend)

I'd also target student accommodation ... should have notice boards ... and the shops there ... cheap ... and who knows ... effective

Anyways .. just a few thoughts

Macca206

Thanks very much for that some very good ideas there. I was also thinkign of email campaigns but not sure how best to go about it

forbairt

Macca206 wrote: »

Thanks very much for that some very good ideas there. I was also thinkign of email campaigns but not sure how best to go about it

Have you had people sign up for a newsletter ? ... if not you are going to be spamming them .. and that can have repercussions

Till Rolls

Yes word of mouth is best form of advertising and its free

caminowebmaster

Email campaigns are a bit of a waste to get new clients, they work well keeping current clients informed.

If you go down the leaflet road try exhibitions where your age group will be - wedding fairs and the like maybe?

Culchie

Get your vehicles to stand out, after all they are driving around non stop in your target area presumably.

whether they are illuminous green or shocking pink.... get your vehicles (your driving school) to stand out on the road.

Sonnenblumen

Macca206 wrote: »

Hi, last year I set up a driving school and its doign really well. Most of my business comes through word of mouth or my website.

I do google adwords plus also have it pretty far up the search. Apart from this I havent actually marketed/advertised in the past year aprt from having my car branded.

My target market is 20-30 year olds so Ive considered handing out leaflets at concerts/schools/luas and dart stops, writing to schools directly, sponsor local teams, put ads in launderettes and shops. Can anyone give me other ideas or maybe tips that they themselves used? Ive a very limited budget as wouldnt like to pay more than €5 per pupil received

€ 5.00/pupil, how did you calculate that? What % does € 5.00 represent of the revenue/pupil. It would seem miniscule (< 1% ), on the basis that a pupil will take at least 10 lessons @ € X/lesson), so perhaps the word of mouth is better for you?

duncanb

Hey.

Can i ask you how is the google adds working for you.

I was thinking of using these in my part-time business.

what % of your customers are got through add words....?
how many clicks have you got from addwords....and how much does each click cost you?

Thanks duncan:-)

Sonnenblumen

Macca206 wrote: »

Hi, last year I set up a driving school and its doign really well. Most of my business comes through word of mouth or my website.

I do google adwords plus also have it pretty far up the search. Apart from this I havent actually marketed/advertised in the past year aprt from having my car branded.

My target market is 20-30 year olds so Ive considered handing out leaflets at concerts/schools/luas and dart stops, writing to schools directly, sponsor local teams, put ads in launderettes and shops. Can anyone give me other ideas or maybe tips that they themselves used? Ive a very limited budget as wouldnt like to pay more than €5 per pupil received

Keep off busy roads during commuting times and avoid crashes.