Newspaper Advertising

[epope]

Hi! My local newspaper has a new feature that has recently started within the past few months. The feature is called, "Ask the Expert". Just as it says you as the industry expert answer questions that are email to the newspaper and then the newspaper forwards it to you to answer(you are able to not answer if you do not feel comfortable). Also they do have a disclaimer and it's made clear that the answers are advice and not to be construed any other way.
Has anyone ever had any experience with anything like this? I do all claims at the agency I work for and my boss thinks it would be a good idea for me to do as so many people have claim issues. So I guess what i'm trying to find out is if anyone has heard of anything like this and what that feedback was. I am trying to decide whether it would be worth my time to go through with it. I would like that it would be a great way to advertise the company but my concern is that people would just want answers and not even care about getting quotes...
Any insight that anyone could give would be awesome!


Erica Pope

 

[xrac]

Hi! My local newspaper has a new feature that has recently started within the past few months. The feature is called, "Ask the Expert". Just as it says you as the industry expert answer questions that are email to the newspaper and then the newspaper forwards it to you to answer(you are able to not answer if you do not feel comfortable). Also they do have a disclaimer and it's made clear that the answers are advice and not to be construed any other way.
Has anyone ever had any experience with anything like this? I do all claims at the agency I work for and my boss thinks it would be a good idea for me to do as so many people have claim issues. So I guess what i'm trying to find out is if anyone has heard of anything like this and what that feedback was. I am trying to decide whether it would be worth my time to go through with it. I would like that it would be a great way to advertise the company but my concern is that people would just want answers and not even care about getting quotes...
Any insight that anyone could give would be awesome!
Erica Pope

Any advertising or publicity that establishes you as an expert is useful. What will it cost? If nothing definitely go for it.

 

[somarco]

Some of the best advertising I do is providing information and helping people understand their coverage, including the claim process. This is one of the few ways we can offer "free samples".

Sampling is a time tested process that works.

Grocery stores have done it for years to promote products.

Car dealers offer a free, no obligation test drive. Some have taken it further with a 48 hour no hassle return policy.

 

[Charpress]

I tried something very similar. The newspaper had a package which also tied to my Web site through a link on the paper's Web site, which was one reason I tried it. My site was new and a link from the highly-ranked paper's site was very helpful.

The "expert" portion of it did not yield much. I think people saw this for what it was: an "expert" who paid the paper for a couple of column inches.

I dropped the program after about 4 months. It accomplished what I wanted initially, but did not pay off enough to justify the expense. It probably boils down to how the paper presents this and how much it costs. The Web tie-in made my situation kind of pricey.

 

[tryan326]

If its cheap go for it otherwise you be better focusing some other type of marketing...especially since most people don't evn read the paper nowadays.

 

[1manshow]

I like the idea of building credibility. Several years ago I did a one year stint on a weekly radio show where people called in with insurance questions. It was great for my name recognition and credibility. Was tough at times being put on the spot, but well worth the time invested.

 

[saieddie]

Just be careful what you put in writing.

 

[epope]

I appreciate everyone's opinions, insight and feedback from personal experiences. I definitely think after after reading the reply's that my reservations of jumping right in were correct. It is not a "free" advertisement so I think as suggested it would be better to use that money for other marketing ventures. Again thank you so much for your valuable feedback!

 

[KConway]

epope,

Just out of curiosity, if you don't mind, would you give a ballpark figure as to how much something like this costs?

Thanks.

 

[epope]

Hi-

No problem at all. The article would be featured in my local county newspaper which goes out about 4 times week and is always posted on the website.
It costs roughly $250 a month for a 6 mo committment and $225 a month for a yr committment.
In the grand scheme of things it's not a large financial investment but the financials combined with the time committment is a HUGE investment going into with the uncertainty that is involved, in my opinion.
What are your thoughts?