Efficient,cost-effective ways of advertising in Santiago and SD?

vmhatup

Member
Aug 18, 2009
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We're about to launch a retail site for all of DR, and we're working on the marketing/advertising of our site. It's targeted to the general public, since literally anyone can benefit from what we offer.

Even though the site works for all DR, I was initially thinking of concentrating most of my marketing budget in Santiago. But then today we went to Santo Domingo, and I figured that I can also try to do a little marketing there, although initially it would be something small, at least until there's money coming in.

My question is... what's the most effective and cost-efficient way to advertise a site?

Tomorrow we were thinking of contacting Colorin for prices on billboards in Santiago and Impacto Urbano (for the smaller 'vallas' in the sidewalks), and maybe Flamingo for the billboards in Santo Domingo.

But before doing any of that, I wanted to hear from members with experience in this field. Generally speaking, what are the costs for the billboards (space and art print)? Are they as effective as many people think?

Are there any more effective ways to advertise?

Any help is appreciated.
 
Feb 7, 2007
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If you at some point consider TV, contact me for cable advertising. I can get you great rates on most cable systems, better than you would get directly. Cable advertising in the DR is CHEAP.
 

CaptnGlenn

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Mar 29, 2010
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I can't speak with regard to advertising in the D.R., but in U.S., for local / regional advertising on a budget, cable T.V. is usually the best bang for your buck if you can afford it. Then Radio, then outdoor (billboards). I'm not sure where direct internet advertising falls in the mix. Here in the States, direct mail is also a big force, especially for small budgets, but as I understand it, the mail system in D.R. wouldn't be the ideal solution.

The BIG thing is FOLLOW UP. Once-and-done advertising doesn't work, that's why they call it an advertising CAMPAIGN. You have to keep it going. An old professor of mine equated it to a rail train.... once you get the train rolling, you don't shut down the engine. Insure you have the budget to keep the ads up for a period of time, or you've wasted your money.
 

cobraboy

Pro-Bono Demolition Hobbyist
Jul 24, 2004
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I can't speak with regard to advertising in the D.R., but in U.S., for local / regional advertising on a budget, cable T.V. is usually the best bang for your buck if you can afford it. Then Radio, then outdoor (billboards). I'm not sure where direct internet advertising falls in the mix. Here in the States, direct mail is also a big force, especially for small budgets, but as I understand it, the mail system in D.R. wouldn't be the ideal solution.

The BIG thing is FOLLOW UP. Once-and-done advertising doesn't work, that's why they call it an advertising CAMPAIGN. You have to keep it going. An old professor of mine equated it to a rail train.... once you get the train rolling, you don't shut down the engine. Insure you have the budget to keep the ads up for a period of time, or you've wasted your money.
Much truth ^^^there^^^, but the #1 priority should be understanding who your customers are and where their eyeballs (or ears) spend time.

Improperly targeted, advertising can be a colossal waste of money and total failure.
 

Ken

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Jan 1, 2002
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If you want to hit the customers locally , google ad sense and face book advertising is the best option to use to target the local community on internet .

The question is about advertising in the DR. I don't think the internet is the best place for advertising dollars here.

For Santiago, I am sure Hillbilly has a good sense of the best way or ways to contact people there.
 

CaptnGlenn

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Mar 29, 2010
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Cobra is absolutely correct. Case in point. MANY years ago, a new company started specializing in phone order sales of novelty "teddy-bears" for delivery, in leu of flowers for special occasions, (birthdays, Valentines day, Mothers day, etc...). This was before internet gained wide acceptance for online sales. The target market was young men buying for girlfriends, wives, etc. The company began advertising on radio, on the very popular morning drive time program of a famous "shock jock". The program was broadcast from NYC, but was syndicated to a number of major markets. I'm certain that particular advertising venue and time slot was extremely expensive, since a huge percentage of the target market listened to that specific air time. The ads where incredibly effective; and the company not only succeeded, but experienced enormous growth. I'm sure in this case, the same money spent on cable TV would not have been anywhere near as successful, since the target market was not sitting around watching cable TV.

My earlier comments were based on overall effectiveness of the various medias. ALWAYS target your market, not only with media and exposure... but also with CONTENT.
 

Robert

Stay Frosty!
Jan 2, 1999
20,574
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dr1.com
If you want to hit the customers locally , google ad sense and face book advertising is the best option to use to target the local community on internet .

That depends on the product or service.

But...

If it's a younger demographic that typically has internet access, then I agree with you 100%. Facebook has 1.6 million+ users in the DR, covering a very wide demographic. The usage in the middle-class an up sector is very high.
If you know how to market on Facebook, the ROI is amazing!
The problem is, most marketers are clueless when it comes to social media.

Unless you have deep pockets, I would avoid billboard advertising.

If it's a product or service that expats could be interested in, then obviously DR1 :)
 

Chip

Platinum
Jul 25, 2007
16,772
429
0
Santiago
We're about to launch a retail site for all of DR, and we're working on the marketing/advertising of our site. It's targeted to the general public, since literally anyone can benefit from what we offer.

Even though the site works for all DR, I was initially thinking of concentrating most of my marketing budget in Santiago. But then today we went to Santo Domingo, and I figured that I can also try to do a little marketing there, although initially it would be something small, at least until there's money coming in.

My question is... what's the most effective and cost-efficient way to advertise a site?

Tomorrow we were thinking of contacting Colorin for prices on billboards in Santiago and Impacto Urbano (for the smaller 'vallas' in the sidewalks), and maybe Flamingo for the billboards in Santo Domingo.

But before doing any of that, I wanted to hear from members with experience in this field. Generally speaking, what are the costs for the billboards (space and art print)? Are they as effective as many people think?

Are there any more effective ways to advertise?

Any help is appreciated.

I have a friend who has all the info you need to know. He is a freelance consultant working here for over 15 years on many major ad campaigns and is looking for work so it will be economical if you hire him. However, if you just need info and direction he could do that as a favor. Send me a pm if interested.
 
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skinny36

New member
Mar 2, 2010
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Well, with the numbers that "DR1" is getting this week...i would advertise on this site :) Although, I am not sure where those "hits" are coming from but it's a good place to start! :)
 

greydread

Platinum
Jan 3, 2007
17,477
488
83
It's the Dominican Republic and many of the marketing methods used in the States, for example "direct mail" would be useless in a Dominican market where the mail gets there whenever.

There are tried and tested, inexpensive methods of getting the message out which are uniquely Dominican and I would stick with them.


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Hillbilly

Moderator
Jan 1, 2002
18,948
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I agree with Robert (in fact, both Roberts). Nix the billboards for now.
Go with television. Local market talking heads. Jose Gutierrez and the other guys...I forget...
In Santo Domingo, go with Telemicro and Colorvision and get time on their evening hours.

If you want print ads go to Omnimedia either in Santiago or in Santo Domingo and put a nice ad in the Diario Libre, by far (perhaps by a factor of 5?) the most read paper in the country...

If your demographic is young, affluent, go with a Monthly like SantiagoBeat.com...

Save the billboards for the latter part of the "campaign"....

Television and radio will provide a good ROI and so will FB if that is your audience...

HB
 
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Feb 7, 2007
8,005
625
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Go with television. Local market talking heads. Jose Gutierres and the other guys...I forget...
In Santo Domingo, go with Telemicro and Colorvision and get time on their evening hours.

You will get much bigger bang for your buck on cable than on National TV. List price on Telemicro is about 35.000 pesos for one 30-second spot, as per Codepra (comercializadora de Medios Telemicro) price list. For that money you can get one month of advertising on Star Cable in Santiago.

You should look into cable ads:
- Telecable Nacional (Santo Domingo, La Romana)
- Aster (Santo Domingo, Villa Altagracia, La Vega, Santiago, San Francisco, San Pedro, Higuey, La Romana, Hato Mayor)
- Telecable del Nordeste (San Franciso and all NE, Nagua, Samana, etc.)
- Spielcom (Bavaro)
- Telecable Central (La Vega, Jarabacoa, Moca, parts of Santiago)
- WIND Telecom (Santiago, Santo Domingo)
 

vmhatup

Member
Aug 18, 2009
656
10
18
Thanks for all the posts.

Our site is a free classifieds site with the option to "upgrade" your ad for a minimal fee (ranging from 40 pesos to 3000 pesos to display your post on the front page). Although we want something coming in initially, our interest now is to fill the site with postings by just getting our name out. The site is essentially free and it's extremely easy to navigate, and I want people to go in and see that for themselves. Hopefully, we will have enough traffic within the next month to sell our banners.

I was initially thinking of purchasing several 'mini vallas' from Sarmiento or Impacto Urbano, although the cost for 20 of them is around 200k pesos. Vallas from Colorin are out of the question since most are unavailable and the ones available are not in the center of Santiago. Plus, they're about 150k each.

I'll be leaving Santiago in a week, so I wanted to set something up before then. Due to time contraints, TV is out of the question. But radio never came to mind as a method of advertising.

What do you guys think?
 

Chip

Platinum
Jul 25, 2007
16,772
429
0
Santiago
Thanks for all the posts.

Our site is a free classifieds site with the option to "upgrade" your ad for a minimal fee (ranging from 40 pesos to 3000 pesos to display your post on the front page). Although we want something coming in initially, our interest now is to fill the site with postings by just getting our name out. The site is essentially free and it's extremely easy to navigate, and I want people to go in and see that for themselves. Hopefully, we will have enough traffic within the next month to sell our banners.

I was initially thinking of purchasing several 'mini vallas' from Sarmiento or Impacto Urbano, although the cost for 20 of them is around 200k pesos. Vallas from Colorin are out of the question since most are unavailable and the ones available are not in the center of Santiago. Plus, they're about 150k each.

I'll be leaving Santiago in a week, so I wanted to set something up before then. Due to time contraints, TV is out of the question. But radio never came to mind as a method of advertising.

What do you guys think?

I've heard there are a couple of radio stations in Santiago that are a must for advertizing.
 

vmhatup

Member
Aug 18, 2009
656
10
18
Choosing an efficient way of advertising has been a rather difficult task here, but I'll be going with some mini-vallas around the Santiago area, a few mentions in Jose Gutierrez radio during the month, and handing out flyers on Saturdays and Sundays in el Monumento during el carnaval. Hopefully, next month I'll be a bit more aggressive.

This "start-up" for this first month will be more than I was hoping for, but it'll hopefully be worth it.

Myers