Challenge: Help kick start a dormant business

When a small business goes through a dry spell, it oftentimes just takes the right person to come along and dust off the cobwebs. Meet Michelle Rutledge. The Journal Star representative likely had cleaning on the brain when she approached a local HVAC dealer that was stuck in a rut.

“They have been in business for 15 years and this was the slowest they had been,” said Rutledge. “They literally didn't have any work for the following week.” 

So, Rutledge got out her figurative feather duster and got to work. 

Solution: Introduce the company to AdMall Co-​op Reports

The business owner was frank with Rutledge in admitting that he didn’t know much about the digital side of marketing or advertising and was slow with generating leads.

“Knowing he is a Rheem dealer, I was able to see that they give co-​op money for different types of digital marketing, but also give away furnace and AC units as part of co-​op,” said Rutledge. 

The campaign consisted of two furnace giveaways and one air conditioner giveaway, at no additional cost to the client. In doing so, they were able to run three consecutive promotions.

“Once I had a signed agreement for the three promotions, I asked more questions to see where else I could help them and ended up signing a yearlong contract for the SEM & SEO and retargeting,” said Rutledge.

Result: It (literally) pays to know your stuff

Using a promotion based on product giveaways described in AdMall co-​op intel, Rutledge was able to deliver her client a list of over 200 entrant names three hours after it went live.

“These leads were so valuable to him,” said Rutledge. “People were raising their hands saying, ‘Yes, I need your service.’ I gave him that lead list right away so his office could start calling and by the following week his appointments were packed, leading to service calls and sales.”

Individually, the initial three promotions ran for $7,500 altogether. The additional SEM and SEO retargeting contract came out to be upwards of $38,000 annually. All in all, Rutledge’s sale totaled more than $45,900.