Following on from the Yell.com thread I was wondering if anyone has any comments (good, bad or indifferent), in relation to advertising on sites (or in publications) that are specific to a particular market (e.g. Weddings)?

For example, I tend to specialise in providing Wedding entertainment and I am considering advertising on Kodak Weddings, Hitched as well as Yell.com next year.

This would be supplemented with local advertising and visits to Wedding fairs.

Do you target your marketing like this or do you opt for a broader brush?

I advert in Playboy, gets no work, but it gives me the excuse to buy it every week to make sure the ad looks OK

Interesting thread.

I was asked to take a free listing, with reciprocal link, on Hitched when it first started.

After a couple of years I was asked to pay. Since it produced no enquiries I declined.

Have been canvassed by Kodak Weddings on several occasions. However, once a potential client is logged in to the site ( and plenty may not bother when there are lots of alternative sites where access is immediate ) they will be confronted with a long list of mobile discos, starting with those closest to the input post code. If your listing isn't near the top that's your lot!

I've also paid for a top listing on Confetti.co.uk, which one might expect to generate upmarket enquiries. Any enquiries would have been welcome. Total waste of money other than for the experience.

I still think it's best to concentrate on getting one's website as high as possible in the general listings for given search terms and get listed, with reciprocal links, on as many relevant directory sites as you can.

Hitched now offers a free listing as a trial and then insists you upgrade to a minimum of an "enhanced listing" @ £49 + VAT.

A "premium" advert with Confetti (guaranteed to get you "somewhere" on a brides first search page...) is around £790 + VAT...

A couple of weeks ago I noticed in my web stats that I'd received a few hits from 'Hitched.co.uk' and as I wasn't registered with them I went on to check it out. The hits were in reponse to a topic a member had started about a DJ for her wedding next year and someone had recommended me (complete with link ).

This site does get a lot of B2B visiting. On any given day there are around 400-600 new posts/topics. This means though that once a topic doesn't receive any replies for a few days it gets removed from the forum along with all the posts

Earlier today I registered with them for the months' free trial. A basic listing after that is £15 + VAT. I notice that Eskie has a paid listing on there perhaps he would be in a better position to let us know if it works.

Paul

Thanks for the suggestion Eskie but I know where my enquiries come from.

It's good to know that you're doing well from your listings but I can only speak from experience.

I get visitor stats every week which show that most referrals come from Google. They produce around 30 wedding bookings each year, so my site appeals to a few people.