Ah, the mass appeal of expat magazines in Singapore. Every small business’ dream is to be featured in Expat Living, The Finder, Sassy Mama and the likes! But truth is, it’s getting rarer by the day to get an *organic* (read: free) mention…
Naturally, a whole industry has sprung up to address this *problem*. Countless big (and smaller) blogs offer paid placements. You can pay for a newsletter, a whole article, a paragraph in a listicle, a shoutout on Ig, a mention on stories, a giveaway and probably 12 other things too.
With no shortage of paid advertisement opportunities, I thought I’d write this article to help small business owners in Singapore or Southeast Asia who are grappling with the decision of whether investing a 4-figure sum in a magazine placement is a good idea.
The short answer: NO.
The long answer: NO, but it depends.
Let me ask you this. Was last month’s revenue 10x what this ad costs? If yes, you may continue grappling with the idea. If not, then you should absolutely NOT entertain the thought of spending your hard earned money on it!
Instead, here are 7 worthy things you can spend your money on which will surely have a bigger return on investment than that $5k ad.
- Google Ads ($30 – $3000/month)
Contrary to popular belief, Google Ads work wonders for small businesses who provide a specific solution. From next day flower deliveries, to high quality tempeh – I’ve seen Google Ads deliver ROI of up to 9000%. My favourite feature is that you reach the people who already want to buy what you offer, but don’t know your name.
Not sure about how to set them up? Usually once a month someone in The Pickling Club asks the question, and we get their ads ready in less than 10 minutes during our live calls.
2. Facebook Ads ($30 – $3000/month)
Another great digital marketing channel which can MAKE you money, not just cost you money. I love the flexibility of Facebook Ads and the ability to precisely target who your audience is. Did you know that you can target parents who have children of a specific age? And pregnant women? And men who just got engaged?
Yep. Facebook’s black magic can be very powerful in the right hands.
3. Creating a Google My Business profile (free)
Do this today! Creating a Google My Business profile is free and can bring you amazing results in terms of organic ranking and reputation building. Make sure you have 20+ photos and at least 10 reviews.
4. Yourself
That’s right. If the idea of spending $5000 on a magazine ad doesn’t scare you, how does a $600 digital marketing programme that teaches you ALL of the skills mentioned here sound? Amazing value, right?
I’m being cheeky – but this is true. It always surprises me how people seem to use a different bank account and brain when it comes to spending in PR.
$10,000 for a PR campaign? Sure, tooooootally worth it.
$10/month for a social media scheduling app that saves you time? Nah, it’s too expensive.
$66/month for a membership? Can’t afford it now.
Erm, excuse me?!
Investing in yourself is the only investment that never incurs in any losses. There is no situation where investing in you education and health leaves you worse off than you were before.
5. A better email marketing software ($19 – $200/month)
I’ll never get tired of saying how powerful email marketing can be. Paired with the right software that does the hard work for you, it can be a perpetual money machine that runs while you sleep.
My personal favourite is ActiveCampaign and by clicking on this link you get a 14 days free trial to test out the features.
6. Canva Pro ($12/month)
If you, just like me, wish you were born with “designer eyes” – stop suffering and upgrade your Canva subscription. It’s great value for money, and an indispensable investment to make sure my stuff looks good. And somewhat on brand.
7. Offering current customers a discount to make a video about you
One last idea? Instead of putting money in some corporation’s bank account, why not give it back to your customers in the form of a discount or free product? I am sure your customers will love you for this and will go beyond any expectation. BONUS: you’ll have user generated content magazines will be jealous of!
Those are my 7 suggestions – I hope you enjoyed reading this article and learned something new! If you did, it would mean the world to me if you could share it on Facebook or LinkedIn, so that your friends can learn something new as well.
P.S.: I don’t think Expat Living, The Finder & co are bad people. Quite the opposite. They are talented individuals with a great purpose. However, unless you are a bank or an international school which has a wide enough market – advertising on such a broad publication is unlikely to yield a high conversion rate. The ideas I suggested are instead proven to convert very well for small businesses! But they may not be the best course of action if you’re a large wealth management company, for example.
