Gun-related ads you've clicked on?

[Monkeyleg]

As mentioned in another thread, Google, Bing, and Yahoo recently decided that any sites that sell things like magazines, stocks, uppers, etc, are not suitable for their ad or shopping networks. I'm having a hell of a time finding advertising venues that work.

Can you think of any ads for guns or gun accessories that you've clicked on lately? Do you remember who the ads were for or where you saw them?

I"m advertising on Slickguns, CalGuns, Gun-Deals and a couple of other places, but the ads aren't generating enough in sales to cover their cost. So I'm looking for something else.

[dogmush]

I've been buying a bunch of parts lately.

Let's see,

Primary Arms, AIM and GG&G's emails. Those freaking sale ads suck me in.  A couple of google ads from searches but they were pretty explicit searches, as in Searching for a particular brand name and model of rail, and the top result gets clicked. (Not always purchased from them though).

I actually at this point have a couple of venders that use pretty exclusivlly.  I'll research new parts, and then find one of my prefered venders that sells it, and buy from them.  I only ocassionally try out new vendors.

Every now and then I try slickguns, but I've never bought from one of their ads.  It just gives me a baseline for cheapest available price.

[Balog]

I've clicked banner ads at ar15.com, but just as a shortcut to goto a vendor I already knew and wanted to goto anyway.

I click a lot of the email ads I get from AIM, PSA, Aero, Rainier etc

[Nick1911]

I click a lot of the email ads I get from AIM, PSA, Aero, Rainier etc

These are about the only gun related ad's I actually will click on now and then.

Do you do any direct to email marketing, ML?

[Monkeyleg]

Interesting the the replies in this and a similar thread months back seem to indicate that people mostly stick with the vendors they've used in the past. Makes it difficult for a new site to gain a foothold.

Do you do any direct to email marketing, ML?

I don't know of a good email list for the target market. I know that I don't even read emails from gun or guitar retail sites. I just delete. Another hurdle.

[Scout26]

Amazon ?

Since your suppliers seem to like them, could you become a Amazon seller and undercut Amazon's prices?

 
Various state Rifle and Pistol Associations?  I get an weekly E-mail from the ISRA along with a monthly/bimonthly/quarterly, whenever we feel like it, newsletter/newspaper.   I know there are probably 50+ state orgs (along with smaller ones), but you might be able to swing deals with them as everyone is looking for advertisers.  At my club, I think a business card ad for all twelve issues goes for either $50 or $100. And often they just keeping running it for years, even if you don't pay 'cause your dead.

Go for niche marketing instead of trying to go huge.

[Monkeyleg]

Since your suppliers seem to like them, could you become a Amazon seller and undercut Amazon's prices?

I checked with Amazon. They take a 15% cut. Since my markup is 10%, and some people even think that's too high, Amazon won't work.

I've thought about the various club newsletters, but have never been able to find out if they're worth it. I'll look into it.

[AJ Dual]

Almost everything I've bought lately, I've gotten through Slickguns, or forum-based or facebook "word of mouth" for uber-good deals, like the time I learned Sportsman's Guide was blowing out .300 Blackout barrels for $89 on Arfcom.

Or sometimes on Amazon, because I could get Prime which made it cheaper than any place else. 

[makattak]

Interesting the the replies in this and a similar thread months back seem to indicate that people mostly stick with the vendors they've used in the past. Makes it difficult for a new site to gain a foothold.

I don't know of a good email list for the target market. I know that I don't even read emails from gun or guitar retail sites. I just delete. Another hurdle.

Ironically, I'm the opposite. I never click ads, but I will check out emails from sites I'm interested in. Of course, I don't click any unsolicited emails, though. So, find a way to get the eyes of opt-in customers?

[charby]

Firearms ads that I click on are ones that for websites/companies I am familiar with and they are running a sale at x% everything/or certain item or an actual price for an item in the ad.

i.e. Cabelas will run 10% off items or free shipping. I do click on Buds Guns if they list a firearm with price if it is something I am interested in. Quality scopes will always get my attention, especially if a price is listed.

[MechAg94]

I don't click on ads much, but I am on the email list for several guns/gun parts companies on line and I like looking(drooling) at their sales ads that come in.  Some of the same companies listed above.  Primary Arms, AIM Surplus, Wideners, Palmetto State Armory, and a couple others.  I have ordered quite a bit off those things.  Some are weekly, some are daily, some are only occasional. 

Yesterday, the AIM Surplus email showed up with used trade in Glock 22 pistols for a pretty decent price.


I am signed up for the email list for Hooters and Twin Peaks, but for different reasons.   

[lee n. field]

Can you think of any ads for guns or gun accessories that you've clicked on lately? Do you remember who the ads were for or where you saw them?

None. 

[dogmush]

In the interest of more fully answering Monkey's unspoken question: How do I get more sales? I took a look back on my gun parts and accessories buying habits for the last year.  Which was 99.5% or so internet based, so that works.

In my life there are three types of Vendors:

1. Trusted/prefered Vendors:  These are stores that I actively like doing business with.  They have somehow engendered warm fuzzy feelings in my heart and I seek out their stores first when I know I want something.

2. Untrusted Vendors:  I don't give a damn if the product is free.  You burned me, or pissed me off, and I'm not buying crap from you.

3. Everyone else:  Either I haven't purchased anything from you, or I did, and you made no impact on me at all.  If it's something I can't get elsewhere or you have a GREAT price, I might give you another shot.

It should be noted that, for me at least,  if I find the same product from a #3 vendor and a #1 vendor I will usually pay 20% or $60 or so (depending on total cost of purchase) to support the store I like.  Looking back that seems to be my "Great Price" tipping point.  Also, the e-mail ads I mentioned in my first post?  Only count from category 1 vendors.  I am on several mailing lists of category 3 stores and they get ignored unread.

So.  How does one get from Category 3 to Category 1?

First:  I know or was impressed with the owner operator online.  Lensandlaser.com and Primary Arms are the only ones in the gun world, but I have some car parts vendors that hit this.  I know them from an active forum presence with friendly, useful posts.  That'll usually get me to give their store a shot.  Probably not a great return on investment, but on big forums it might work. (arfcom, THR, TFL)

Second:  I bought something from them and they gave me great customer service. Unfortunately this almost needs to have something go wrong.  If I order something, it ships and I get it? eh.  that was supposed to happen.  If it goes bad and you are upfront, friendly and helpful, bonus points.  But I don't think having all your sales go bad so you can personally be involved is a valid business plan.  Examples here would be Primary Arms (again, different purchase), Tactical Ambush (New one, if the product they delivered works), KAK, MAS Defense.  These are all sights I've used, they had to contact me for something (or I them) and it went well enough my esteem for them rose in the bargain.

Third: Just be consistently good over several purchases.  If I hit the fourth purchase and everything is going well, then odds are good I'm forming a warm fuzzy.  Examples: BCM, AIM, Atlantic Firearms, GG&G, Rainer, Spikes, Midwest Industries.

So again.  You need to get a couple purchases.  I'll give you a shot if you have something I can't find anywhere else.  KAK got my first purchase by offering a Sig Brace specific buffer tube, the second by selling a flashcan.  Then we had a habit.  Consistent inventory of good stuff will work as well.  BCM and MI.  Not the best prices, but quality stuff that will be there when I want it (panics notwithstanding).  LandL hits this well. I'll tend to give stores I see as innovative a shot.  Doesn't really help you.  And lastly, word of mouth.  When I go shopping for a new thing, I read online reviews on it.  Mostly forum folks and Youtube reviews.  When a bunch of folks are all saying a vendor is GTG, I'll look at their site. (BCM is a prime example of this.  Arfcom guys love them)  If a bunch of folks say bad stuff, I might look elsewhere (opticsplanet for example)  Useful videos sell me as well.  Samson Manufacturing sold me a rail over their competitors based on a Youtube video that let me see how it worked. There have been a couple of purchases just straight off of a Google search. (I wanted an Odin Works rail and Google found me one cheap.*)  But those rarely get me a vendor I'll repeat with unless it goes bad (see CS method 2)


Summary:  At least for me, if you want more than a one off, "what the hell", never repeated purchase you will need some hook.  A large forum presence, a YouTube channel with useful vids** ("tabletop" reviews and unboxings are NOT useful), or a rep among forum members as a good place to do business.  You can't advertise your cheap prices so relying on a google search won't help.   From being on gun boards I get the feeling that a lot of folks shop in a similar fashion to, or even more conservatively than, I do.  THR is full of "Has anyone used this Vendor?" threads, and they are usually "No, why risk it?" for a new/small guy, or "Use BCM/Bud's/PSA".  I'm not sure if any of that is useful, or just disheartening but it would seem to reinforce what you already know, Google ads aren't worth the money in your market.

* My rail search:

I checked PA and AIM first. They both had the wrong color in stock.  So back to Google. I circled what got that store the click (and sale)

**
This is a useful video.  2 min, hits highpoints and low points, does it in a way that shows me someone actually used the product I'm interested in.
This is not. damn near 14 min of jabbering about a scope that he didn't even get on the rifle until most of the way through.  He never shot it.  WTF ?
I have that scope now.  I spent a little time looking to see if the makers of the first vid had a store (they don't) and would have bought from them just because they had a useful video.

ETA: Primary Arms and Ares have also suckered me into unplanned purchases with their Facebook pages.

[Monkeyleg]

Thanks for the really detailed reply, dogmush. There's a lot to think about.

I'm trying to post more in forums, although I don't want to come across as just trying to promote my site. That's not easy, as most forum topics have been covered 10,000 times before.

I'd be interested to explore Youtube videos to see how much they help retailers. There's a couple of guitar retailers who have really good lessons on Youtube that I view often. I have yet to visit their sites, though. Three years ago I spent the better part of a week making a video that I put on Youtube as well as on my own site, and the viewership was very low. People who've watched it have had positive comments, but overall I think I wasted that week.

I bought something from them and they gave me great customer service. Unfortunately this almost needs to have something go wrong.

I follow up each purchase with an email asking the customer if he's happy with his purchase, and to contact me if there's any questions or comments. People seem to really like that. I'll often spend an hour on the phone with someone, explaining the differences between various models, etc. More often than not, the customer thanks me and never places an order. I'd like to think that the effort pays off somewhere down the line.

I'm really close to throwing in the towel on this. I'm losing money every day, and I don't think the new site I was hoping for is going to happen. I hate the idea of going to work at Home Depot or such, but I don't think I have a choice. It's galling to think that it will come to that while Botcach Tactical will continue to stay in business.