A Little on Business Marketing: 11 ways to make promo items work harder (Part II)

Part I of this two-part Little Hacks' article covered five of the 11… and by no means are any of them the #1. Numero Uno is what works best for your business, but I find the 11^th tip, at the bottom of this article, to be among the can't-miss opportunities to use promotional items. So, picking up where we left off:

6. Being a Good Corporate Citizen

Active company involvement in your community is more than just good citizenship — it’s good business. In sponsoring charitable events or promoting worthy causes as mentioned elsewhere in Little Hacks, you also have a chance to spread your logo on a memorable item.

7. Repair Service Lapses

Promotional products are also invaluable in repairing the service shortcomings that sometimes occur in spite of our best efforts. Giving a valued customer a gift is a terrific way to build bridges, make amends and reassure the customer that they are always right — and always wanted.

8. Stay in Front of Your Customer

Out of sight, out of mind — it’s an old saying, but it’s especially true about customer relations. Even if your customers average only one transaction with you a quarter, it’s important that you keep your name in front of them on a regular basis. With over a million items on which we can imprint your logo, you can find new and innovative ways to remind your customers about the value you provide, encouraging repeat business and referrals. And who doesn’t like to get gifts?

9. Promote Employee Safety

Insurance premiums for companies with high accident and injury rates are soaring. Add to that lost time, increased inefficiency, attorney fees, and equipment repair/replacement expenses. Prevention is On Fleek: Remind staff of that with a lasting promo item or one that is everywhere in the office (pens, mugs, mousepads, etc.)

10. Promote Landmarks and Milestones

Don’t let opportunities for publicity and exposure pass you pay. Celebrate, commemorate and promote events like: Company anniversaries ('Our 50th year'); Your 1,000,000th product shipped; Being named to a local 'Best Of' list. Public relations pros are quick to dash out press releases for these milestones, but your promo can have more lasting impact than a single news article or headline.

11. Company Name or Product Change

Change can be confusing — even traumatic — for customers. Promotional products can help reassure them that while your company or product name may change, your commitment to their satisfaction remains the same. A promotional products campaign can also help you educate customers about the benefits of your new and improved product. Every business doing a name or address or logo change on the letterhead, should roll out the change with a promo item.

Photo by Inokentii Rybtsov , used with permission.
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A Little on Business Marketing: Four ways signs still reign as most efficient advertising

 

On-premise signs are your most effective and efficient means of commercial communication because they are inexpensive, available, practical, easy to use, always on the job, and directly oriented to the trade area of your business. You're incorporating your logo (see Your Logo Is Your Brand) into the lowest-cost venue… which you own or rent anyway.

Your sign is an integral part of your ad program along with the other ad platforms such as TV, radio, newspapers, magazines, directories, sponsorships, and billboards. I measure four basic criteria to judge the effectiveness of any medium: (1) Coverage of the trade area; (2) Repetition of a message; (3) Readership of a message; and (4) Cost per thousand exposures of a message. Two other criteria important for the small business owner are (5) Availability; and (6) Ease of use. Let's see how signs measure to the above criteria. 

 

1.Signs are oriented to your trade area. Signs do not waste your resources by requiring your to pay for wasted advertising coverage. The people who see your sign are the people who live in your trade area.

2.Signs are always on the job repeating your message to potential customers. Your on-premise sign communicates to potential customers twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, week after week, month after month, year after year. Every time people pass your business establishment they see your sign. The mere repetition of the message will help them remember your business. I put two iconic business signs at the top of the article, not because they each serve breakfast. (Who saw that trend coming?)Because of repetition, you know the logos and what they represent without having to be told in the lettering. That's the power of repeating your brand.

 

3.Nearly everyone reads signs. Signs are practical to use for nearly everyone is used to looking at signs and using signs, even small children. Studies have shown that people do read and remember what is on signs. When special items are displayed, sales increase for these particular items within the store.

4.Signs are inexpensive. When compared to the cost of advertising in some other media, the on-premise sign is very inexpensive. Unless your trade area encompasses an entire city or region, where you must rely upon broad based media coverage, there is no better advertising dollar value than your on-premise sign.

 As for the final two criteria, availability and ease of use… that's why you use Your Minuteman. A business with no sign is a sign of no business.

 

Image by Scott Stevens, used with permission

A Little on Business Marketing: Sponsor your way into view

Spring, unlike any other season, brings on a whole slew of marketing opportunities because that’s when summer leagues and fall sports programs solicit sponsors. We have a steady flow of requests from March through June: Everything from youth softball to county fair events to football programs for the local high school seasons five months away.

Much of advertising and promotion requires a ‘buy-in’ from the audience. What that means is the reader has to open the letter, or turn on the TV. When you market yourself and your logo (see the archives) via a sponsorship, you are reaching an audience that’s both captive and involuntary at the same time. For example, when someone opens a direct mail piece from your business, they know they’re getting a marketing piece from you. However, when they show up for a sports event, your logo on the uniform or in the program isn’t what they set out to see. Nor can they turn off the ad because they’d have to walk away from the event or game. Every onlooker gets to see your brand.

Sponsorship isn’t an instant payoff. There’s a thesaurus full of ten-cent words to explain the subliminal effects of advertising in this fashion. To put it concisely: Your logo is a message-less message that aids unaided recall. People might not need your service that day at the football game. Because they’ve seen your brand, however, they’re likely to consider you when they do need your service or product.

Here are four more ways sponsorship pays off:

1)      Your brand becomes part of the environment. On-field advertising sticks around all season.

2)      Your brand lives on for years after. Photos taken at a game or event have your logo in them permanently. If you’re sponsoring a team’s jersey, those things are like luggage: People keep them forever. Bonus: Your logo could show up in the paper or newscast or social media accounts of the event.

3)      Your brand is associated with good fun or winning. Even if the team you sponsor is a perennial stinker, people still have fun attending or they wouldn’t attend.

4)      Your brand also becomes associated with good will in the community.

My business sponsors a local waterski team via their show program. Little spend, lots of eyes. We sponsored a pre-teen girls softball team, shown above, with our name on jerseys worn in two consecutive championships. An ad here. A logo there. Minimal investment adds up to exposure to new customers. The one thing I’ve stayed back from (so far) is race cars: Nobody wants to see their logo hit a wall at 100+ mph.

Photo by Scott Stevens, used with permission.

A Little on Business Marketing: Your logo IS your brand

The act of marking livestock with fire-heated marks to identify ownership has origins in ancient times, with use dating back before there were pyramids in Egypt. In the Roman Empire, the symbols used for brands were sometimes chosen as part of a magic spell aimed at protecting animals from harm.

By the European Middle Ages, it commonly identified the process of burning a mark into stock animals with thick hides in order to identify them. The practice became particularly widespread in nations with large cattle grazing regions, like Spain. The unique brand meant that cattle owned by multiple ranches could then graze freely together on the open range. But you'd still know from where they came.

Your logo is the brand.

There is an identification advantage in developing a logo design exclusive to your firm. Using a logo also helps give your advertising continuity. Use the logo consistently on all printed pieces, including stationery. Use it in Yellow Page advertising, on the side of your truck or company car, on bags or boxes and anything else your customers or prospects may see.

The typeface you use in logos and all marketing plays an important role in how the message comes across. Printers are very knowledgeable about typefaces and happy to help you make choices. (Not-subtle, I know.)

Color is also an important consideration, as is making sure your logo can be rendered a few different ways. Sometimes your budget will prevent you from using your full-color logo. Invoices you print on your own color printer might turn out ok, but when you want a professionally-printed invoice or other office form, you might have to put your logo in black-and-white (aka grayscale) or choose an accent color. Sometimes when you embroider a logo onto apparel, some colors might get ‘lost’ in the background fabric. That’s going to be a consideration in the next A Little on Business Marketing article on sponsorships as well.

Photo by Juan Aunion, used with permission