Marketing with Promotional Products » Marketing

Budgetary accountability is at an all-time high.

Jonathan Martin — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 16:41:06 +0000

Today businesses and consumers are asking why each expenditure is necessary and what benefits it is intended to yield. This is especially true in advertising. As Rapp and Collins observe in The New Maxi-Marketing, “The proliferation of media choices and the escalation of media costs have increased the need for truly accountable advertising expenditure…All advertising, whether by image-building brand advertisers or by direct marketers, must be fully accountable.”

This accountability starts with having specific measurable objectives and ends with evaluating whether those objectives were achieved by the promotional methods used. As business becomes more sophisticated and accountability continues to increase, impulse purchases of promotional products will diminish. This will lead to more competition in the product sales arena.

The new bottom line. If there is one pervasive question that seems to run through every business relationship it is, “What have you done for me lately?”

The good news is that program selling can answer that question.

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Brand Recognition beats out Search Ranking

Jonathan Martin — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 21:01:19 +0000

After reading my post on measurable marketing results, Jeremy a friend and owner of RED GREY Concepts a Seattle Video Production Company sent an article from the Atlas Institute about sponsored search.

60% of people click on search results based on brand recognition. The best example of this is when people type the title of a book into Google. Several Sponsored sites pop up, even if Amazon is low on the list they get more of the clicks.

This can be good or bad. take for instance when someone enters amazon into Google. The top Pay-Per-Click ad that pops up is Amazon. The searcher clicks this and Amazon is charged the $2 or whatever the going rate is.

How does this relate to you? If your customers already have your name on top of mind awareness they are more likely to find you in the maze of search results. Not everyone is a household name like Amazon.

What are you doing to stay on the top of your customers mind? Better they recognize your name over your competitions.

If your interested in that atlas article you can find it here.

50% of your advertising Dollars is wasted Money!

Useful Items = Successful Promotion

Jonathan Martin — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 14:56:26 +0000

Something as simple as a light-up keychain can be a simple, inexpensive, and practical promotional item because it is just- simply useful. Consumers may use it in many situations, from an emergency, to lighting up a darkened stairway. Plus, even when the keychain is not in use, it is on their key chain, in their sight everyday. The repeated use of a useful promotional item like this ensures brand awareness in positive way, thus associating your brand with a good experience, helping to keep or create the consumer warm towards your brand. The next time they need a product that, you sell, they will remember you and be happy to call and place their order.

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50% of your advertising Dollars is wasted Money!

Jonathan Martin — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 14:48:52 +0000

The only problem is you don’t know which 50%! Or at least that is how the old saying goes. I often hear people rave about tracking systems and talk about how they can gather all of this statistical information about the marketing they use. That is great, I love statistics especially when they point in my direction. But why limit yourself to marketing campaigns that are trackable?

Place one phone number in the newspaper ads and another in the TV spots. Now that is an easy way to track which piece of marketing was that last to be seen before the call was made. If you are weighing the ROI of TV vs Print then this would be a great methodology for tracking the results. For the Internet you can compare click-through rates for different ad copies.

But what about Branding? This is a broader spectrum and more difficult to measure. How do you measure the effectiveness of the embroidered shirt on the Bank teller, your logo on a nice pen, or the goodwill generated by the holiday cards you send out every year? These have to be measured on a much more subjective level.

We work with one company who has shifted their entire marketing budget away from print and moved it to promotional products and flying their customers to nice resorts and holding golf tournaments. This way they have a captive audience and a happy client either way it shakes out. Sure, most businesses can’t operate in this fashion, but if you are selling large enough contract then this is the way to go. It is targeted and measurable. They either buy or they don’t

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Looking to make that Sales Appointment have a lasting emotional impact?

Jonathan Martin — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 14:47:50 +0000

We had a decision maker from a large aerospace client stop by our show room last week. This was her first time visiting us. Our goals was three fold: to spark ideas, show the limitless possibilities of promotional products, and make an emotional connection that will ensure we are their first choice for their marketing needs.

We had the appointment scheduled about a week in advance. This way we could have a gift personalized with her name when she arrived. Nothing leaves a lasting impression like a personalized gift. People just love stuff with their own name on it. We have found that even rather “lame products” imprinted with a persons name or initials make a significant impact.

We value this client and wanted to make this a memorable visit so no “lame product” here. We had a Cross Apogee Black Star Lacquer Ball-Point Pen, with her name deep cut engraved with her name in a beautiful script, waiting for her when she walked in. POW you could see the impact of this personalized promotional pen on her face immediately. She was excited and knew just how much we value her.

At a $95 dollar price point this isn’t a gift for just anyone who walks in. But who do you want your next client to be? Lots of small clients are great, but if you want to step into the world of larger accounts you need to make a different kind of impression. Money directly targeted to specific accounts is more effective for larger clients than casting a really wide net with other mass-media marketing.

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New Clinic New Look

Jonathan Martin — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 14:47:04 +0000

A brand new wellness clinic is opening and they are planning on handing out Promotional Water Bottles to guests. They are inviting referring physicians and nurses.

Starting with their Wellness theme, These great BPA free water Bottles are sure to be a hit.

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