BUSINESS MONITOR
e-mail marketing. Because itʼs free people get deluged. So they just delete the lot. Meanwhile, the post pile is smaller because itʼs expensive compared with e-mail. But as long as you donʼt print on the envelope ʻdreary sales message enclosedʼ it will be opened and, if itʼs pertinent, well written and well presented, youʼve got that share of shout.
Offers
Make an offer. Printwear is a promotional item, so make a promotional offer. Free ideas. Youʼll always come to the table with a free marketing idea. Find them on the web if you donʼt have your own. Win a trip to a major promotional event – you plus the winner. Not cheap but attractive. Extra product free: buy ten sweatshirts, weʼll give you two free baseball caps. Not the same product, please note, because thatʼs discounting.
Price Donʼt sell on price. It is always a race to the bottom. If you sell your products, skills and knowhow cheap that is what you will always be perceived as. Bargain basement pricing suggests to non-experts that your skills and service are not up to snuff, or that you are not confident of them. Raising a price, having once reduced it, is awfully difficult. Instead, look hard at your business and clarify what makes you unique. Donʼt be diffident about this. You understand the construction industry well because you have lots of clients there? Thatʼs rare, going on unique. Youʼre chock-full of clever ideas? Ditto. You work on a 24hour turnround structure? Ditto again.
Integrated communications ʻIntegrated marketingʼ is another industry fashion which is no longer much boasted about, but is happily still implemented. Delivering the same positive, basic message every time sounds dull, but it works. Itʼs the same as ʻI love youʼ, ʻI still love youʼ and ʻIʼll always love youʼ. Word is, thatʼs still a popular combination.
Sales staff
Get yourself a good salesperson. Note the ʻpersonʼ bit. A mother with school-aged children who has experience in the marketing world could be exactly the person you need for 25 hours a week, 40 weeks a year. I learned this from a pharmaceutical marketer who had recruited this way to sell to doctors.
Public relations
Stress your expertise in PR activities. Few journalists know much about your specialist skills and journalists like to have available people who can give them 100 words of solid reliable information plus a pithy quote. Being referred to in the press as an expert will raise your profile significantly.
Loyalty scheme
Consider creating a loyalty scheme. You probably carry at least one such card from major retailers. Copy the principle. You donʼt need an expensive plastic-based system, but you can email customers with additional product ideas. The business that bought sweatshirts is definitely in the market for other product unless you did a great sales job. For instance, ʻI donʼt think I mentioned we offer kids baseball caps at xyzʼ should have a nice offer attached. ʻAs a new customer for sweatshirts take up our deal on kids capsʼ. Dead easy and productive.
Expert help Donʼt do any marketing yourself. Get an expert(s). There are thousands of experts who are sole traders and who will do a better job for you far cheaper than an employee or a big agency. The web and social media sites offer lots of access to those people.
Community Youʼre a local business, so work that. Be a part of your community. Turn your enthusiasm for a charity into a business opportunity. Foster young talent – organise a T shirt printing workshop and publicise it. Your premises can be come ʻtheʼ place to go for your product.
First impressions
Brush up your premises. Getting this right is cheap as chips and if it isnʼt right, you have a problem. Get a friend to walk through the door and tell you about the first impression – the place, the people, the proposition. You are in the business of helping people build their corporate image. Start with your own.
Forward planning Get your planning right. There should be a calendar/diary within the business that ensures you donʼt miss the opportunities that the calendar offers – theyʼre screamingly obvious, but many businesses implement activity too late. Thereʼs a joke that goes ʻit must be Christmas, Easter eggs are in the shopsʼ. In marketing circles, thatʼs called good planning.
Technology
Stay on top of changes in technology. If you donʼt have the latest kit, a prospective customer who has heard about it is going to devalue what you offer. By contrast, the business that is cutting edge in technology terms starts one step ahead. Take on board any clever ideas your suppliers offer and ask about those too. If I were spending thousands of pounds on a machine, Iʼd be looking for some ideas that would help pay for it.
Points of difference Be different. Most prospective new customers will ask 2/3/4 businesses to quote. Start by not just giving them a price for the navy polo shirts they have requested. Be brave! Suggest something funkier. Instead of orange embroidery on navy (as above) what about the reverse? Your competitors usually wonʼt. Always have in mind an additional product to offer, too. Selling twice to one customer is the most budget efficient sale there is. It makes you feel good as well.
www.printwearandpromotion.co.uk
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