Focus on Business Advice Do you use on-hold marketing?


Mark Williamson, sales and marketing director at PHMG, discusses on-hold marketing and how you can use this contact with your customers to your advantage.


B


rand image matters. Brand image is everywhere. From advertising to billboards, on social media and in-store. From corporate clothing or water bottles to school or team kits.


Getting your brand in front of the right people at the right time is essential to building brand recognition. As is getting your message heard.


Businesses rely on merchandise companies to come up with new and inventive ways to deliver branding solutions. Thatʼs why the industry is under pressure to leverage every opportunity to cross-sell and upsell their brand differentiators to their vast, varied and discerning market.


The more savvy businesses recognise that they cannot just depend on the most obvious marketing channels to stand out in the current competitive climate. Sometimes it pays to go back to basics. The telephone is often the first customer touchpoint for product and pricing queries and should not be overlooked as a vital marketing tool. In our always on, multimedia world, a brand should be heard as well as seen.


Stand out from the competition


The telephone presents a golden opportunity to sell – sell more products, more often and to more people. But only if the caller experience is a positive one.


So why do many printwear and promotion companies leave customers on hold for 33.48 seconds with no meaningful interaction? A lot can be achieved in almost 34 seconds. A holiday booked, a gift purchased, a night out arranged... your competitors found via a search engine. The good news is that with effective on-hold marketing, businesses can engage, inform and entertain to keep callers on the line – and keep them away from the competition.


Make it personal


Merchandise businesses need to think like a customer. What would they do if greeted by an ill-mannered or ill-informed employee? Would they be happy to hear repetitive ʻplease holdʼ messages or monotonous beeps, constant ringing or worse still, silence?


What they would probably want to hear is useful information – from store opening times to new product launches and multi-buy or seasonal promotions.


Whatever the reason for the call, it is important to ensure customers are dealt with professionally and promptly. Especially when research reveals that 73% of Brits wouldnʼt deal with a company again if their first call wasnʼt handled to expectations. Yet putting a caller on hold doesnʼt have to equate to dissatisfied customers and a loss of sales – instead it can be a highly effective and cost effective marketing tool. 33.48 seconds is a window of opportunity to turn an interested caller into a lucrative sale.


Say it loud and proud


On-hold marketing works by elevating a companyʼs visual image and values through sound. It requires a blend of brand enhancing script and delivery backed by brand harmonious music. From pace to tone, accent to pitch and tempo, all


| 64 | October 2019 www.printwearandpromotion.co.uk


contribute to delivering a meaningful and measurable on-hold campaign. Itʼs a common misconception that playing a well-known song is the perfect solution. However, thatʼs like selling ʻone size fits allʼ. In reality, it doesnʼt. No two shapes or tastes are the same. Songs could evoke painful memories and these negative associations would then be transferred onto the brand. Equally callers do not want hear an off-the-shelf soundtrack that could be used by any business in any sector. They want brand communications that demonstrates that the business they are calling understands their needs. If callers hear script and songs that arenʼt reflective of company values, it could tarnish a well-earned brand reputation. A long- established, traditional family business would use a very different brand soundtrack to an innovative start-up that specialises in eco-organic promotional products or a mass market corporate.


Projecting personality


By combining unique brand message and music, on-hold marketing can enhance the customer experience and bolster brand image. In fact, recent research among British consumers revealed that 60% now believe music is more memorable than visuals when used in marketing.


Our experience of many years creating brand soundtracks for the printwear and promotion sector reveals that clients predominantly use tracks with live instrumentation, such as electric guitars, punchy pianos and upbeat live drums – often with memorable melodic lines. They tend to opt for tracks with reasonably minimal arrangements in order to provide a clear sense of professionalism – leaving plenty of space for their voiceover to shine through. These clients lean towards using a male voiceover with a youthful, upbeat style of delivery. When it comes to content, companies should creatively craft their script to promote tactical seasonal offers or reactive multi- buy discounts. They could share customer testimonials, contract wins or new equipment capacity. Messaging can and should be updated regularly to avoid inertia – to keep content fresh and customers coming back.


Given its sales-driven and customer satisfaction capabilities, on-hold marketing should be a core component of any marketing strategy. After all, how a brand looks and sounds are a critical duet.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88