51% meeting rate on a dimensional mail piece YOWZA!

Gather 'round, gang, and I'll tell you about an outcome direct marketers don't see very often.

The client in this case was Chris Beaudoin, a Boston photographer we've worked with for years.

Chris is like the James Brown of commercial photography. Nobody works harder to get that awesome shot.

But Chris is also a humble guy. He kept saying, "I'm not the only good photographer in town."

Chris wanted to emphasize the fact that he's no pain-in-the-ass prima donna. The man had a point. He's always been an absolute joy to work with.

Clients love the guy. His quality is off the charts and the typical stress level is abnormally low.

Chris wanted to become the go-to guy for a fresh crop of sophisticated photography buyers in greater New England.

He was aiming for something unforgettable. Something prospects would open and say, "Holy shit."

Our direct marketing agency created a 3D mailer with an emotional twist. The teaser headline on the outside of the box said, "Don't bother bringing this to your next photo shoot."

When recipients opened the box they found an actual blood pressure kit -- the real deal -- with this headline: "One prop you'll never need when working with Boston photographer Chris Beaudoin."

Prospects on Chris' hand-picked list received follow-up telemarketing shortly after the mailing dropped, as well as email advertising. (Yes, this was an integrated direct marketing campaign.)

Result: Chris has mailed 43 boxes and he's booked 22 appointments, for a 51% meeting rate.

The campaign seemed to strike a chord. I'd love to hear what you think.

Digital Rewards, motivate, inspire and increase purchases, so why aren't you using them?

How Digital Reward Cards Worked For...
Coca-Cola®

Product: Music Downloads
Industry: CPG

Use: Customer Incentives, On-Pack Promotions


I’ll Drink to That
As part of a nationwide promotion, Coca-Cola® offered customers at
participating Exxon Mobil, On The Run stores, a free music download
when they purchased a limited edition 52 oz. fountain drink. Specially
designed Coca-Cola cups were printed with unique reward codes on the
side incenting customers to purchase the larger size beverage. On The Run
promoted the campaign with in-store point of purchase displays alerting
consumers to the added value of upgrading to the larger size beverage.
This gift with purchase was easy for Coca-Cola to execute. By printing
the Music Download code right on the side of the cup they minimized
distribution costs typically associated with running an in-store giveaway.
Coca-Cola helped push sales of their product to a new level simply by
making a good thing better.

Why Choose Digital Reward

Cards For Your Next Promotion?

• Associate your brand with the
modern online gifts that unique,
custom branded Digital Reward Cards
have to offer! Give your company
some instant cool!

• Digital Reward Cards include popular
gifts that have real value – from Music
Downloads to Magazines, Movie
Tickets to Photo Prints, these are
products consumers desire.

• An incentive that has the ability to
reach multiple demographics, Digital
Reward Cards have universal appeal
and allow customers to select or
customize their personal reward.

• Inexpensive to ship, store and
distribute, Digital Reward Cards give
your company the flexibility to scale
any promotion. Their compact and
lightweight size makes them one of the
most practical and economical gifts
available!

Lowest cost per impression for your advertising dollar is here...

Two PPAI Studies Reveal Strength, Effectiveness Of Time-Tested Promotional Products. Birthdays, holidays, special days, any days.  From the momentous to the mundane, the dates we can’t forget are recorded on our calendars. But, in a world dominated by digital everything, does the printed version of our record keeping still have a place?

According to PPAI studies Calendar Usage In The Workplace and Calendar Usage In U.S. Households, the answer is absolutely.  A 1981 study conducted by the Calendar Advertising Council showed that printed calendars were a mainstay in the home and office. Fast forward three decades and not much has changed.

·        1981 98% of homes had a printed calendar and nearly every business had one.

·        2011 79% of homes and 78% of businesses still have a printed calendar—that’s only a 19% drop in 30 years and major advancements in technology.

·        1981 70% of calendars at home and 80% at a business were advertising calendars

·        2011 61.4% of calendars at home and 76% at a business are still promotional vehicles

 50% of the population never use the calendar function on their cell Phone*

*Calendar Usage in the workplace

So what does this mean? It means inexpensive advertising:

Let us say a calendar costs your company a whopping $5.00 (okay big spender). The average employee works 220 days per year. So if they look at your calendar once that is .02 per impression.  Pretty darn good, and we all know how many times people look at their calendars.

You can go with the personalized calendar with recipients name on it, like this one or you can go with a standard calendar.

Regardless your cost per impression is so inexpensive as you are with them year round. They won't throw you out and they cannot ignore you.

Fun, promotions using insurance to offer great prize!

$500,000 Big Winner Under the Big Top

Kiosk Promotion Pays Out, Insurance Company Writes the Check

Reno, Nev. – Just eight days into their $500,000 Prize Vault Swipe Play & Win Game the Circus Circus Reno was already making headlines.

On Tuesday, July 8, 2014, "One Club" member Andy Towne became the property's first player to "crack" the winning code on the casino's Prize Vault, instantly winning $500,000, paid for by Odds On.

To participate in the promotion, "One Club" members just swipe their card at the Prize Vault kiosk, enter their best guess as to the "winning combination" and receive a two-part ticket featuring an instant win prize coupon and a collection game piece featuring unique symbols that players can collect for a chance to win additional cash and prizes.

Players automatically receive one free swipe every day, and can earn up to five additional plays per day for an hour of tracked pit play, getting a same suit blackjack, placing a minimum $100 bet in the Race and Sports Book, earning 100 same day points on their "One Club" card, hitting a taxable jackpot, enjoying dinner at The Steakhouse at Circus, Dos Geckos Cantina or Kokopelli's Sushi, for staying in the hotel or for making a gift shop purchase of $40 or more.

The $500,000 Prize Vault promotion will run through the end of the year.


So what you may ask?  Well for pennies on the dollar this company got more positive PR than they could ever get, and they only paid the insurance premium, win lose or draw.

The Power of Referrals

Below are 7 surprising stats about customer customer referral programs. If you already have a customer referral program and it’s not performing like you want, you could also title this 7 reminders that you’re on the right track and don’t give up.

There is plenty of anecdotal evidence that people use to show that customer referral programs work. These stories are used to show the power of customer referral programs because humans are able to share stories easily. In fact, we actually have some great pieces on our blog from ShoeBoxed, GoSquared, FreeAgent, and TeamPages that tell the stories about how their customer referral programs have worked.

However, if you’re like me, at some point you want some concrete evidence based in statistics and science to back up these great success stories. So, I went ahead and put together a collection of real data from research groups to put some numbers behind customer referral program success.

Now, these findings won’t give you all the answers to how exactly to build the best referral program, however, they will give you some idea of how effective a referral program could be for you when done right.

Ok, here it is…

65% of new business comes from referrals - New York Times

92% of respondents trusted referrals from people they knew - Nielsen

People are 4 times more likely to buy when referred by a friend - Nielsen

Non-cash incentives are 24% more effective at boosting performance than cash incentives - University of Chicago 

Offering a reward increases referral likelihood, but the size of the reward does not matter - American Marketing Association

The LifeTime Value of a new referral customer is 16% higher - Wharton School of Business

83% of consumers are willing to refer after a positive experience—yet only 29% actually do - Texas Tech

Give us a shout and we will put together some ideas to help you gain those golden referrals.

Read more: http://www.referralsaasquatch.com/7-surprising-stats-about-customer-referral-programs/#ixzz3Cs59URXE

Product Launches- How do you handle them?

When it comes to product launches or marketing you have a very competent staff. People well trained and experts in their field.  Experts in your brand, copy, positioning and branding, and those things are extremely important.

We are NOT looking to outsource that department that is not our area of expertise.  But just as our expertise is not your product detail, and positioning ( we strive to learn more), we are pretty confident that your expertise is not packaging design, manufacturing and production.  You still need competent partners to help you to execute brand or product launches, whether internal to sales people or external to distributors.

Here are two great examples of product launch promotions that we executed.  The first being a simple training binder with all of training materials enclosed and it was fulfilled internally.  

Secondly we have a kitting program for a regional bank #capebank where this was mailed on behalf of their business development people to potential business in a selected geography to talk about loan products.

We turnkey the entire launch from concept design to production to fulfillment.  We want you to focus your time and energy and expertise on what you do best, and allow our team to do what we do best.

After all don't we all do better when we stick to our core competencies?

JEEP'S GIVEAWAY PROMOTION WAS CREATIVE AND SUCCESSFUL AND YOURS CAN BE AS WELL

At first glance, Jeep’s latest promotional giveaways might not seem that ground-breaking. It’s an automotive brand handing out custom carabiners. So what?
Well, the carabiners have a great creative twist – they’re shaped like Jeeps. We love it when brands create custom products, and carabiners for Jeep fit the brand perfectly.
Here’s a look at the promo.
It unfolded in Moscow, where the legendary SUV brand wanted to entice extreme sports enthusiasts to take a test drive in Jeep Territory, an off-road testing ground.
Jeep distributed the promotional giveaways – which were embossed with the line, “There’s an easier way to get there” – to customers who made a purchase at various travel gear stores.
The promotional carabiners were attached to invitation cards with the message: “Use this card for a free Jeep Territory test drive.”
During the first week of the promotion, 5,000 carabiners were distributed. Almost 1,000 brought in their card and carabiners for a test drive.

What Works About This Promo Giveaway

Great promotions don’t just happen – they take careful planning and a thoughtful execution. Here’s why this promotion was a success.

1. Jeep understood its target audience.

Understanding who you want to reach with your promotion is a critical first step. Jeep took the time to think about its target market, where these potential customers could be reached, and what kind of promotional giveaways they would find useful.

2. The giveaways served two purposes.

The primary reason for handing out the custom carabiners was to get prospective buyers to complete a test drive. But the promos are also tangible reminders of the Jeep brand, and they’re items that recipients will likely use when they’re out exploring the great outdoors. Jeep gets long-lasting exposure as a result.

3. The carabiners were different from the usual giveaway.

Jeep kicked up the promotion a notch by using carabiners in the iconic Jeep shape. There’s nothing standard or generic about these promotional giveaways – they’re distinctly Jeep. When you want to get people excited about your promo, give them items that are immediately recognizable as belonging to your brand.
Jeep’s promotion wasn’t a huge global campaign – it was just the opposite. It was a highly targeted direct-marketing campaign that creatively put the Jeep brand in front of a narrowly defined target audience.
Jeep was successful in getting prospective buyers out to test drive its vehicles, and it also put a useful, distinctive promotional item right into their hands. This promotion was effective because Jeep knew who it wanted to reach, and it got in front of its audience in a creative, standout way.
Have you ever developed custom-designed promotional giveaways for your brand? Tell us about it!

Photo via creativity-online.com 

How B2B Buyers Consume Vendor Content

B2B buyers, influencers, and researchers are not simply consuming vendor-related content once and then speeding to make purchasing decisions, according to a recent report from The CMO Council and NetLine.

Rather, most organizations (94%) tend to curate and circulate relevant content internally before purchasing B2B products and services.

Moreover, that sharing cycle varies widely from organization to organization, the survey of 352 buyers (most from large companies) found. The exact flow is unique to each company, but B2B content sharing within enterprises broadly falls into three distinct patterns, according to the research:

1. From the Middle Out: (35% of respondents): Execution-level executives find content about the vendor/product and make the purchase, but senior management is educated about why the decision was made.
2. From the Bottom Up: (30% of respondents): Junior or mid-level employees find vendor-related content and share their discoveries with senior management, who then make the final decision.
3. From the Top Down: (29% of respondents): Senior managers find the content, then share it with lower-level managers for analysis and final purchase.

Those sharing patterns are being powered by three key personas within the organizations, each with its own behaviors, needs, and expectations, the CMO Council and NetLine found:

1. Researchers: Primarily focused on new industry reports/research to inform them of advancements in solutions, trends affecting the markets, and opportunities for improvement.
2. Influencers: Interested in both thought leadership found in trusted third-party channels and vendor-branded technology specifications, data sheets, and use cases. This group is the most interested in summarized content, including infographics, videos, and blog commentary.
3. Decision-Makers: Want to stay informed through broad research reports and analyst commentary but also expect to have access to detailed data to enable better decision-making at the tail end of the purchasing funnel.

Below, additional key findings from the report.

The Value of Online Content 

• 88% of respondents believe that online content has played a major to moderate role in their vendor selection.
• 54% say that it keeps them current on new technologies.
• 38% say that it provides strategic insights and shapes purchase specifications.
• 37% believe that it educates them about issues, problems, and challenges in their industry.

Most Valued Content Types

The top five content types most valued by respondents are the following:

1. Research reports and studies (65% value).
2. Technical spec sheets and data sheets (50%).
3. Analyst intelligence and insight (46%).
4. Whitepapers (35%).
5. Articles on trade publishing sites (30%).

How They Find Content

• 68% of respondents start their vendor-related content sourcing with search engines and portals.
• 40% go to vendor websites.
• 25% turn to trusted sources or peers.

About the research: The report was based on data from an online survey of 352 B2B buyers, influencers, and researchers conducted in January 2014. Representation across company size included 23% from companies with revenues of more than $1 billion; 10% with revenues between $501 million and $1 billion; 32% between $50 million and $500 million; and 36% with revenues less than $50 million.

Read more: http://www.marketingprofs.com/charts/2014/24769/how-b2b-buyers-consume-vendor-content#ixzz2xlEYcp1C

B-to-B Decision-Makers Are People, Too (Really)

Does emotion work well in business-to-business marketing? Maybe not, many people would say. Making an organizational purchase has different considerations than buying a new shaving cream. And a bad decision for shaving cream may produce minor skin irritation, but a bad decision with third-party vendors could cost someone his job.

So, the thinking traditionally goes, the organization needs information, not emotion. Let's not bother with the larger benefits, just stick to the features -- as in our brochures. Our b-to-b target is an industry veteran who came up through the ranks, likely sales or marketing, so don't try to sell a seller. Play it straight.
That's why retail trade ads look and sound so much the same -- handshakes, puzzle pieces, globes and images of keys unlocking success. That's what seems to work. It may not be glamorous or award-winning creative, but it's effective.
But, though you'd never guess it from trade ads, the b-to-b purchaser has emotions. In a business setting, his emotions are more outward-facing. He's concerned with appearances, even if he'd deny it forever in a focus group or interview. He wants his colleagues to think that he is making rational and informed decisions that will directly benefit bottom-line financials. The key is this: emotion can work in an at-work setting, if the emotions focus on feelings about the benefits accruing to the company.
There is proof by leaders of industry to support our contention.
In 2007, a pair of British ad veterans, Les Binet and Peter Field, looked closely at nearly 900 case studies from IPA Effectiveness Awards over the years. One of the most surprising findings from their study, "Marketing in the Era of Accountability," was the discovery that "Emotionally-based campaigns are not only likely to produce very large business effects but also produce more of them, outperforming rational campaigns on every single business measure."
More recently, according to a CEB/Motista Survey presented at Google's ThinkB2B event last year, emotional connections run deeper for b-to-b clients than business-to-consumer customers. They argued that b-to-b marketing must win over both the horse and its rider, whereas consumer marketing just needs the guy on the horse.

"Between 40% and 70% of customers feel emotionally connected to brands like Oracle, Accenture, FedEx, SAP, and Salesforce," their report continued, "compared with between 10% and 40% for CVS, L'Oreal, and Wal-Mart."
How are b-to-b marketers making these connections? Take UPS for example. Rather than continue to message against their dizzying array of expanded products and services, in their global advertising campaign that launched a few years ago, they opted to own the bigger but simpler idea that: "We (Heart) Logistics." Ads showcasing UPS in action, set to the tune of "That's Amore," were meant to re-frame how consumers and businesses thought about what they did, from delivering packages on-time to a company that swoons for all the little details before, during, and after a delivery.
And though multinational corporations, which traditionally have more resources to develop b-to-b marketing programs that look and feel more b-to-c, there are smaller brands that are using emotion to great effect. Take Acme Brick for example. The Texas-based company decided almost 20 years ago to let builders -- and their end-users -- know that Acme Bricks were guaranteed for 100 years instead of the 3-year industry standard. The majority of its marketing budget is used for image and brand-building activities, including celebrity sponsorships and charity events. Its pitch to architects is as simple today as in its early years: When designing buildings "of consequence," turn to Acme Brick today.
According to an article by Moveo Integrated Branding's Kevin Randall, approximately $20 million of Acme's annual $200 million brick sales is a return on the investment the company makes yearly in brand-building. If a brick can be successfully differentiated, Mr. Randall wrote, then almost anything can be branded to create value.

For those of us in a market or brand research role, let's work harder to help both the agency and marketer side find magnetic truths in what we should remember is still p-to-p marketing -- person to person.

Courtesy Ad Age :By Keith Navratil

How to Develop an Incentive Program

Well some people don't think that people work better with a little extra motivation or incentive.  Well if that is you then you can stop reading.

#1 Establish Objectives

Identify what goal/objective needs to be accomplished, for example: improved attendance, increased sales of a particular product, etc. The objectives must be simple, specific, and obtainable. Begin with a clear, briefly stated objective and communicate it to all participants.

#2 Outline the Strategy

Build the foundation of the Incentive Program carefully, expanding on the methodology to be used. The structure of the program should detail exactly who is the target audience, and anyone else who will be influenced by the program. The size of the group is important to the budget of the program, as well as the ability to communicate clearly and measure the results accurately.

Other considerations are geographic boundaries or sales regions, legal considerations, family issues, the length of the program and timing, individual goals or team goals, and of course, the reward.

#3 Measure Performance

Define both quantifiable and qualitative goals that can be measured, and keep it simple. It might be necessary to look at historical data and come up with an average in order to define a particular sales goal. The goal needs to be fair to all involved, and obtainable by everyone.

#4 Establish the Budget

Depending on whether the program involves sales or non-sales personnel, the budgeting will be different. In general, the three elements of budgeting include: 1) number of participants, 2) length of program, 3) expected results.

There are two types of award budgets: 1) closed-ended, and 2) open-ended. You would need to determine the maximum costs involved with a closed-ended program, and an estimate of costs involved for an open-ended program.

In a sales program, the primary rules are: 1) Anywhere from 5% to 10% of additional (incremental) gross sales during the incentive period can be applied to the total cost of the program, and 2) The cost of the incentive awards should equal 5% of all compensation for the program period.

In a non-sales program, it is more difficult to put a monetary figure on the value of "improvement," but some measures are possible that involve increased productivity, improved attendance, and improved safety (fewer traffic tickets, for instance). The budget is then determined by the "value" the company will realize from the improvements made by the Incentive Program.

#5 Budget Elements

Awards	80%*
Communication / Promotion	10%**
Administration	5%**
Training/Research	5%**

* For merchandise awards, this includes shipping (about 10% of the cost of the items) and taxes (about 6% of cost).
**The last 3 categories are fixed costs comprising 10-20% of incentive program costs.

#6 Select the Perfect Award

It is important to select the correct award because if the individual is not emotionally vested in obtaining the incentive award, he or she will not pursue the goal. Spend some time speaking with the target group and select an award within the framework of the budget that will be important to the group.

#7 Administer the Program

Administration is approximately 20% of the program budget, and a good 50% of the planner's time. The target group needs clear, consistent communication and timely feedback on measurement of their performance.

#8 Celebrate the Success of the Program

The end of the program should be celebrated with the target group and performance measurement by individual or team should be provided at this point. Individuals should then receive their awards.

#9 Analyze the Success of the Program

Did the Incentive Program achieve its objectives? Were the participants motivated to change their behavior? Remember, an Incentive Program provides a short-term gain, and follow-up programs are important. Start planning the next one today. 

Give us a call at 609 807 8856 and have a 30 minute conversation about the merits of an incentive program.

Dimensional Mail

How it works:

•Client Brief- The client was disappointed with the common marketing response rates of 2% when trying to generate new club members. Typically it would cost the client in excess of $2,500.00 to get a new member. A creative, measurable marketing campaign was developed to target a smaller core list of potential members and to gain a greater response rate.

•Tennis club and to exceed the normal 2% common response rate. A ten percent response rate was the target or 30 new members.

•Execution & Strategy: we decided to create a measurable marketing piece that would generate a greater response than the normal 2% responses. We gathered the demographic information about the target audience: targeted area mailed within a 50 mile radius of the club, 50/50 women to men ratio, median age range between 35 to 55 and generally white collar workers – and to people that played tennis.

•Overall Results: the mailer generated an incredible 25% response rate, and generated 75 new members, the measurable program cost the cub $52.00 net each, a 2,448.00 savings per member. 

Direct Mail ROI Expectation

•Offer  to Spend 50% on AD and 50% of AD cost on PPDM

•PPDM Budget: $90,000 or $30 per mailing x 3 mailings = $90

•Target 1,000 Businesses

•30% Appt. Rate: 300 Appts.

•30% Proposal Rate: 90 Proposals

•30% Win Rate: 27 Sales at an average sales of $20,000

•New Sales: $540,000

•ROI: 6:1 First Year

•ROI: 12:1 Second Year

Targeted dimensional mail wins hands down.
Not designed for every company.
If sales people will NOT call after don't spend money.
For those who work it, the programs work

Consumer Reaction: Do Promotional Products Generate Response? (+playlist)

Seven in 10 consumers recalled receiving at least one promotional product in the past 12

months. A similar finding was observed in previous studies. Among those who recalled

receiving promotional products, 70% recalled receiving two or more items

Financial services, retailers, apparel brands and electronics manufacturers are the most

commonly recalled advertisers of promotional products. The most often recalled

promotional product categories include:

1.         Wearables (41%): Including Shirts (22%), Caps/Headwear (11%), Outerwear(6%)

2.          Other Wearables (2%)

3.         Writing Instruments (35%)

4.            Drinkware (19%)

Promotional products can be used to minimize time gaps in exposure occasions

and provide external cues to help brand recall. They should be provided on a

regular basis, have a clear connection to the brand, and should be relevant to the consumer.

What is a new client worth? An "A" or "B" level client? How much would you invest to get one?

Now I may be dating myself here, but can you remember the old ice cream bar jingle for Klondike Bars? It went like this: “What would you do for a Klondike Bar?” People would do crazy stunts such as chirp like a bird or make an elephant sound in a crowd of people. Well, when I saw a rerun of that commercial recently, I thought, "What would someone do for a good client?" Or better put: What would someone pay for a good client? When we review our marketing, we are doing just that, investing in the opportunity and possibility of getting a new client, or generating new or existing business. Most people do not know what it costs to get a new client—in fact, most rarely, if ever, analyze their marketing spend to see if it’s viable and cost-effective.
As I consult globally, I am amazed at how ineffective most businesses market themselves. As business owners it is critical that we differentiate and set ourselves apart, because if you are not different, you are the same! Now is the time to seize that opportunity.
This article will be a mathematical analysis of your marketing. You can add or delete zeros at will—the bottom-line is the same. I have used arbitrary figures, but you can plug in your specifics to see the outcome. (These are my numbers when I was a marketing consultant.) Most people today are looking for that Holy Grail idea that will help them get new business, but in today’s market there is nothing cookie cutter that will be effective across the board. Marketing today MUST be strategic and laser focused in order to be effective—that’s the beauty of strategic marketing utilizing promotional marketing—and most importantly, if done correctly, it’s measurable.

So, what exactly is your ideal client worth? What would you spend to get that new client? How much does your best client spend with you on an annual basis? And better yet, what is the profitability, long term, of that client? Take and evaluate your client list and separate them into A, B, C and D categories. Then, place the B, C and D list aside. Take the A list and total the amount of money spent last year with that group, and divide it by the number of clients in that category.

$623,000.00 (total revenue generated) divided by 37 (number of A clients) = $16,837.83
Now what about attrition rate? How long do you keep your average client? In my case it averaged out to be about seven years. What is your average gross profit? For me it was around 54 percent. So let’s do the math.
$16,837.83 x 7 = $117,864.85 projected average run-rate over a seven year period.
Now if my margins run, on average, at 54 percent, then the math looks like this:
$117,864.85 x .54 = $63,647.01 x 37 (A-list clients) = 445,529.13 in profit.
So the question begs itself, what would you pay for an A-list client with the following profile:

• $16,837.00 in annual sales 
• $9,091.98 in annual profits
• Seven-year attrition rate
• $117,865.00 in projected sales
• $63,647.00 in projected profits

When looking at the picture now, what would you be willing to invest in procuring a client like this? Hopefully more than a 79-cent product or an ineffective print collateral piece. When analyzing my marketing even today, I look at all of these factors to determine the effectiveness of my marketing as it relates to the “spend” and projected opportunities that may exist within an existing client.
In reviewing your marketing it is important to note one critical factor: "Marketing is the deal opener; sales is the deal closer." Too often business owners feel that the marketing should be doing the job of sales—NOT SO! Marketing is the introduction, the teaser. It is the catalyst for people to want to know, see or experience more of what you have to offer—therefore your marketing must be memorable, strategic. It must create a “wow” factor and look to hit emotional triggers that will cause action on the part of the recipient.

Years ago we developed a campaign for a bank. They were targeting local business for commercial accounts and loans. The piece was mailed to 250 potential prospects. After calling the prospects, they were able to secure over 150 appointments with new prospects. Talk about opening the door.

Smart marketers look at their marketing through a series of analytics to determine its effectiveness. To spend $20, $50 or even $100 on an account that can generate $9,091 in annual profits is well worth it.

#brandsuccess and #proprinters can show you how to make this work for you and your company.

Trade Show attendance and performance are up is yours?

According to Red Bank, NJ-based Exhibit Surveys Inc., the exhibition industry saw meaningful upticks in 2012, which is a welcome change considering the statistical stagnation experienced in 2011, when the industry held steady but failed to demonstrate any noticeable growth. Each year, the exhibit- and event-research firm polls attendees from more than 30 U.S. trade shows to determine the effectiveness of exhibit marketing and identify industry benchmarks. The company's 2012 Trade Show Trends report includes valuable information about exhibit performance, show-floor traffic, and attendees – their buying power, purchase plans, and attendance habits. The survey determined that 84 percent of trade show attendees have the power to recommend, specify, and/or make final purchasing decisions. Perhaps more importantly, 49 percent came to 2012 shows with real purchasing intent. While those statistics represent just 3- and 2-percent increases respectively, they compare favorably to long-term industry averages, meaning we may have finally returned to some semblance of business as usual. In fact, 2012's all-show average for Net Buying Influence tied the 10-year high not seen since 2006. So the question is how do you get these people to stop and visit YOU? Do you target or just set up your booth and "Show up and Throw up"? Come on gang you are better than that. Put some pre-show planning into it. Who are the best "buyer" "influencers" in your space that could potentially be attending this show? Invite them. Don't wait for the roster to show up and then do something. Mail to them, email them a promotion but they have to stop by. Make the booth fun, or else if they think they know who you are why would they show up? Most recently one of our clients, Lycored, ran a promotion with a custom cornhole contest and the winner got tickets to the Superbowl. Okay yes, was it a nice sized investment on their part. Let us look at the results, and what happened.

Here is an image of the game that people got a chance to play, which we produced the game. Then for showing up you received a promotional football.

No big shakes either. But because of the nature of the promotion our client had John Elway stop by their booth and play cornhole. Yes, the John Elway whose team is in the Superbowl. Talk about great PR, and we have the video link to show you. But we must create excitement in our booths, if we want to make an impact and attract the right people. So when you are getting ready to put together a trade show booth, or a pre-show promotion just give us a call and we will drive the non "trick or treaters to your booth"




So here is John Elway himself stopping by my clients boot to play our custom designed Cornhole game.  The point is make your booth memorable, and we can help.

Thanks for reading.

Derek

Incentives they work, are you using them?

Many of you are in postitions of sales for your company, and in most cases in a leadership role. Whether you are a branch manager in charge of a sales team, or the president or the CEO of a company. So you are not directly on the firing lines, but look at the macro ways to motivate your teams to dig deeper and bring in that extra revenue. Sales people are a competitive bunch, they are aggressive and that is why they have chosen the profession of selling, and as a leader you want to channel that energy and maximize it to reach your revenue goals and objectives. How can you do that? INCENTIVES!

Take these cards for examples these are a great way to have some fun with your sales team. Each time somebody achieves a sales objective they get one of the cool cards, they scratch them off and win great prizes. Or you can introduce a points based program similar to an American Express Membership Rewards. Where points accumulate over time for each new account, each new sales, revenue etc.

These points are then redeemed for great prizes from jewelry to stereo equipment and much more. Some may say "WHAT ABOUT CASH?" Isn't cash king? Cash satisfies basic needs which does not motivate behavior. Cash is the currency of compensation and pricing. Use cash and it becomes part of an individual’s compensation package or a customer’s pricing program. Invariably, if you offer a cash incentive to any audience, internal or external, it becomes a benchmark against which future compensation and pricing issues get measured, leading to a condition known as “program addiction.” Because cash quickly gets mingled with other compensation or expenses (in the case of customer cash expenses) Major Oil Company Study Summary Non-cash outperformed cash by 46% Non-cash: 37% increase in product mix ROI Cash: -20% Every $1 invested = an $0.80 return Non-cash: +31% Every $1 invested = a $1.31 return Thank you for reading our blog Derek Miller 609 807 8856

New Account Sales- How to get your salespeople that first appointment faster!

You want your sales people to earn a boat load of cash right? Ever heard the expression you can get everything in life you want if you will just help enough OTHER people get what they want? Well it is true. You have a great product, and/or service that fills your prospects needs, and either saves them money or helps them make money. Once they use the product they will thank you for a long time, right? What is the hardest part of sales for most sales people? Is it qualifying? Is it closing? No generally speaking it the fact that we don't have enough clients in our sales pipeline. If your sales people had more prospects in their sales funnel, then more activity yields more results. Let us take it one step further. That really hard part is getting that first appointment with the decision maker. Let us say you want to target "C level" people for your product or service. How are you going to get Mr. Joe Decisionmaker to want to take your phone call. After all he gets bombarded daily, and Joe's administrative assistant screens all the calls anyways. You've got an idea you will ask for an email right - Wrong spamming ol Joe won't work, through the spam filter and the 300 email he receives daily. Okay so you will send a letter with a catalog right? Well, that will find its rightful place in the round file. With a catalog or a flyer, your just lumped yourself in as an order taker. Well that bring us to the way you can DIFFERENTIATE YOURSELF, and get that valuable first appointment. It is using a dimensional mail piece.

Well here is an example. This piece we designed and mailed on behalf of one of our clients. It is a custom designed box, with brand messaging on the inside. In addition we have a "sound button" that when you press it says "Wow, that is a great idea". The reasoning is that it is a good idea to use my client for your needs. Secondly when the sale team calls the prospects up, they simply say Mr. Decisionmaker, my name is Zach and I sent you the awesome "Great Idea" button and then proceed to make an appointment. This does a few things: The screener probably will not screen the mail on this package they have no idea what it is. Secondly if they do, it reinforces to them, who you are, and they will be certain to give the item to their boss. Lastly when you call, you don't have to worry about Mr. Decisionmaker making to correlation between you, and who you are and what company you are with. They will always remember the "Great Idea" button you sent. It does not have to be the great idea button, enclosed you will find some more examples.

These are from Pilot services. Twice a year they send out over 1000 prospect mailer to potential clients. This helps to reinforce their brand and their messaging to their prospects. It makes it so much easier to secure an appointment when you do fun things like this for your prospects. You put a smile on their face and they will open their hearts minds and wallets to you and your company. If you implement this into your company's business development program you will certainly have a lot of happy folks there thanking you!

Thank you for reading. As always give us a shout with any questions or a free consultation about how we can help you!