Direct Marketing News

If you provide a service or multiple services as the backbone of your company, consider standardizing the services you provide into products. This can make all the difference in how your company grows.

In the early 90′s, a direct mail printer was just that – a direct mail printer. Their sales reps would sell direct mail printing. As difficult as it was to sell such a vague service they managed, and the company survived but did not thrive. By the mid 90′s the company had a revelation: discuss the most creative direct mail printing projects they had produced with their customers. Evaluate the final results, and if the project was successful, standardize it into a product!

Within two years they had over twenty products. Each product had a name, a logo consistent with the company logo and overall theme of design, a piece of literature, case studies and a press release. The sales reps found it much easier to listen to the prospects and offer them the option of a successful packaged product then to sell the idea of a service.

The marketing department was having a field day! Now that they had a series of products, they could market these products to companies similar to the original customer (based on SIC codes), using actual case study data. They could then take that case study and use it for press releases, direct mail, presentations and articles for publications.

The rest of the world has discovered Service Packaging… Have YOU? A great example is the insurance industry. In the 80′s they offered insurance. Now they package products for specific niche markets. Of course, you can always stray from the package and add your own options, but the idea is the same – selling products is much easier then selling services.

Customers appreciate the fact that you’ve done all the leg work. You understand their needs based on who they ar (more…)

There are a number of different types of stands to promote and market your company, ranging from shell schemes, bespoke and custom modular exhibition stands, through to various sized pop up and banner stands. Below we briefly mention the choices you have.

1. Banner Systems and Banner Stands can be quite compact and easy to carry and perfect for re-using. Banner stands are great promotional tools and ideal for point of sales. These stands are very affordable and well within most companies budgets and come in a variety of designs, often with interchangeable graphics.

2. Pop Up Stands can be more suited to conferences, presentations and exhibitions and they also come in a variety of designs and styles. Pop Up stands, as the term would suggest, are designed for very simple construction and they are often lightweight. Pop up stands are fairly inexpensive but dynamic solution for marketing ones business.

3. Exhibition Stands can come in a number of sizes and styles and be bespoke, custom modular solutions for a company. The price range and styles for exhibition stands really vary greatly. Some large companies spend significant budgets on very high impact and impressive and stylish exhibition stands, whole others choose smaller but still powerful designs.

4. Literature Stands as the name would suggest, are stands created for the intended for displaying and presenting literature for you at exhibitions, conferences and other types of shows. Literature stands come in different designs, sometimes with different pocket sizes such as four, five and eight pocket stands. Literature stands can help to give a more professional display and these stands are easy to transport and fold away.

5. Exhibition Kits You can often buy a combination of different types of exhibition and display stands as a package. This can act as a perfect solution (more…)

“No matter how small your business is, you probably have a few customers that you know you can rely on. They regularly buy your product or use your service. They have given you positive feedback a number of times. You know you have made a connection with them by their actions.

Use these customers to your advantage. If it feels like your advertising efforts are not being effective, it may be because you are not targeting the right people. You should be targeting people who are just
like those reliable customers that you have. You know they like your product or service, so people like them probably will, too.

However, to effectively market to “your” type of customers, you first have to figure out who “your” customers are. You have to get to know those “old faithful” customers that keep you in business.

Offer them an incentive to give you information about themselves. For instance, send some of them a survey through direct mail, and offer 25% their next purchase if they fill it out and return it. Or, when you design your advertising posters, mention on them that you will give away your service for free for a period of time if customers come in and fill out your survey.

Besides asking them to fill out surveys, go ahead and talk to your loyal customers. Get to know them as people, not just as consumers. Ask about their families, their jobs, what kind of car they drive. This is the type of thing you want to find out, because it will be supremely valuable later.

Once you get this information from your loyal customers, you will know whom to target in any future advertising that you do. You may find that most of “your” customers are retired men who live in the suburbs. Or “your” customers may come primarily from rural areas, and consist mostly of middle-aged family women who drive mini-vans.

Follow up on thi (more…)