Bags as a Brand booster!

Let's face it, we all love a good bag!  Be it a grocery tote, backpack, laptop case, or good ole fashioned duffle, we have a bag for every event in our day.

So, do you have a favorite bag, I am 100% sure that you do.  And, according to a recent survey, 31% of you have one with a logo on it.  Be it your favorite team, grocery store, or a recent outing at a trade show, the chances are high you got a bag with a Brand on it! 

You marketers out there, note that a promotional bag generates 5983 impressions, much more than any other promo item out there - so get your Brand on a bag y'all!  And for you California folks - paper or plastic ain't gonna cut it in the supermarkets, so look at Non-woven totes as your new favorite brand vehicle.

Can Facebook be your Customer Service answer?

The numbers say yes!  In a Q2 2014 survey, 67% of brands that had questions posted to their Facebook wall, responded to them.  That's a pretty strong figure for customer interaction, which shows the true power of social media and how successful Brands leverage it for full customer interaction.

There is always a "but" in this equation, and in this case during that same period, 87% of the Brands examined did not have their Facebook walls open for comments.  In other words, these Brands failed to recognize the word SOCIAL in its overall strategy.  We're now in an interactive world folks, transparency in your Brand is necessary in order to create trust - open up man!

So what industries excel at Customer Service interaction on social media platforms...the Airlines!  Yes, those lovely companies that now charge you for that man-purse or laptop case, are the best at social response.

So what does this mean to you?  Open up the lines, answer those questions and create a relationship with your customers!

For more on this article Read Here

Hello? I can't hear you! Four ways to get closer to your Customer's Voice

Listening... in business it's vital to understanding your customer's needs and pains.  As a salesperson, it is the key ingredient to a successful close of a sale.  In negotiation, the "he who speaks first loses" mantra deeply involves understanding your adversary's voice.

So, with all the chatter going on in this social media world, how do you get your customer to be honest with you?  As marketers, we thrive on data and feedback, but making sure the data is accurate and honest is a problem.  The noise of Facebook, Twitter, blogs, Pinterest, etc act as massive filters to your Customer's true voice.

What works these days?  Simplicity folks:  listen, be transparent in your open-ended questioning, ask permission, and by all means don't use today's latest and greatest buzzword.  The social media outlets are your tools, and can be utilized to get your customer's true voice.

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Surprise! Your Brand is a Media Company now!

What?  Not a funny April Fools joke Chris, we most certainly are NOT a media company.  We make fantastic widgets for crying out loud...

Not so fast my friend.  Look at your brand platform these days - website, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Google+, YouTube - all sponges requiring brand content and engagement with your core audience.  You are making videos folks, face the facts... YOU are a media company.

In the past, brands such as Tide, Coca-Cola, etc created aspirations for their core audience - i.e. the Brand trended the expectation to the masses - Good mothers use Tide, etc.  The Brand centralized the message back to its product/service. 

 

Nowadays, the customer is making that aspiration due to the immediacy of today's technological innovations.  Our focus as marketers is consumer driven based upon instant feedback received from - you guessed it - our Media Channels!  We are able to interact with our core audience in such a proactive way these days, that what is driving revenues - and Brand loyalty - is the content we create!

Read this article on how Red Bull has lead the way with this view of Brands as Media companies.

Millenials: Can they be loyal to your Brand?

Crazy thing I learned the other day:  A member of the Millennial generation is someone born in the 1980's and turns 21 in the new Millennium.  Makes sense, but from there, defining this new Generation becomes an anomaly to most.

The Millennials grew up with the Internet, cell phones, Apps, Multi-channel TV, and all the instant gratification that this new Age society can create.  But, can they be loyal to anything other than themselves?  If you look at it from an employment perspective - the answer is clearly no.  The long-term "stay until I retire" concept is dead, nowadays its "how quickly can I get promoted, or I'm outta here."

However, when it comes to Brands, 64% of Millennials say they feel the same loyalty to a Brand as their parents do! 




Great news for marketers, but it also comes with a caveat - you are going to have to work harder to keep them.  Social marketing, transparency, and yes, deals all motivate the Millennials.

For more, Read this great Article

Custom Promo Products: How swag can affect customer loyalty

Customer loyalty - it's the holy Grail of marketing y'all.  The customer who is loyal to your brand essentially becomes your Ambassador to the world.  It's why we spend so much money on social media, community outreach, etc.

But... are you thinking about a promotional product as well?  Fact of the matter is, a well placed, branded thank-you gift goes a long way in establishing repeat performances.

 

So... are branded items in your arsenal in creating loyalty?  If not, then you better load your gun... quickly!

Case Studies: Have they become obsolete in the Social age?

In the promotional products industry, case studies are a vital bullet in a salesperson's arsenal.  A strong case study can show a company's creativity, it's project management capabilities, and most importantly it's solution-based initiative.  Case studies also show how important promotional products can be in an overall marketing strategy, and by clearly defining the ROI, gives the salesperson a competitive advantage against the typical "mom and pop" shop.

However, in today's socially-generated ratings world, the case study may be losing it's lustre.  The key knocks are that a case study has a limited shelf life, especially in the Millenial "what have you done for me in the last minute" mindset.  More importantly, a case study is primarily company-driven - i.e. it is designed to show the company in the best light possible. That's all well and good - but can sometimes come off as disingenuous, not a good look for most salespeople...

With the trend towards buying online in the promo products industry, the testimonial has the preferred vehicle of establishing brand trust - look at my website and you'll see the same!  I am as guilty as the next guy when it comes to not showing Case studies, I'd rather have a client speak to our reliability than it come from my mouth.

With Yelp and other review-based methods of 3rd party recommendations, the problem becomes that of control - you piss one person off and it can ruin a good Yelp day...  So, what to do as a promotional marketer?

The answer may be a solid blend of both, I know for me I will be including case studies going forward as a means of differentiation and control of my own brand.

Please read more on this trend Here