How to design a successful promotional strategy...

Like any marketing strategy, using custom items as a promotional giveaway will not always guarantee success to your campaign. All marketing strategies, from the simple distribution of promotional items to a nationwide tri-media campaign, are just tools that can help you reach your goals. Their overall effectiveness is largely dependant on how these ‘tools” are in relation to your target objectives.

Again, like any marketing strategy, there is no exact formula that you can follow in order to be successful. Every marketing guru will have his or her own “proven” approach in maximizing the ROI of your marketing budget, but in truth, there is no clear and exact path that will be applicable to all. The reason for this is that each industry and each company in that industry will require a different set of strategies to fit their own strengths, culture, and values. Though, what is possible is to have a set of strategies that can serve as a skeletal framework for your own customized approach. This set of strategies, for certain, will not cover all the aspects that can help you achieve a successful marketing campaign. But what these strategies can only do is to provide you the guidelines that you should expand on to fit your own business.

And as for the promotional product strategy, below is the framework that your program should have:

1)     Do an extensive research on your target market. It's never about you, and it's always about them. Doing a thorough market research is something that should be present not just in the promotional items strategy, but in ALL marketing strategy. This step is the very foundation of your campaign, and failing to do this effectively will always lead to disastrous results.

2)     Evaluate and pick the best event where you can meet your target market. After your thorough market research, you should already have enough info to develop a segment for your target market based on their geographic, demographic, and psychographic classifications. And from this target segment, you should then find and utilize the best event that your segment is most likely be attending or joining.

3)     Choose and design the perfect promotional items to fit your market, event, and brand. Again, based on the segment you are targeting, you should then choose the appropriate promotional product that your target market will appreciate. Design also plays a big factor in the success of your campaign. Examples of design issues to focus on are saliency of logo to t-shirt colors and the clarity of message on printed items.

4)     Plan a distribution program for your promotional items during the event which should answer the following questions: 1) How can your target market find or get attracted to your location (booth) during the event? 2) How can you effectively distribute your corporate giveaway? 3)How can you deliver your message (sales pitch) or gather information from your target market (contact details) during the distribution process?

5)     Create a system to organize all gathered info. This step is often overlooked since most believe that the success of the promotional item campaign is only measured by the success of the event itself. But in truth, this step will separate the weak from the strong marketing strategy. A solid system in organizing your gathered info will often determine the ROI of your efforts.

6)      Design a lead follow-up program from the gathered information. In other words, call and follow-up on your gathered leads.

In response to Nichole's Post

What are some important ways non-profit companies should do to receive more money for marketing?

            There are many different way to raise money for you company I have listed a few ideas below:

      Fundraisers

o   How organization raises money is limitless. You can do everything from sending out letters requesting donations and telling people about your cause to holding a car wash on a hot summer afternoon. When looking at fundraisers consider the demographic and community you will be targeting. If you are approaching a community that has a strong school presence, you dont want to have competing fundraisers of cookie dough, gift wrap or chocolates. Find a way to make your fundraisers stand out from what the “normal” things are.

o   Create an annual event such as a dance or auction that invites people in for an evening wrapping station to ease the stress of people who cant get it all done for the holidays. Providing a service or entertaining donors always contributes to success.

       Be part of the community

o   A successful non-profit organization cannot isolate itself within the community. You can’t be threatened by the competing dollars, so network with other organization leaders, community leaders and the public at large. In doing so, you understand what is working for others and what isn’t. You also develop relationships with people who may be able to provide you a larger platform or endorse your endeavors. Successful leaders of non-profit organizations understand that their role is as much political as it is philanthropic and that you need to maintain this balance of finesse to help your organization succeed.

      Team up

o   While everyone is looking for the donation dollars, there are many symbiotic relationships that can exist between non-profit organizations. School groups can team up with youth sports teams or civic service groups. A clinic that provides education and birth control means for teenagers can create a partnership with AIDS awareness groups. Parent clubs and organizations can work with local churches or autism groups, finding ways to fill more than one need. When you are able to work together, you are able to combine resources to make larger events that attract more people, get more publicity and press, and earn more for everyone.

Would you rather open a non-profit organization or a profittied organization? Why are some of the positives and negatives of each organization?

Pricing Issues in International Marketing

Price can be defined in the ratio terms, giving the equation:

                             resources given up
price  =     ———————————————               
                                 goods received

With this equation there are several ways that the price can be changed:

·      “Sticker” price changes- the most obvious way to change the price is the price tag. You receive the same thing, but for a different amount of money.

·      Change quantity. Consumers respond negatively to an increased sticker price, and change in quantity are sometimes noticed less.

·      Change quality. Another way candy manufacturers have effectively increased prices is through a reduction in quality.

·      Change terms. In the old days, most software manufacturers provided free support for their programs. Nowadays, you either have to call a 900 number or have a credit care handy to get help from software makers. Another way to change terms is to do away with favorable financing terms.

Consumers often develop internal reference prices or expectations about what something should cost, based mostly on their experience. Retailers very often promote soft drinks, since consumers tend to have a good idea of process and these products are quite visible. The trick, is to be more expensive on products where price expectations are muddier.

Marketers often try to influence people’s price perceptions through the use of external reference prices. For example

• Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price (MSRP). This is often pure fiction. The suggested retail prices in certain categories are deliberately set so high that even full service retailers can sell at a "discount." Thus, although the consumer may contrast the offering price against the MSRP, this latter figure is quite misleading.
• "SALE! Now $2.99; Regular Price $5.00." For this strategy to be used legally in most countries, the claim must be true (consistency of enforcement in some countries is, of course, another matter). However, certain products are put on sale so frequently that the "regular" price is meaningless. In the early 1990s, Sears was reported to sell some 55% of its merchandise on sale.
• "WAS $10.00, now $6.99."
• "Sold elsewhere for $150.00; our price: $99.99."

Can you think of another way marketers can change the prices without the consumer knowing? Do you think this is ethical or unethical?

In Response To Billy's Post

Can you think of any other companies that do this?

To companies that came to my mind when thinking about companies that promote other companies in the same commercial would be Gillette razor, which helps promote Gillette stadium, and also TD bank, which helps promote TD Garden in Boston. These two stadium have nothing to do with a bank or a razor if you heard of them but at the same time have everything to do with each other. I think when creating a commercial it is a smart way to tie in another company, two reasons you can get more for your money and most likely this will pay off and people will soon associate both product together. 

Importance of Branding

 The American Marketing Association defines a brand as a “name, term, sign, symbol or design, or a combination of them intended to identify the goods and services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of the other sellers. Branding is not about getting your target market to choose you over the competition, but it is about getting your prospects to see you as the only one that provides a solution to their problem.

Objectives that a good brand will achieve:

·      Delivers the message clearly

·      Confirms your credibility

·      Connects your target prospects emotionally

·      Motivates the buyer

·      Concretes User Loyalty

In order to succeed in branding you must understand the needs and wants of your customers and prospects. You can do this by integrating your brand strategies through your company at every point of public contact. The brand resides within the hearts and minds of customers, clients, and prospects. It’s the total sum of their experiences and perceptions, some of which you can influence, and some that you cannot. It is important to spend time investing in researching, defining and building your brand. Your brand is the source of a promise to your consumer, a foundational piece you do not want to be without.

In Response to Maggie Carter's Post

Do you think using Flash mobs and other means to relate to young people is a good idea for our future?

            I do believe that using flash mobs is a great way to spread awareness about the earth and it’s issues. Young people would rather see or hear this information, young people don’t like to ‘waste’ there time reading about environmental/global issues they would rather hear about it.  What better way then to have a flash mob it educates you and give you a show. 

As you see in this video once people start to hear someone talk over the loud speaker they stop to listen, to me this would be a great way to spread awareness in a fun and exciting way, hoping people will get the right message. 

In the next few years what are other promotional ideas do you think would be best to promote awareness of the earth?

Rules for more Effective Advertising

Many businesses have a difficult time with there advertising and spreading the word for their product. Here is a guide that could help them focus on what a successful ad would consist of. I found this article about the 10 Rules for more Effective Advertising.

http://americanresearchgroup.com/adrules/

1. Does the ad tell a simple story, not just convey information?

2. Does the ad make the desired call to action a part of the story?

 3. Does the ad use basic emotional appeals?

4. Does the ad use easy arguments?

 5. Does the ad show, and not tell?

6. Does the ad use symbolic language and images that relate to the senses?

7. Does the ad match what viewers see with what they hear?

8. Does the ad stay with a scene long enough for impact?

9. Does the ad let powerful video speak for itself?

10. Does the ad use identifiable music? 

Most advertising fails to follow any of these rules at all and that’s also why there advertising doesn’t reach out to everyone. One of the best rules would have to be number 1 it states that a good story allows each member of the audience to interpret the story, as he or she understands the action.  Another important rule would be number 5, people don’t like to read ads; they would rather see or hear the ad. Our generation is getting lazy and the simpler the ads the better. All of their rules are very important and should really be taken into consideration when planning an advertisement.

Which of the 10 rules do you think is the most important? If you could make any ad what would it be for and how would you go about creating the advertisement?