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Self-Promotion: It’s All About You!
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| Drawing attention to your company’s products and services and telling clients what makes you better than the competition isn’t bragging – it’s smart marketing. |
Everyone has different strategies to build business. Some may spend a fortune on print advertising; others think radio or television ads will work best. There are those who put their faith in a high-priced advertising agency, trusting them to produce the results they desire. And then there are a few who don’t do any marketing at all, claiming they don’t have the time or money, and just wait for clients to come to them. Building a business through marketing, however, doesn’t need to be expensive or complicated. It can be as simple as working with a promotional products professional who can help you achieve your goals. So how can you really make your investment in marketing pay off? I believe the answer is taking advantage of all opportunities to self-promote. Share Your Story Whatever business you’re in, you meet a need or provide a solution for your clients. If you’re good at your profession, it’s critical that you do whatever you can to tell your story. You should be able to explain why anyone would want to do business with your company and what compelling reason someone would have to choose your business over the competition. Consider what those factors are and look at ways to highlight them. Are you honest, quick, creative or experienced? Do you possess certain unique skills that may give you an advantage? Evaluate the strength of your company, and from there, you can brainstorm ways to promote those strengths. Then, you can take those strengths and turn them into a self-promotion campaign, or “business branding,” that’ll enable you to see the results you desire. First, consider the power of promotional products, which can be used to accomplish many goals. They can reinforce a message and build corporate identity. Promotional products are useful, practical and always appreciated. They can help stimulate unity and enhance your all-important business relationships. And, if used effectively, they can enhance your ability to stand out from the crowd. It’s been said that the best way to tell people what you do is to show them what you do. Self-promotion programs provide the perfect opportunity to showcase why choosing your company may be a prospect’s best decision. While the products by themselves can be effective, we find that a collection of promotional items with a cohesive theme is very effective. I’ll give you some examples of successful programs, which should get your creative juices flowing and help illustrate the point. Successful Self-Promo #1: Find The Silver Lining A marketing company in California put together a creative three-part promotion entitled the “Blackout Survival Kit.” This program focused on the idea of turning the negative situation of California’s power crisis into a positive marketing opportunity. This very effective program featured three separate mailings containing a different promotional product and a unique marketing message. The kit and the results achieved clearly illustrated the power of creatively using promotional products in a well-thought-out, perfectly executed themed campaign. Each element focused on something different, with a short letter addressing various issues. Blackout Survival Kit #1 featured an imprinted flashlight and the statement: “When Rolling Blackouts Come … Don’t Let Your Marketing Efforts Go Dark!” Blackout Kit #2 included an imprinted battery powered fan and the statement: “When It Gets Hot … We’ll Help You Keep Your Cool!” Survival Kit #3 contained a two-part imprinted keychain that came together like an electric plug going into a socket. The marketing statement encouraged recipients that, “Now’s The Time To Plug Into Some Creative Energy!” The campaign was then followed up with a telephone call, and as you might have guessed, the personal touch was quite well-received. The three part campaign prepared the way for a first-person introduction of the company’s services. The marketing company’s goal was to distinguish its business from others that offered similar services, and they took advantage of the high profile electricity problem to make their point. By creatively putting together items that addressed a current issue affecting everyone, the firm was able to grab the prospect’s interest and secure an appointment that would have been very difficult to accomplish through traditional means. Whatever business you’re in, the same principle applies. The goal is to do whatever you can to distinguish your company from the competition. Creatively using promotional products to achieve that goal is extraordinarily effective. Also, let’s face it: Many of us may not be great salespeople. Do you like to cold call? Most of us don’t. Creating campaigns like this can do much to add heat to the call. After receiving a unique mailing the prospect almost feels like they have a connection to you, and they’ll be more amenable to hearing what you can offer them. Keep in mind the goal is to open the door and show the prospect why doing business with your company is his or her best choice. Successful Self-Promo #2: Squeeze It For All It’s Worth Another program that illustrates this point was put together by a painting company that also offers unique mural designs and faux finishes. These additional services distinguished them from their competition. It was these services that they wanted to focus on in their self-promotion marketing program, which they dubbed “Fresh Ideas.” The campaign was based on the premise that “Fresh Ideas are Created at ABC Creative Painting Company.” The program was launched in conjunction with a large home and business expo. They realized their target market was not only the prospects who would attend this two-day event, but also the few hundred exhibitors at the expo. The campaign featured many elements that the company could tie to the “Fresh Ideas” theme. In addition to giving these products to those attending this event, they also placed them in every exhibitor’s booth. This was done at the before-the-event Friday night networking mixer, as well as Saturday and Sunday morning before the expo started. The plan was to have something in the booth each time their fellow exhibitors arrived. Every exhibitor received “Fresh Ideas” mints along with a marketing piece that the painting company put together for the program. They mounted sticks of Doublemint gum to a card with a message that asked the question: “Did Your Last Painting Contrac-tor Leave a Bad Taste in Your Mouth?” The marketing piece then explained that they could offer “Fresh Ideas” to make their home or office look great. On Saturday morning of the expo, exhibitors were given coffee mugs with a “Fresh Ideas” imprint on one side. The other side of the mug had an imprint that said: “Before you can finish drinking this cup of ‘fresh’ coffee, we can show you why ABC Creative Painting Company is different.” It then said, “Call us and we’ll bring the donuts!” Supplementing this piece, they created “Fresh Ideas” donut boxes. For the expo, the donut boxes were filled with fresh donuts and placed throughout the area. This proved to be very effective, because when the donut boxes were given away, the company made sure the lid was raised high revealing a very large “Fresh Ideas Are Created at ABC Creative Painting Company” imprint for all who passed by to see. Also tied to the theme were fresh “stress” fruits (stress balls shaped like produce), which were given away and displayed in an authentic wooden fruit crate at the company’s booth. Since the event is held in a huge tent, which generally gets quite hot, this enterprising company also produced “Fresh Ideas” paper fans. These were seen throughout the expo, as attendees were happy to use them while trying to keep cool. There was yet another element to this very effective promotion. Each year at the event, the painting company partnered with the city where the event is held, who hosts a tent for all the volunteer agencies in the community. The business had the opportunity to provide a promotional product that the city was able to give away to those who visited the volunteer tent. They created calendar cards with an imprint that tied to the theme: “Here’s a Fresh Idea … Get Involved! The City Loves Volunteers!” In addition, they were able to take advantage of significant signage both at the entrance of the tent and on a huge banner that was placed on the outside of the tent, facing one of the most traveled streets in the city. As you might imagine, the company’s name was everywhere and clearly they achieved the goal of not only reaching visitors of the event, but also the exhibitors. All this may sound highly expensive, but it really wasn’t. The remarkable return on its investment made the cost of the program a non-issue for the company. When you compare this type of promotion to the ongoing expenses of the Yellow Pages or other traditional advertising mediums, it was very cost-effective. Successful Self-Promo #3: Tout Your Marketing Tools While you can have great success with collections of products for a campaign, a company can also benefit from an ongoing branding position using a variety of self-promotion items. A financial planning company developed the concept of the “Wealth Building Toolbox.” The “Toolbox” contains various tools that can be used to help clients build their portfolio and aid in their financial planning efforts. A collection of products that supported this theme was developed. These products included screwdrivers imprinted with the copy: “What Tools Do You Have in Your Wealth Building Toolbox?” The screwdrivers were mounted to a card that had a creative wealth building message relating to the screwdriver. The company also developed a measuring tape and level, with an imprint that asked the question: “How’s Your Financial Planning Measuring Up?” The imprint on the second side stated: “Let Us Take You to a New Level!” Also included were “stress” hammers and hard hats, as well as T-shirts compressed in the shape of tools. All of the items in this award-winning campaign featured the wealth building message. What can we learn from evaluating successful self-promotions like these? We should all be looking for opportunities to spread our message, and your promotional consultant can help you achieve that goal spectacularly. If you’re involved in your local business community, there are many ways to use creative custom imprinted products to tell your story. Send one of your items as a follow-up to someone you meet. Hand them out at business mixers. Make sure your current clients also have some of these useful promotional products with your name, company name and contact information imprinted on them, just to keep yourself top-of-mind. In addition, it’s important that we maximize our marketing dollars by using effective marketing tools that will enable us to best tell our story. Newspaper advertising may work for some businesses, but I think many people use them as birdcage liners or recycling material. Useful products with your company imprint are appreciated; they have a lasting impact and go a long way to building the brand “You.” The man who could make P.T. Barnum have promo envy, Jeff Solomon is the “Business Construction Foreman” of Valencia, CA-based All American Marketing Group and a self-promotion guru. All American has won multiple PPAI Pyramid Awards and an ASI Spirit Award for result-driven marketing creativity. Solomon shares his proven-effective marketing concepts around the country through articles in industry publications and speaking engagements at trade show and regional association seminars. |
