Marketing Strategies

Did you know that trade shows might be the oldest form of marketing? The bottom line is that these shows are hard work and expensive, so the following ideas may be useful:

1. Most corporations exhibit at trade shows for unrealistic reasons. They base their desire to show their product on total attendance or simply for image purposes thinking that they are going to get a great number of leads. However, they should focus on quality, not quantity.

 2. Companies that decide to exhibit should combine many forms of marketing to insure a successful show. A simple strategy would be to use direct mail, telemarketing, trade advertising and advertising premiums to inform the customer base of the upcoming show and to extend an invitation to visit your booth. Preshow marketing can determine your company's tradeshow success.

3. Companies then should spend more time educating their staffers on working tradeshows than the hardware side of exhibiting ( space rental, exhibit design, shipping, drayage, etc.) The staffer is the most neglected factor in achieving trade show success. (1)Staffers need clear ogjectives. (2)They need direction because they will be working out of their comfort zone ( frenprospectetic pace, surrounded by hundreds of total strangers, competitors across the aisle, scrutiny by their peers, etc). (3)They need to know the difference between between being busy ( handing out flyers) and being effective.

I have some ideas about attracting prospects to your booth so that you could work your magic...so contact me ( bill@shadowsportswear.com)

August 19, 2008

Just for reference, Shadow offers the following services:

Tradeshow booths, popup banners and tabletop displays                       Posters                                                                                        Banners                                                                                        Outdoor signs                                                                                Wall graphics                                                                                 Art reproduction on canvas                                                             Flags and fabric banners

The purpose of this ongoing article is to make a point of doing something related to marketing every day. How about some of the following:

1. Change your phone's on hold message and your leave a message to say something about your company or product.

2. Recognize a special customer or prospect. ( Gee, I haven't done that lately...)

3. Mail or deliver a sample to a customer or prospect. Ask for feedback.

4. Ask for referrals from your existing customer base. Reward a customer for a referral that purchases. ( A gift card for coffee or lunch is mighty fine)

5. Invite me to coffee to brainstorm an advertising concept.

November 2008

The election is over. The economy is in the tank. Business looks bleak. So, what is a company to do. A special report from Inc. publication suggest there are five ways a company can cut cost and avoid layoffs.

1. Send some of your employees home with laptops and internet connections. This might be a good way to save on gas, office rental space and operations.

2. Share your staff. A HR person is a good example to share with another business. These administrative workers are not directly involved with sales.

3. Get customers to put away their credit cards to help stop paying fees to credit card middlemen.

4. Cut back on travel.

5. Try do it yourself marketing. Do you need to spend big bucks on advertisng firms. Try blogging and pay your staff bonuses to blog about your company.

Get Noticed...

February 2009

Times like these brings to mind a quote from Henry Ford.. " A man who stops advertisng to save money is like a man who stops a clock to save time."

It's time to convert a bad situation into a more positive one. For example, not being slammed with alot of orders gives one time to see more people. Busy distributors tend to ignore prospecting. This can be an occasion to REFRESH, REGROUP and RECRUIT new buyers.. excerpt from Promotional Consultant, Dec. 2008

SCORE, a nonprofit association for small businesses, advises companies to continue marketing during a slow economy. Most competitors are pulling back in fear which leaves the road open to whoever wants to accelerate. This is a time for a company to invest in itself.

Business Week.. " Marketing dollars in a recession is like oxygen on Mt. Everest, the less there is in the surrounding environment, the more valuable the amount you possess becomes. Cutting your marketing spending is a sure way to give ground to competitors."

Think of these times as an ECONOMIC WINTER... Spring is just around the corner. Now is the time to Get Noticed...

August 2011

The year 2009 was indeed challenging. The usual means of marketing gave way to, not thinking just outside the box, but thinking off center. In my business, anybody can stick a logo on a coffee cup. I believe that marketing is now about promoting a message and that one's brand would follow. The idea is to get your customers and/or clients to talk about you. Market your ATTITUDE not your logo. Your brand is what people think of you.  Tracy Loyd, partner of Emotive Brand, stated just that " people are moving from the age of conspicuous consumption to the age of meaning. Meaning flows when you connect to the values of the people vital to your success."

Marketing ATTITUDE came to me at a car show in Estes Park, Feb. 2010. I was showing a 1983 Ford Bronco for a friend and next to me was a lady who had a Roadrunner ( remember those cars? ) We talked about what type of people had classic cars and what type of merchandise would appeal to them. Previously, I had embroidered 57 Corvettes, Mustangs & other cars on jacket backs. Didn't sell too many of those jackets. My friend with the roadrunner said that, if it wasn't their car or year, nobody would buy it. She said that I had to market the classic car buff's ATTITUDE on a jacket.  I realized that she was right. I have a graphic design that I use for this & all other shows. Contact me & I will send you a sample. More to come..