I get a lot of phone calls and emails that start out with "We want to do something to promote our business do you have any ideas?" The answer is yes I have a few hundred thousand ideas of promotional things you can do. Will they work for you? I haven't the first clue so today I thought I'd pose a few questions I ask clients to hone in on the right promotion.
1. What do you want to accomplish? This is the number one question I ask because this really directs the whole project. Are you trying to reward loyal customers, entice tradeshow attendees into your booth, offer a gift with purchase?
2. Who is going to receive this promotion? The demographics of your target audience are extremely important. While logoed hair brushes might be great for a salon convention they would be fairly useless at an Alopecia conference (alopecia is baldness by the way). How old is the target market? What is the breakdown between men and women? The more demographic information a client can give me the more laser targeted we can make any promotion.
3. What is your budget for the project? Seems like this would be an easy question however, I'm often surprised how many people tell me they aren't sure. Nothing helps narrow down the choices faster than if someone tells me they have a budget of $200 per item or $0.50. A total budget for the project is great as well as that way we can account for freight, special packaging and method of delivery and disbursement.
4. What quantity do you want? This is where we decide who is going to receive the items. Are you going to give one to all 6000 show attendees or just to the 500 best prospects. Often this question leads to readjusting the budget either up or down.
5. When will you need them? Time frame also helps us narrow down the choices. If you tell me you won't need to receive them for 3-4 months then we have time to look at overseas production based also on quantity and budget. If we have the time this is one area we can save some serious coin! If you tell me 3 weeks this narrows us down a little more and means we are looking at domestic production. Tell me 1-3 days and now we have a very targeted list of products to choose from using select quick turn factories.
6. Do you have artwork I can review? I know its question number 6 but it's number 1 in terms of things that hold up the project more than anything else. Illustrator vector art is almost always the preferred choice to receive in artwork. This is also a good way to find out in advance if it really is a one color logo or 4 color process artwork as those factors weigh into cost and options. Also if you have a lot of text that will be printed it helps us narrow down what to put it on. 10 lines of text are not going to look good on a pen but might be just fine on a padfolio.
7. What kind of packaging would you like? I have spent enough time around the ladies in my life to know that packaging is as important as the gift itself. Typically most things when ordered in quantities come in bulk packaging of some sort. However, that is no reason we can repackage your order into a more visually appealing presentation. We bring many things into our warehouse and repackage or kit them with other items and marketing materials you would like to get out to your recipients.
8. Are there any products you absolutely do not want to do? I have one client who refuses to give their clients anything with a blade as she puts it "Why arm your clients with a weapon?" Another client doesn't want to give out any food gifts. If I know this up front it also aids in the product selection.
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