Inside the Envelope

Customer loyalty programs are an easy and effective way to keep customers coming back to your business. Here are a few tips to help you create a loyalty program with a simple yet important goal: rewarding repeat customers. Offer custom-printed punch cards or stamp cards for customers who frequent your business. A simple reward (such as "buy five car washes, get the sixth free") may be enough to keep customers from visiting your competition down the street. Utilize the back side of your loyalty-marketing promotions to advertise upcoming events, highlight exclusive offers, share helpful tips, and more. Celebrate! Be sure to recognize customer birthdays, holidays, and even the date your customer joined your loyalty club. Provide loyalty club members with special coupons for free upgrades, such as "upgrade to a premium deluxe XYZ for the same price as our standard XYZ." Reward customers who buy ahead. For example, if you own a repair shop, you might offer a year

With Election Day fast approaching, why not take advantage of the voting spirit by creating a few fun polls for your business? Here are some clever ways to gather opinions and reward your loyal customers in the process: Ask customers to vote for their favorite products or services. Send a postcard campaign or statement stuffer with a web link to an online ballot. Distribute campaign flyers. Post information on your Facebook page, website, or other social media channels. And have a ballot box at the main desk of your business, where customers can vote by paper ballot if they prefer. Encourage customers to learn more about your products by creating a game-like quest. Provide clues through various communication channels (email, direct mail, social media), and reward those who complete the quest. Inspire participation by offering a grand prize drawing, as well as a guaranteed coupon or smaller thank-you to all who vote. Create an "Election Day" sale to encourage extra traff

From the time you wake up until the moment you close your eyes, you're bombarded with marketing messages. You may even have dreams of the ads running in your sleep! Most of the messages you see during the day just blend together without much notice. Many are of the "me too" variety. Either the owner or the advertiser is practicing the lazy marketing technique of simply copying a competitor's ad with very little real change. Maybe the original ad had some creativity to it, but now it's lost in a sea of similarity. For your ad to have any chance of succeeding, you must use "pattern interrupt marketing" as one component of your message. What's pattern interrupt marketing? As the name implies, it's marketing that stops a prospect in their tracks and engages them. Your message must be able to capture a prospect's attention if it's to have any chance of being noticed. Imagine you're driving down a street looking for a place

Many businesses are currently experiencing a decline in sales. Some owners and executives believe this is due to outside economic conditions. Although the economy may have some bearing, perhaps the real reasons for the decline are more fundamental issues that no one in the company wants to face. The economy has only masked the issues and helped sweep them under the rug. Many in this predicament think, "If only we could increase sales, everything else would take care of itself." Oftentimes, the declining sales pattern is not the real problem; it's just a symptom of other underlying issues. Perhaps the issues are in management, staffing, or a lack of effective marketing and sales. If your company is experiencing a sales slump, it may be time to do a little soul searching to find the real issues. If you decide to take this head on, here's a four-step plan to help you lick the problems. Step 1 -- Assess your current situation. What strengths do you see? What

In order to sell any kind of product or service, you first need to know the challenges your prospects face, so you can offer the best solution. On the surface, this seems like an easy problem to resolve. You send out a few surveys and questionnaires. You dig and do your research. You think you've found the answers. Yet when you build your pitch or presentation around what you think your prospect wants and needs, it falls flat. Why? Because the prospect is hiding the truth from you. It's not done with malicious intent. They're not even necessarily lying. They simply want to be liked and don't want to hurt your feelings by telling you things they think you wouldn't like to hear. Also some prospects don't really know what they want. Emailed and online surveys aren't the best at this type of information gathering. That's the reason most surveys don't reveal many helpful answers. The problem isn't with the surveys themselves, but with the

Just because a customer buys from you a few times doesn't mean they'll immediately think of or even remember your business again the next time they need the kinds of products you sell. Here are a few ways to increase front-of-mind awareness for your company in the minds of consumers: Educate your audience about the ways your products are better than the competition. Consider creating a comparison chart to make the differences stand out in people's minds. Send thank yous for past purchases, and offer future discounts or coupons that are too good to ignore. For example, one might read: "Use this coupon anytime during December to receive 50% off any single item!" Encourage customers to reorder supplies before they run out. A reorder form placed near the bottom of each package you ship is one way to accomplish this. Periodic email reminders and promos based on past order history are another. Provide knowledgeable tips, tricks, and other industry-related informat

In today's competitive marketplace, it's important that you determine your company's "est" -- the differentiating factor that gives you a competitive edge. Whether your business strives to be the biggest, fastest, strongest, lowest, or oldest at something, the "est" factor will help you push to be the best and become the go-to business for that area of expertise. Here are a few ways to find your "est": Ask your customers. The customer voice is a great way to pinpoint areas where your business truly shines. Encourage customer feedback through comment cards, surveys, testimonials, or simply by asking customers their opinions when you meet with them. Identify and enhance your strengths to add greater value to your business. For example, if your business is known for the fastest delivery services in town, you may consider opening a second location, adding additional delivery drivers, or upgrading your computer system to ensure you continue pr

In lieu of a "Think before you print" email tagline, we encourage you to consider adding something like this to your emails: "It's OK to print responsibly. Not using paper in order to save trees is comparable to not eating salad in order to 'save' vegetables. Managed timberlands are similar to agricultural crops which provide clean air, clean water, and wildlife habitat, as well as millions of jobs nationwide." While there are many misconceptions about the paper and printing industries, we proudly stand behind them both, and we encourage you to check out these resources to learn more about why printing is a responsible choice: www.paperbecause.com -- Domtar's Paper Because campaign highlights the key role paper plays in our lives and the reasons why it's environmentally friendly. www.chooseprint.org -- Choose Print is an educational campaign designed to promote the effectiveness of print as a sustainable choice. www.rediscoverprint.

You may have heard the hype that direct mail has died and gone to junk mail heaven. Don't believe it. That talk comes from people who have never learned how to use direct mail correctly and effectively or who have a vested interest in spreading false and misleading information. Why use direct mail? Because it works. It works in getting clients. It works to get your foot in the door. It works for lead generation. It works for growing traffic at brick-and-mortar (and even online) businesses. It works at differentiating your company from those who rely strictly on online communication. Direct mail marketing is extremely reliable and extremely precise. It can be inexpensive and personalized. In fact, direct mail arrives more personally than any other medium and can deliver a message with 100% exposure. In addition to all of this, direct mail... Requires virtually no tech skills Can be leveraged using shared advertising space Is what nearly all recipients prefer for