With all of the attention surrounding social media these days, it’s hard to be swayed away from the online marketing temptation and back into traditional offline marketing while using such items as calendars to sell your products.  Sure, you can send out a Tweet promoting a product special or event, but that tweet is out of view for many in mere seconds. Yet, these same “old-fashioned” offline marketing tools are not only essential parts of your marketing mix, but you’ll find you will get a lot more bang for your buck when mix up your strategy cost-effectively.

Calendars Sell

One of the most overlooked marketing tools is the simple calendar and, yet, it packs a tremendous amount of punch.  There are many advantages to using them to sell get in front of your customers for long periods of time.

1.  People like freebies: Participate in a Mardi Gras festival and you’ll see teems of people scrounge for free beaded necklaces or pull your shopping cart up to a food sample stand at Costco and you’ll understand the power of freebies.  You don’t have to give a high-priced item away in order to promote your business, and calendars are inexpensive tools that have high perceived value.

2.  They last 365 days a year: Most consumers need to see an advertisement or message at least seven times before they take notice and if you’re spending your marketing dollars on ads, you’ll know the cost quickly adds up.  With calendars, your advertisement, message and contact information is in front of your customer all year long.  You could spend thousands of dollars on advertisements in your local newspaper to reach potential customers multiple times or you could spend a few dollars to have multiple advertisements right in front of your customer 365 days a year.

3.  Calendars contain many messages and promotions: When you are able to customize your calendars to give to new or existing customers, you can add multiple product messages about features and benefits.  Essentially, you have 12 spaces to add content.  Add monthly coupons or even have your business card perforated on the calendar so that your contact information can be given away in referrals.  Your calendar can be as functional as you make it.

4.  Calendars are useful: Calendars actually serve a purpose and despite the latest technology with smart phones, iPads and such, people still find traditional calendars useful.  They’re easy to use and you don’t have to plug them in at night to recharge.  Have a pen handy and you can mark down appointments, birthdays and events quickly.

5.  You have multiple channels to give them away: When giving away calendars or any other promotional product, there are numerous channels by which to reach customers.  Of course tradeshows are the most common venue, but your sales personnel can hand them to prospective customers door-to-door.  You can include them as part of your direct mail strategy or at the point-of-sale.  You can even sell them for a nominal amount and donate the money to charity.  (You not only would be showing your customers your commitment to good will, but advertising your products to them annually.)  Promotional product distribution has many avenues that traditional advertising and even social media do not offer.

Greenway Print Solutions has a variety of calendars to choose from and at amazingly lower costs than their competition.  And they can be customized to precisely fit your business goals.

See Our Calendars Pages

Creating a strong brand for your business takes strategic planning, after all, your goal is to deliver a message that’s clear while connecting to your consumer on some sort of emotional level. While it would be nice to create an effective brand using only one strong medium, you’ll find you get a whole lot of mileage out of cleverly crafting the right marketing mix.

With all the rage in social media and online marketing, offline strategies still hold high importance. Despite the technological age we are in, we’re still social beings who conduct business in brick and mortars and meet face-to-face. Call it old-fashioned, but how many times have you verbally told someone about your business only to be asked for a business card or brochure? The fact is the majority of the population didn’t grow up with a smart phone in their back pockets or even a keyboard on their desk. And that’s something every business owner still needs to take into account.

Branding Your Materials

When it comes to your offline marketing, branding your materials well so that they achieve your goals is crucial. The look, feel and design of your printed material all play a critical role and consistency both online and offline is key.

Your Identity: Your corporate identity should be consistent throughout all of your printed material, from your brochures,  letterhead and envelopes to your promotional material and presentations.  Your corporate perception and message should be the same on all pieces, right down to the font and color.  If your current supply looks somewhat of a mish-mosh, consider taking the piece that represents your identity and streamline what doesn’t fit.

Your Direct Mail Campaign: Direct mail is an intrinsic part of your marketing mix, having the advantage of being able to send your material repetitively to your new prospect.  The average consumer needs to see your message seven times before they take some sort of action and direct mail is a cost-effective way of getting in front of them and being top-of-mind when it comes time for them to buy.  Direct mail doesn’t necessarily have to be the traditional postcard either – you can send sales letters, catalogs and brochures, too.

Your Contact: It may seem elementary, but all of your material should include all of the ways your customers, new and old, can contact you online and offline.  This includes your address and phone number along with your social media and website.   To save on space, a QR Code or Microsoft Tag will help direct consumers to your selected online content.

Give it Away: Promotional items, such as pens, calendars and mugs are not only great to receive but they are consumables that stick around for a while.  Your next client may lose your business card, but your coffee mug will stay on his desk.  Throw in a calendar and your identity and message will be a daily reminder all year long.  The life of a promotional item is longer than many other medium in your marketing mix.

Your marketing mix can include a wide variety of items that serve to connect your business and identity to your existing and potential consumers.  There’s not one medium that will yield optimal results by itself; rather, it takes different types to stay in front of your market.  Streamlining your brand and keeping it consistent will help your consumers remember you when it comes time to buy.

If you’re looking for products to include in your mix, be sure to check out all that Greenway Print Solutions can offer you.  If it can be read, scanned or touched, Greenway Print Solutions can get it printed.

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