Promotional Marketing During Economic Downturn
Techniques to increase the effectiveness of your promotional marketing during a period of economic downturn
The
prospect of a downturn in the economy can have a major impact on business. With
Australia having such close ties to the U.S. market many businesses have gone
into panic mode due to the financial crisis currently affecting the U.S.
economy.
Whenever there are changes in the U.S. markets, people assume that it
will have an impact on the Australian market as well and more often than not,
it does. Many companies try to prepare the company for a slow-down in sales and
the number one direction taken is to cut-costs. Unfortunately the general trend
seems to be that the Marketing department are the first to have budgets
slashed.
While
there may be some merit in this strategy of cost-cutting what if we look at the
other end of the spectrum which involves being proactive to counteract the
negative effects of the market drop.
Instead of cost cutting why not focus on increasing the effectives of
your promotional marketing in order to achieve a greater return on investment. .
Choose Products that
reach the largest amount of people in the least budget
It
is generally assumed that if you give a cheap product that people won't keep it
however that is not the case; the reality is that if you give a product that is
not useful it will get thrown out. You could give your customer a beautiful
nut-cracker and bowl set but the fact is that it is not an every-day product
there will be less opportunities for the product to reinforce your brand with
your customer. Try and pick am item that is an every-day necessity like a pen or a mug but invest in a quality
item so that it will last a number of years.
Focus on the printed
message
Product
selection is important but the message is where the marketing begins. Sometimes
it is not enough to brand the product with just a logo, with a message or call
to action you can run a promotion. If you build a viral campaign in behind your
promotional products it is an effective way of rewarding your customers for their
involvement with your brand. For example you could build a branded giveaway kit
to thank your customer for participating in the promotion. It is important to
remember that it is not always the quantity of products that determine the success
of the campaign. If you give-away 20 items in a targeted promotion that
generates 3 quality leads, there is a greater chance of success than if you
give away 100 items at random.
Measure the success of
your campaign
How
can you improve your campaign in the future if you do not know what you did
wrong in the past? There are a few simple ways that you can measure a campaign;
why not ask people when they enquire how they heard about your company, print a
unique phone number or URL printed on the item so that you know when people
ring that number of visit that site the lead was generate from the promotional
item.
Lastly,
it is crucial to track the campaign. While measuring the performance at the end
is important to improve the campaign for the future it is also important to
measure performance as you go. A campaign may go for days, weeks or months and
if you measure the performance of the campaign from day to day it enables you
to make changes as you go. You may start with one idea for a promotion but end
somewhere different from where you started. Try not to set your promotions in
concrete you should leave some flexibility so that you can make changes in
order to get the most impact out of your promotional marketing.
Phone: 02
8205 1334, E-mail: enquiries@jempp.com.au
or
filling out our online contact form.
(Courtesy of JEM Promotional Products ©2008)
If you have any questions relating to promotional
products, or need assistance in choosing corporate gifts, please don't hesitate
in contacting us. JEM Promotional Products
Phone: (02) 8205 1334
E-mail: enquiries@jempp.com.au
Website: www.jempp.com.au
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