Guerrilla Marketing Time Machine: Advertising Specialties

Note: We are in a series examining "Old School" marketing techniques to see if they still have oomph. Jay Conrad Levinson's 1993 edition of Guerilla Marketing is our reference book.

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Ad specialties don't get much love from professional marketers. I searched the 47 marketing blogs to which I subscribe and only came up with one entry specifically about advertising specialties.

Before we get into what Levinson thinks about ad specialties, let's get a definition: Promotional products that can be customized with a company's logo or slogan. (Eg, pens, t-shirts, cups/mugs, matches)

Levinson, in the '93 edition of Guerrilla Marketing, thought that ad specilties could be used to gain awareness of your business, but the tactic should only be part of your marketing mix.

"Consider these specialties ot be the equivalent of billboards. That means they are great for reminder advertising. They are usually terrible as your only marketing medium. They do, however, put your name in front of prospective customers."

According to Levinson, ad specialties were good sales door openers, and items with a high perceived value created "a sense of unconscious obligation." However, he much preferred free samples.

Best Uses
There are five primary considerations when deciding to use ad specialties.

1. The Item -Exactly what are you going to give away?
   It's tempting to buy the cheap pens so that you can have something to give away. But don't do it. Save your money instead. Make it something out of the ordinary. If your are going to give away a pen, do something like a folding carabiner pen. It's functional and it's unique. In a drawer full of free pens, this one stands out.
   
   We did this type of pen for a medical clinic I consult and gave them out during patient appreciation day. They were a big hit with patients and staff alike. The nurses started wearing them around their necks.
   
2. The Customer - Who's getting your freebie?
   Match your item to your audience. Don't just buy a bunch of stuff that you will give away to everyone. For example don't buy a bunch of memory sticks and then give them away to the over 55 crowd. When the same medical clinic mentioned above did a health fair for senior citizens, we gave away ruler/magnifier.
   
3. The Objective - What are you trying to accomplish?
   If your objective is to just put your name in front of customers, then save your money. Have a specific purpose in mind when you buy your specialty. With the medical clinic, we did big refrigerator magnets listing all our medical specialties and the appointment phone number.
   
   Our main objective was to educate patients that we were multi-specialty and not just primary care. In addition, we wanted to give them easy access to our appointment phone number. And because they hold little Suzie's homework up on the frig, they're always visible. People loved them.
   
4. Your Business - Is your business right for ad specialties?
   Remember that the objective is not just to get your name out there. I don't think ad specialties work that well for businesses such as carpet stores. People don't buy carpet that often. And when they do, it's a major purchase. It's unlikely that your free key chain is going to have an impact on their buying decision. The same goes for car dealers.
   
   I think ad specialties work best for businesses whose products are frequently bought and and widely used by a large percentage of the population. I think realtors overuse ad specialties. Restaurants, however, probably underuse them. How often do people wonder what they're going to do for lunch?
   
5. The Setting - Where are you giving away your item?
   Does your freebie seem out of place? Consider how your item will be perceived when you give it away. Giving away calendars at a county fair would seem out of place. However, giving away caps at a golf tournament would be well received.
   
   The best ad specialty we did for our medical clinic client did not even have our logo on it. We ordered some yellow ribbon pins (support the troops) and gave them away on Memorial Day. Almost everyone wanted one, and put them on while they were still in the clinic. It created a lot of good will with our patients and made the staff feel proud.

Where to Buy
Competition is fierce in the ad specialties world. You can purchase them easily online and there are probably several dealers in your town. Shop around and compare. I have ordered directly online and I have used a local rep. The more complicated the project, the more you need to use a local rep. Sometimes they are even price competitive with internet re-sellers. If you are going to need help with your artwork, local companies who specialize in ad specialties (not the ones that do it on the side) can be a big help.

Try to find a good local rep, especially if you order several times a year. They can be useful in suggesting items that you might not have considered. They can also save you time by doing order placement and keeping track of production.

Get a few price quotes from local reps and compare them with prices online. Keep in mind that the company you are dealing with is not the manufacturer. Just about all ad specialty companies order from the same set of manufacturers. If one company has a specific item, then you get bet just about everyone has that item.

Guerrilla Marketing Tactic?
Ad specialties are indeed a guerrilla marketing tactic, but not the primary one. Use it only as an additional marketing support weapon.

Have you used ad specialties successfully? If so, please share them here.

Small Business Marketing Seminar - Get a marketing plan for your business! DIY Marketing for Small businesses is coming to Temple, Texas on February 28. For details and registration information see our website: The Marketing Spot.

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Guerrilla Marketing Time Machine: Direct Mail Marketing

Note: We are in a series examining "Old School" marketing techniques to see if they still have oomph. Jay Conrad Levinson's 1993 edition of Guerilla Marketing is our reference book.

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Ok, sorry for the delay between posts. Been working on a Starbucks re-experience project over on The Marketing Spot.

"Direct marketing is where it's at. Direct marketing is the name of your game."
- Jay Conrad Levinson - Guerilla Marketing

I have to agree with JCL on this one. Direct Mail can be a very effective marketing tool for small businesses, and very cost efficient.

Levinson cites these advantages of direct mail:

• It's easier to track results
• You can zero in on almost any target audience.
• You can personalize your marketing like crazy.
• You can compete with, even beat, the giants.

Levinson's rules of thumb for using direct mail:

• The most important element is the right list.
• Make it easy for the recipient to take action.
• Testimonials improve response rates.
• Test your results and keep good records

Tips for Getting a Maximum Response Rate

• Always tell the person what to do next - Make a phone call, go to the website, come to the showroom.
• The four most important elements in direct mail are the list, the offer, the copy, the graphics. Pay close attention to each.
• Direct mail success comes from the cumulative effect of repeat mailing. Make them repetitive, yet different from one another.

I frequently use direct mail for clients, and for my own business, because of its versatility and cost effectiveness. Direct mail allows you to specifically target who you want to receive your mail. You can target by almost any category and combination of categories you can conceive. Some examples of targeting are geographic, demographic, income, family size, employment category, or any combination of the above.

Accuracy of the list is very important. Make sure you check the age of you list with the list broker. The list should be no more than 12-18 months old. And remember, you want to mail to a person, and not to a title. My advice is to eliminate titles from your list because they are often inaccurate and they are often truncated. Truncated titles like "Pres" and "Treas" damage your credibility. This is why you need to establish a relationship with a good mailing house.

The Most Important Thing
What do you want to accomplish with your mailing? Yes, you should use all marketing to advance your brand promise and image. However, if you are going to use direct mail, you need a stronger purpose.

Before you mail, decide the action you want the customer to take. Call for an appointment? Redeem a coupon? Visit your website? Then transform this goal into a prominent call to action on the direct mail piece.

Your Partner in Mailing
Do not try to mail things yourself. A dirty little secret is that you don't have to pay full price on postage if you sort things the right way. But you don't have to do the sorting. Find a good mail house with which to work. They can give you invaluable advice and save you money on postage, enough to justify the cost of using them. Many of them will also print your materials for you.

The key is finding a mail house you can trust and one that will give you good advice. The internet can set you up with just about any mail house in the country. I recommend going local if you can. Sometimes, you need to be able to sit across the desk from someone so that they understand your business is important. In Central Texas, I use MailMax Direct

Consider Using Postcards
Postcards are cheaper to print and cheaper to mail than letters or the fancy pieces direct mail marketers will try to sell you. More importantly, postcards are more visible. There's no envelope to open. The customer has to touch your mail piece when in arrives in their mailbox. There is no way that they can avoid looking at your message.

If you are going to use postcards, your call to action or your brand promise has to be immediately visible. And because you have less space to write, your copy has to be concise and powerful.

Tips on Using Postcards

• Use large format postcards (8.5" x 5.5"). The cost to print them is not that much more and they stand out prominently in the mailbox.
• To reduce printing costs don't use bleed (printing to the edge of the sheet), and print your piece in two colors rather than four color (this takes a skilled graphics designer).
• Don't stick mailing labels on your postcard, have your mailhouse inkjet the names. This can actually be cheaper to do sometimes.

Brad over at Branding Strategy Insider has a great a great Direct Marketing Guide which you should bookmark as your reference tool.

Guerrilla Marketing Tactic?
Direct mail may be an even more effective marketing tool than it was when Levinson wrote the first edition of Guerrilla Marketing. Many big companies sink a lot of money into flooding your email box, leaving more space in your conventional mailbox to stand out.

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