Too Much of a Good Thing

Choices are good, right? Yes... to a point. Neuropsychologist Susan Weinschenk wrote, "Resist the impulse to provide lots and lots of choices to your customers. Remember, they will say they want lots of choices, and you will think that lots of choices are a good thing (because you like them, too), but having too many choices means many customers won't buy at all."

Seriously, if your marketing is all over the place and you are offering a zillion different things in a zillion different ways, you are in real danger of driving customers away.

Study after study show that while people do want choices, having too many choices makes it harder for them to pick... and that means they might walk away in frustration.

So simplify your offers. Make it clear what the offer is and when that offer ends.

Hick's Law states that the time it takes to make a decision increases with the number and complexity of choices. As decision time increases, the user experience suffers. Don't make your customers suffer.

I'd Buy That for a Dollar

There are only two ways to make more money in any business: reduce costs and sell more products or services. There are lots of ways to "sell more," but the easiest way is to get more work from your existing customers.

80% of your business is typically repeat customers. But about 80% of most marketing campaigns focus on new business. Marketing campaigns that are heavily focused on bringing in new customers ignore the fabulous potential of what you already have: a viable relationship with your current customers.

One marketing method that is tried and true for reaching an existing customer base is the customer survey. It allows customers to voice their opinions, share their concerns, and see how much you truly care about what they have to say.

Creating a survey is a fairly straightforward process. Getting your customers to respond to it might require a little extra work. One way to boost your response rate is to include a little cash with the survey as a way of thanking customers for their replies.

That's right. I said cash. Send a dollar or two with each survey. Not "we'll pay you on completion" or "here's something worth a dollar." Let your customers open up the mailer and have a dollar bill fall out. You may be amazed at the return you get!

The benefits of a survey are well worth the cost. Remember you are sending this to your EXISTING customers. They already know you, and they will give you invaluble information about what they aren't buying from you... and WHY!

There are many ways to increase response with your direct mail. Give us a call at 877-322-0773 to discuss how we can increase yours!

Advertising that makes a lasting impression

There aren't many advertising options that make a lasting impression unless they are extremely clever or are in your face all the time so I thought I would focus on some of the things businesses could do that would make their business be remembered.

#1: Notepads: Everyone uses them for business or personal use or both. If your branding is on it, they will see your marketing message every time they look at it and even when they aren't specifically thinking about your business, it could possibly remind them that they needed to call you for your product or service.

#2: Mousepads: This will work the same way as the notepads. Another constant reminder that they need to call you for your products or services. Have you seen Hall Letter Shop's notepads that work as a mousepad. We think they are kind of clever and people seem to love the idea!


Those are just a couple ways! We have a 25% discount on our personalized notepads right now. If interested, call us at 877-322-0773.

What are the ways you leave a lasting impression with your advertising?

QR Codes - Uses for Events

Whether Event Planning is your business or you plan events for your company or even personal events or just want to promote your attendance at an event, there are many ways you can use QR Codes to get the word out about your event.

#1: Apparel - Put your QR Code on T-Shirts. Have your staff and maybe even family/friends wear them and when it is scanned, it can go to your event information web page. You could also wear these at the event to promote other things.

#2: Your car - Put a QR Code on your car. Whether it is a magnetic sign or a sticker, it will attract attention and people can scan it as you drive by.

#3: Ticketing: Use QR Codes on your event tickets so you can scan them for entry to the event which will give you information about each individual person who attended the event. They have software that will create individual QR Codes for each attendee and it is possible to SMS the ticket buyer with their ticket instead of having to have a paper ticket which is a very green way to do it!

#4: Marketing Materials: Add a QR Code to your billboard, signage, banners, event flyers, invitations, newspaper ads, etc. It can go to the event page or a video talking about the event or right to the buy tickets page.

#5: Badges: Add QR Codes to the badges for your event. Whether it has information about your company or information about the badge wearer so vendors and event attendees can get more information about eachother easily, it is another great way to share information. To think, lets say you have 500 people at your event, that is 500 badges that have the potential to get scanned!

These are just some ideas of how you can use QR Codes for Events! Have you used them? Share with us your ideas for QR Codes.

Hall Letter Shop can help you integrate your marketing materials with QR Codes. Call us at 877-322-0773.

Christmas gift ideas

Still looking for gifts for your family and friends? Here are some inexpensive ideas for the active person in your life.

 

Check out our Active Life Cards! They are perfect for  parents or anyone who has hobbies or passion for the things they love.

We have cards for mom's and dad's to share their important contact information with other parents, teachers, sports teams and more!

We also have cards for social media lovers, motorcycle riders and clubs, sports enthusiasts, book clubs and most other hobbies!

They will use them when they are on the go and thank you for such a unique and thoughtful gift.

 

Click here for more information! 

QR Codes - Uses for Retail Businesses

Part 2 of our uses for QR Codes will cover Retail businesses. There are many ways you can use QR Codes! For example, did you see Target's Toy Book this year? There were at least 3 QR Codes in the book that took the consumer to cute videos about each of the toys!

Here are some ways you can use QR Codes:

Marketing Materials:

Like Target, if you have a catalog or sheet with items, you can add QR Codes to it and send the customer right to that item on your website, to a video demonstration, to pictures of the item and more! If you have door hangers or postcards or even wall posters, you can also add QR Codes to that. If you have banners outside of your store, you can add a QR Code to it and potential customers can scan it while driving by to get more information, too. You can even add it to your signage!

Packaging:

Do you have custom packaging or tags?  Adding a QR Codes to your packaging and tags can give the customers fast access to your website so they can buy more from you.

Items:

If you don't have custom packaging or tags, you could add a QR Code sticker to the bottom of an item so that the customer always remembers where they got it from and when they want more, all they have to do is scan the QR Code to order more! You could also add a QR Code sign next to an item that will send them to a demonstration video of that product or give them more details about how the item works.

Those are just a few ways you can use QR Codes for your retail business! Imagine what else you could do with them.

Don't have a brick and mortar store? Some of the solutions I mentioned will work for you, too!

Hall Letter Shop can help you implement QR Codes into your marketing. We also can help you with printing of packaging or tags, direct mail, door hangers and more! Call us at 877-322-0773.

Uses for QR Codes: Let's start with Real Estate

QR Codes: You've seen them before. They look like black-and-white puzzles or games boards. You may have seen them in magazine advertisements, on billboards, or on the backs of business cards. You use your smart phone to scan it and it takes you to a website, gives you contact information, takes you to a video, etc.

How can I use this for my Real Estate Business?

Having been in Real Estate in different capacities myself for many years, there are many great ways to use QR Codes for your business.

#1: Listings:

You can put QR Codes on your flyers and postcards that take the potential buyer to a virtual tour, to more listing information or your contact information.

#2: Marketing Materials:

You can add a QR Code to your business card,  brochures, listing packets, that will download your contact information on to their phone or have it go to your website to see the listings you have.

#3: Signs:

When you have your custom signs made with your name on it, add a QR Code on your sign or have a sign rider made for it so that potential buyers can scan it to go to your listings or get your contact information. Also, you can just make your own sign with a QR Code on it to use when you have an open house and put it on the corners and when it is scanned, they will get the open house information and location. You can also use those signs on the lawn of your house that you have for sale and the potential buyer wouldn't even have to get out of their car to scan it and see the information on the listing.

Here are just a few ideas for ways to use QR Codes for Real Estate! QR Codes are free to add to your marketing and it is an easy effective way to get more eyes looking at your listings!

Are you using QR Codes for your marketing currently? Share what has worked for you!

Hall Letter Shop can help you incorporate QR Codes into your marketing, give us a call at 877-322-0773.