Marketing Tips

Marketing to Current Customers

• Include with invoices information on your year-round baskets, particularly during fourth quarter.

• Keep in contact with customers via mailings, e-mail, newsletters that are either faxed, e-mailed, or s-mailed. Give them ideas for gift giving. Include the newsletter with invoices and brochures sent out to prospects.

  • Newsletters can be created on word processing programs, Microsoft Publisher, or Microsoft Front Page

  • Ideas to include - basket of the month, upcoming holidays (real and fun), marketing tips, question of the month, promotions. Keep it simple and short. No more than 1-2 pages. Any longer and it won't get read. More important to send the newsletter every month and have it be 1 page than send multi pages and only send it every few months.

  • Suggestions for baskets of the month:

    • January - Healthy Gourmet

    • February - Red Hot Lover

    • March - Get Well

    • April - New Home

    • May - Stress Buster

    • June - Couch Potato

    • July - Picnic Time

    • August - Golf

    • September - Baby

    • October - Thanks a Million

    • November - Thanksgiving & Chanukah

    • December - Fireside

  • Marketing Tips

    • Awards Division - advertising specialties

    • We Love Our Customers

    • Thanks a Million Snack Mix

    • Thank you for helping us grow

    • Thank Yous

    • Company Picnics

    • Employee of the month

    • Include items for family pet. See our pet products page.

    • Send Thanksgiving Baskets

  • Questions of the Month

    • January - What can I do if I forgot to send someone a gift at the holidays?
    • February - Do you keep what is included in the gift baskets on file?
    • March - What is the shelf life of the products used in the baskets?
    • April - Can you handle food allergies or special diets? Diabetic? Kosher?
    • May - Shipping to hospitals
    • June - Does warm weather affect what goes into the baskets?
    • July - What is appropriate for sympathy baskets?
    • August - How do you determine what products go into a gift basket?
    • September - Where do you get your ideas for themes? Can customers make suggestions?
    • October - How far in advance should I order holiday gifts?
    • November - What do I send if I don’t know what holiday the recipient celebrates?
    • December - Are there certain products that should not be added to the baskets?

• Listing of fun holidays for everyday of the year - Celebrate Today! by John Kremer. If your local bookstore doesn't have it, you can special order it.

Marketing to Current Recipients

• Add new parents to a database. I use ACT!

• Send new parents a card at Mother's Day, Father's Day, the baby's first birthday.

• Set up a user field called "Type" and put in that field "New Parents".

• Search for that before Mother's Day or Father's Day.

• Set an alarm to remind you to send a first birthday card. It can be done when they are inputted into the program. Since you probably don't know the exact date of the birth, set the date for about 2 weeks before the year mark. If it is the first card they get so much the better. In addition to sending a card, let them know you sell My First Birthday Handprint kits. This can result in more sales for you!

• Let them know about the additional baby items you carry.

  • Sell extra video cases for an older sibling, to make a copy to give to grandparents or godparents, or for parents that take lots of videos of their kids.

  • Sell extra footprint and handprint kits for parents to do and give as gifts.

  • My First Birthday Handprint kits and My Second Birthday Handprint kits are great add on sales.

• Send current recipients information about your company.

• These tips will keep your name in front of recipients. The business you get from them, their place of employment, and from family and friends will be tremendous.

New Prospects - Who Are They?

These are the people that send out gifts to their employees when there is a new baby. They also send out gifts to employees or their families when someone is sick or passes away.

• Human Resource Department

• Office Manager

• Department Head

• Sunshine Club

• Life insurance agents. Many agents target new and expectant parents since they will need additional life insurance.

New Prospect - Where to Find Them

• Local and county chambers of commerce. Web sites have directories, after-hours which you can go to as a non-member at an additional fee. This will enable you to meet other business owners.

• Leads groups. I belong to LeTip (www.letip.com). There is only 1 person per category. Others include BNI (www.bni.com). Check their web sites to see what groups might be in your area.

• Women Business Group. I belong to NJAWBO (New Jersey Association of Women Business Owners) which is part of NAWBO (National Association of Women Business Owners) - the national organization (www.nawbo.org)

• If you join an organization, get involved. Make yourself visible. You will not get much out of your membership if you sit back and wait for business to come to you.

Sell the keepsake items as a promotional piece

• These items lend themselves very well to being promotional pieces.

• We can provide at no cost our sales sheets. Cut off our company name and phone number. Print your information on a separate piece of paper or on the blank back.

• Add a label that says "With compliments of..." on the product, put it in a cello bag with some curling ribbon and it becomes an inexpensive promotional piece that parents will hold on to.

• Some types of companies that could use the keepsakes as a promotional item include:

  • Hospitals

  • OB doctors

  • Women's Clinics

  • Life Insurance Agents

  • Dentists

  • Kid's Hair Salons

Sell other products as gifts

• Radiology and Ultrasound Groups - they love giving picture frames and brag books to patients

• Party Favors

  • Pictures Frames

  • Brag Books

  • Mugs - can be sold filled or sell the empty mugs if they want to save money.

Hispanic Market

• It is a very hot market.

• If someone in your company can speak Spanish, then list that on promotional pieces that you send out, or on signs in your store.

• Send press releases to newspapers, business journals showing you are filling a need in the marketplace for Spanish gifts that other businesses are overlooking.