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Marketing to Current Customers
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Include with invoices
information on your year-round baskets, particularly during fourth quarter.
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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.
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Newsletters can
be created on word processing programs, Microsoft Publisher, or
Microsoft Front Page
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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.
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Suggestions for
baskets of the month:
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January - Healthy
Gourmet
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February - Red
Hot Lover
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March - Get Well
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April - New Home
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May - Stress
Buster
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June - Couch
Potato
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July - Picnic
Time
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August - Golf
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September - Baby
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October - Thanks
a Million
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November -
Thanksgiving & Chanukah
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December -
Fireside
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Marketing Tips
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Awards Division -
advertising specialties
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We Love Our
Customers
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Thanks a Million
Snack Mix
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Thank you for
helping us grow
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Thank Yous
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Company Picnics
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Employee of the
month
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Include items for
family pet. See our
pet
products page.
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Send Thanksgiving
Baskets
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Questions of the
Month
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January - What can I do if I
forgot to send someone a gift at the holidays?
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February - Do you keep what is
included in the gift baskets on file?
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March - What is the shelf life of
the products used in the baskets?
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April - Can you handle food allergies or
special diets? Diabetic? Kosher?
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May - Shipping to hospitals
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June - Does warm weather affect what goes
into the baskets?
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July - What is appropriate for sympathy
baskets?
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August - How do you determine what products
go into a gift basket?
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September - Where do you get your ideas for
themes? Can customers make suggestions?
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October - How far in advance should I order
holiday gifts?
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November - What do I send if I don’t know
what holiday the recipient celebrates?
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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
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Add new parents
to a database. I use ACT!
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Send new parents
a card at Mother's Day, Father's Day, the baby's first birthday.
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Set up a user
field called "Type" and put in that field "New Parents".
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Search for that
before Mother's Day or Father's Day.
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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!
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Let them know about the
additional baby items you carry.
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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.
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Sell extra
footprint and handprint kits for parents to do and give as gifts.
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My First Birthday Handprint kits and
My Second Birthday Handprint kits are
great add on sales.
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Send current
recipients information about your company.
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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.
New
Prospect - Where to Find Them
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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.
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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.
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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)
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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
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These items lend
themselves very well to being promotional pieces.
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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.
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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.
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Some types of companies that could use the
keepsakes as a promotional item include:
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Hospitals
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OB doctors
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Women's Clinics
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Life Insurance
Agents
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Dentists
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Kid's Hair Salons
Sell other products as gifts
Hispanic
Market
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It is a very hot
market.
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If someone in
your company can speak Spanish, then list that on promotional pieces
that you send out, or on signs in your store.
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Send press
releases to newspapers, business journals showing you are filling a need
in the marketplace for Spanish gifts that other businesses are
overlooking.
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