All Things Promotional Marketing
rushIMPRINT
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Posts by rushIMPRINT
Get Cooking With Our Top Four Grilling Gifts
Jul 22nd
A truly great promotional item is one that works well and will be used often, building goodwill with every use. With summer grilling season in full swing, now is the perfect time to distribute promotional grilling items imprinted with your company’s logo. Customers will be excited to receive high-quality custom grilling kits or custom spatulas for free, far more so than if they received a pen or a magnet. The positive associations with your company will then be reinforced every time they fire up the grill for summer fun.
Great Grilling Options!
The best promotional grilling items are ones that are going to be used frequently and kept close to hand at the grill. Items like digital grilling forks and lighted bamboo spatulas are perfect multipurpose grilling tools that can easily find a place in any home grill master’s toolbox. Custom spatulas with logos are unusual and distinctive, so you don’t need to worry about your promotion blending into the crowd. The lighted bamboo spatula is an especially clever promotional item because it is a conversation piece in itself. Many cooks won’t have seen a spatula that lights up for evening grilling before, making your item even more noticeable and unique. Digital grilling forks allow for quick temperature checks throughout the grilling process, and will keep your company’s logo right next to the grill on the handsome carrying case.
For a truly memorable promotional gift, custom grilling kits are unbeatable. With all the most essential grilling tools in a single sturdy case, this is an item that will not only be used at home, but for camping, tailgating, or any grilling opportunity. Your 8″x3″ logo on the case will be clearly visible to everyone who assists in the grilling process, and the rugged, professional grade kit is sure to stand up to season after season of use. No matter what items you choose, though, you can’t go wrong with promotional grilling gifts this summer.
Promotional Products – Beyond The Customers
Sep 29th
Just the other day, I had a unique experience to sit in on a professional sports team staff meeting. The staff was clearly excited and buzzing in preparation for the upcoming season and everyone had their lists of responsibilities from season ticket organizing to corporate golf tournament management, but one thing caught my ear in particular.
The head coach surely had is pressing issues that needed addressing, but he spent most of his time discussing something the rest had seemed to almost forget about, the in-game camera operators for the jumbo-tron. On top of everything else going on in the office the coach was concerned about the commonly ignored $8.00 camera operators, and more importantly how the organization could keep camera operators longer than just one season. The initial response was to simply pay them more, but due to restrictions with the facility and their employment this was not negotiable. The coach then asked the group: What can we make special for them that adds value and builds their loyalty to us – the brainstorming began that very moment. I was simply fascinated at how all of these other important issues froze for that moment to figure out what the organization could give to camera operators to impress upon them how valued they were.
I won’t give away the final decision, but it’s looking good for the men behind the lenses. I took this as a lesson for the future though: Cool stuff with your brand on it should transcend simply finding new customers. Business owners and managers have responsibility to their teams and their staffs to develop not only loyalty but personal investment. Sure, these camera guys won’t stick around because they got some cool team-branded swag, but providing the experience and connecting with them with legitimate gratitude makes ALL of the difference in the world.
rushIMPRINT has so many options for you to consider recognizing your teams today. Check us out and make the difference for your most valuable resources, people!
What Happened To Customer Service?
Sep 21st
We live in a world where not valuing your customer service is a severely poor idea; information travels too quickly for your brand to combat bad customer experiences! I’m really frustrated right now with my cell phone and trying to get a seemingly simple problem fixed. I’m quite confident that this could be taken care of effectively if somebody just took the time to care about my issue, but I don’t think I’ll be so lucky. Honestly though, I don’t blame the people on the other end of the line; I feel the problem is quite clearly with a compartmentalized system and poor treatment of customer service representatives.
My phone is having an issue connecting to the internet, it keeps telling me to have an authorized person contact the customer service 1-800 number. I called. I spent six minutes going through an automated system designed to spit me out to an appropriate representative to resolve my issue. The young gentleman informed me that due to system limitations he would not have access to help me and that the issue was something I could manage online myself. I was then transferred to online support and another digital queuing machine only to be spat out to another representative who walked me through the process of creating an online account to fix my own issue. Before the problem was resolved, she assumed that I had done all the tasks required, but since I was calling from my phone I would need to disconnect before I could investigate our success.
Problem remains.
![not getting what I need accomplished ]](http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2350/2276575450_26198b94f9.jpg)
The system makes it impossible for me to find the same rep again. I go through the queue again; after explaining the issue (3rd time) to a new person they again remind me that they can’t fix it and it’s my job to do this online and then I am transferred again. More time… more digital queue. New young man in online support gets a lightly frustrated version of myself and a full explanation of the scenario; his response: “Well I can help you with that!” He then takes a few moments and claims that I should be good to go – again, I can’t check unless I am off the phone. I disconnect after thanking him.
Problem still remains… Mobile internet is not in my future it would seem. Looks like I’ll be switching to Verizon after all.
The moral: Information travels so fast these days – companies like major cellular providers can’t afford to continue this level of customer service. Business owners would be wise to realize that your customer interactions are the fundamental cornerstone of success while your customer service representatives, cashiers, baggers, and phone operators are the front line for your business – pay them well and make them value the experience of working for you.
3 Things You Should Be Doing To Celebrate Your Customers
Sep 14th
A friend of mine works for a professional hockey team in their sales department. We were discussing customer relationships and the difference between types of customers. He was talking about how season ticket holders have an emotional commitment to the team, while group customers require a unique one-time experience to effectively lock them in as long-term repeat customers. His philosophy is true in all forms of sales; there will always (hopefully) be YOUR customers that do business with you because of an emotional investment in your company and your products, while some other great customers might turn to you in search of something different than the alternative. Here are threeways that you can create a unique experience and develop long-term customer relationships.
Give Back
If you don’t have some kind of rewards program already in place, then you NEED to start one now. Don’t just cut a deal like “buy $100 and get $5 off…” this is overused and tired. Perhaps placing your brand on some unique, useful, and valuable things is a better route; the more the customer buys the more rewards they get on top of their order. Build your brand around giving – people will notice.
Invite Them In
New Belgium is the 3rd largest microbrewery in the United States. They offer FREE tours of their brewery with samples of their beer five days per week; these tours are full 3 weeks in advance. They invite about 150 people into their building most days to touch, feel, smell, learn, and enjoy how their product is made. Inviting people behind the curtain provides them with an experience; providing them with great content about your product and company history provides them with the opportunity to share that with others.
Be Grateful
It seems like common sense to “be grateful,” but you could probably think of a time when places of business just didn’t care. I cheated on my diet the other day and got Taco Bell (don’t judge…); in my attempts to not totally kill my efforts I kept it under $4, and the attendants seemed like my tiny order was legitimately a burden. Imagine if you could receive sincere gratitude from the people that you give money to in exchange for products and services. Let’s face it, we ALL have competition in our markets, so outdo everyone else with genuine respect and gratitude for every person that comes through your door.
Take your business to a new level! Start giving back, inviting your customers behind the veil, and being more grateful and your business will do better – it’s that easy.
5 Ideas For Fall Football Marketing
Sep 7th
It’s that magical time of year again! Freshly cut grass, white paint on the ground, shoulder pads crushing into one another, Friday night games, and the pound of the snare drum during half time herald in the sound of football season. Make this Fall season your time shine by using America’s greatest game to market your brand.
1) Booster Clubs
Most High School football teams have a booster club. Get on board by sponsoring a local organization that supports fun and educational programs for students. Contact their leader to investigate what the booster club needs and how you can help them offset the costs for the parents.
2) Sponsor a Little League team
Youngsters are learning how to play the game, and countless communities across America have several teams looking for sponsors. Imagine 20 kids wearing your company logo every weekend through November, that’s a great opportunity for community involvement and raising brand awareness, not to mention the parents knowing the good deed you did.
3) Tailgate!
Before the Friday night lights come on, there’s fun to be had in the parking lot. Hosting a tailgate with food, drinks, and giveaways for fans is fine opportunity to put your logo in the hands and minds of your potential customers.
4) Handouts
Everybody loves FREE stuff! Think like a fan this Fall and imagine what you might want/need for a game. You may consider warm knit caps, insulated mugs for hot chocolate, water bottles to keep cool, the ever-popular Kan-Tastic, or something else unique and useful. Provide something of value to your potential customers/clients and let them know that you care about their positive experience.
5) The Terrible Towel
Support your local teams by distributing sports towels with both the team and your logos! Nothing intimidates the other team like a furious wave of fans having fun and spinning a distracting wave of towels over their heads!
rushIMPRINT is your home for all the promotional items you could need to raise your brand awareness this Fall. We are looking forward to working with you to make this football season a memorable one!
The Most Important Piece of Success
Aug 30th
So, you want to be wildly successful? I just figured out the key ingredient in ascending to where I want to be. I, you, all of us really, need to start focusing on the next two words: BE AWESOME!
“Awesome” might be one of the most overused and undervalued words in our language; it is used so much that people seem to have misplaced what the word actually means. It doesn’t take a degree in English Literature from a division II state school to know that “awesome” simply means to inspire awe, but nobody seems to really remember what “awe” means anymore. Dictionary.com tells us that “awe” is defined as, an overwhelming feeling of reverence, admiration, fear, etc., produced by that which is grand, sublime, extremely powerful, or the like: in awe of god; in awe of great political figures. WOW!
If you truly inspired awe in the people around you, then you would have no choice but to be truly and fully successful. Being awesome isn’t about doing cool tricks on a skateboard, or writing a great song; being awesome is about moving people at their very core – affecting them. Be grand, be powerful, and inspire those around you to admire the life you live; touch the lives of everyone you can by being the best person you can be. Those that are truly awesome don’t even have to tell people; awesome people just live good lives and the rest falls in to place.
Being awesome is a personal choice and it’s unlikely that anyone can make you awesome, but rushIMPRINT can definitely help you spread the word! If you are already awesome and need some help getting people to talk about it for you, then let us help you promote your business and your personal brand!
The Key To Successful Branding
Aug 25th
Information is more accessible today than any other time in human history, and with that ease of access comes a new responsibility to consistently market yourself for who you are and who you want to be.
Let’s face it, most of our businesses aren’t Apple, Nike, McDonalds, Starbucks, or Wal-Mart, and most of us aren’t as recognized as Michael Jordan, Donald Trump, or Oprah. We are, however, placing decreasingly less value on previously established gatekeepers to approve us for super-stardom. You and your business can definitely climb the economic and social ladders by remembering that YOU are your brand.
Most people fail at branding themselves and their business because they get too caught up in the structural foundations of branding (logo, name, imaging, etc.) and lose track of what branding is fundamentally about. Branding is, without a doubt, about consistency and business. Think about it: you probably know that McDonalds sells hamburgers (primarily), Nike sells athletic essentials, and Apple makes user friendly tech. The outrageously successful companies across the world are successful because they consistently perform, people know what to expect, and (usually) they provide value to people’s lives in some way or another.
Success is yours, if you want it. But to be successful you need to provide outstanding products, services, and/or customer support; you also need to perform consistently so that those that do business with you KNOW what to expect and can share your message with others. Finally, remember that if you are consistently good GREAT at what you do, then eventually people will start talking.
As you develop your brand more thoroughly, remember that rushIMPRINT is happy to help you promote yourself and expedite the process of getting more people to talk about you and your business!
3 “Aha” Moments to Think About For Your Next Promotional Plan
Aug 18th
I was having a conversation with a friend of mine the other day discussing some of the more difficult aspects of his job. My friend works for a professional sports team and is responsible for ALL of the promotional products, giveaways, and half-time events. During our chat I had a few “A-Ha!” moments about finding the right promotional goods for the right clients; I thought I might share them with you today:
Start at the end and work your way back
Sometimes we forget to think like an end user, and end up buying things that can quickly find their way to the trash. Before your next event, giveaway, retreat, or any other thing that would benefit from things with your logo on it, spend some time considering how the product will be used and who will use it. Notepad holders are great for conferences, water bottles for sporting events, and reusable grocery bags would be great for green folks.
Be unique and stand out
Pencils, pens, and foamy balls may be inexpensive when preparing for a mass giveaway, but I can’t begin to count the writing utensils I have amassed over the years that have gotten lost or lent without ever even being looked at. When planning your next move try to come up with a few ideas the might help you stand out from the rest. Don’t be bland and boring just because of cost.
Stay on target with the environment
It seems off to me when people give out USB drives at sporting events – sure everybody at some point can use a USB drive, but that isn’t the right crowd; perhaps a warm knit cap for a football game this Fall would be a wiser choice. Plan ahead and remember where you are going to be distributing your promotional goods.
By the end of the conversation we had come up with some unique, useful, and valuable solutions for him and his clients. Surely this fall should have some surprises for the fans of this team. RushIMPRINT can be your one stop shop for promotional goods – let’s find some solutions together.
Back to School & Back to Basics: 5 Ideas for Marketing to Students
Aug 10th
Summer is almost over and it’s time for the kids to start gearing up to go back to school! For business owners in college towns this can be a magical time of year for promoting your business and raising brand awareness. With so many young people mobilizing in preparation for fall classes, now is your perfect opportunity; the only real problem can be finding the right way to spread the good word of your business. Here are 5 great ideas for reaching out to the campus community.
Sponsor a club
Whether it’s a Greek Letter Organization, a sports team, a campus ministry club, or the AV club, they all need places to meet, t-shirts purchased, or donations to host events! A simple call to the campus life department should render you with some kind of organization that could use any amount of donation or sponsorship.
Business Strategies Made Simple
Aug 5th
Businesses that thrive need to have a powerful strategy in order to help growth everyday. Check out these 5 straightforward ways to getting your company on board for business.
Positioning
This is the bridge that connects everything together. It is one of the most important components in any business strategy as it creates brand equity which is crucial for the growth and success of almost any business in this world.
Publicity
Items such as press releases, contacting local editors, writing articles and getting in front of media professionals is a fantastic way to get your companies name out there. This way, you will be able to drive customers to your locations, call centers and website, and also encourage your customers to purchase your products or services.
Be memorable
You want to stand out in the minds of your customers, so put yourself out there to stand apart from your competition. Your marketing strategy should include all forms of marketing including direct marketing, online marketing, email marketing, article and event marketing and non-traditional as well as traditional methods of marketing.
Promotions
Not only should you hold special events and coupons to drive sales and customers up, but by creating promotional products to get your name out there is one of the most important and passive ways of making money.
Strategic Partnerships
Many successful business owners have developed partnerships that either increase their client list or add extra products or services to their product line.