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Here comes December, and along with it come promotional calendars of all shapes, sizes, and styles.<\/p>\n
I get \u2018em each year, don\u2019t you?<\/p>\n
They arrive in the mail or are handed out by my insurance agent, my dentist, my doctor, my dry cleaner, my pet groomer, my barber, my auto mechanic, my CPA…I\u2019ve even received a few from politicians.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s a word for all of you calendar-ers: ho-hum.<\/p>\n
As a business owner or corporate sales & marketing executive (don\u2019t get me started on the \u201csales\u201d vs. \u201cmarketing\u201d title), you might think that an annual calendar is a nice and easy and cheap promo item.<\/p>\n
O.K., a calendar is easy, and it\u2019s certainly cheap. But nice? Considering how many other calendars your targets, prospects, and customers get, your promo dollars would be better spent on a roll of toilet paper or a box of facial tissue (we all call them Kl***ex, but copyright\/trademark laws keep me from using that colloquialism).<\/p>\n
With few exceptions, your annual calendar is for your target audience the pulp equivalent of one egg in a dozen. Same same, so what, what\u2019s the dif, ho-hum.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not that calendars aren\u2019t appreciated. But if you\u2019re going to invest in promoting your business with tangible advertising, why do what everyone else is doing? Why spend your precious marketing dollars on \u201cMe too\u201d?<\/p>\n
Dimensional marketing — and that\u2019s what we\u2019re talking about here \u2013 works, in large part, on differentiating your company from your competitors. The annual calendar is merely an example.<\/p>\n
And hey, if you like your yearly calendar, then why not make it stand out? You\u2019ll pay more, sure. However, your audience will more value it….and thus keep it and use it…and thereby more appreciate you.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s about marketing solutions, not just quick & easy stuff.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s also about building customer loyalty and expectation.<\/p>\n
Years ago, we ran an annual dealer trip promotion for a major copier machine company. We did it for 10 years, and each year we achieved at least 150% of sales goal.<\/p>\n
Among the dimensional marketing items we used every year in the promotions was a recipe tile. That is, it was an 8\u201d x 8\u201d ceramic tile that featured a recipe for a dish common to the respective promo destination (e.g., London, Hong Kong, Hawaii).<\/p>\n
The dealer network looked forward to those recipe tiles.<\/p>\n
But one year, corporate management decided to not pay to produce and distribute the tiles. Dealers complained, and sales dropped by more than 50%.<\/p>\n
Those recipe tiles were not just appreciated but unique. And yep, they were anticipated.<\/p>\n
So what does this have to do with calendars?<\/p>\n
Plenty.<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re going to invest in dimensional marketing products, follow the recipe for differentiation and audience interest, not merely bean-counter mentality. Seek solutions.<\/p>\n
Cheap breeds cheap.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"