Marketing BEEP

Ideas for Generating New Customers

It is a lot easier to keep your current customers than to draw in new ones, but every business has to generate new customers at one point or another. If your business is needing to expand your customer base, here are some ideas for making your business irresistible.

Offer Something New
Brainstorm about what you are not offering that would make your customer's lives easier. Think about related services that you could combine to make your business a one-stop shop. Then offer packages of services or products at a lower price than each would cost individually. Make sure you advertise these new packages all over the place, and you will probably steal plenty of clients from your competition.

Market to Prospects with a Great Introductory Offer
To get new people to take a chance on you, make them an offer they cannot refuse. Offer your services or products at a greatly reduced price for the first X weeks. Then give customers a guarantee that if they are not satisfied, they can get a refund. Tell people about this offer through telemarketing, when you hand out business cards, and on your website.

Use Testimonials from Loyal Customers
Ask your loyal customers to write out testimonials of how your business has helped them in the past. Include the customer's name and occupation along with the testimonial so people know it came from a real person. Put these testimonials on your print brochures, business cards, and posters to make your business look more credible and attract new customers.

Sell Static Inventory Online
If you have stuff just sitting in store rooms, get it to generate cash by selling it in online auctions. With a world-wide pool of people, there is bound to be someone who can use your unwanted items.

Attend Trade Shows Armed with Materials
Go to every kind of trade show, business expo, job fair, and community event you can find. Prepare ahead of time by printing business cards and brochures to take with you. Practice what you want to tell people about your business. Be sure to include information about how your company benefits people because people are only looking to do business with those who can improve their lives.

6 Keys to an Effective Advertising Poster

Great posters are like effective sales people. They attract an audience, dazzle them with pretty images and fancy talk, and get the viewers to come into the store and exchange money for goods and services. A great salesman once told me that the key to selling is to make the thing you are offering seem more valuable to the customer than the money in their pocket. Below are six keys to doing just this with your poster printing piece.

1. Research the Competition
Look at marketing materials created by your competition. See what they are offering, and then think of something you can offer that's better. It might be a lower price, faster service, better quality products, or more expertise. Just be sure that you can follow through with your offer.

2. Come up with an Over-all Theme
Once you know what you can do better than others, make that the theme of your advertising. Your print poster should tell about it loud and clear in terms that describe how this can benefit your customers. Remember, everyone who looks at your poster is going to be thinking: What's in it for me? It's up to you to tell them, or they won't even read your poster, let alone visit your store.

3. Use Eye-catching Images and Colors
The colors of your poster as well as the pictures are what will draw people to look at your poster in the first place, so make sure they are stunning. One large image has more impact than several small ones. As far as attractive color choices go, it's best to choose two colors along with some neutrals. Or, if you are brave, you can use all of the colors of the rainbow. Either combination works, but not something in between.

4. Tell About Complementary Products
On your print poster you should describe a few products or services that compliment each other. For instance, if you are advertising printers, you might also tell about the high quality ink you sell. Knowing they can get everything they need in one place can draw more people in to your store.

5. Use Customer Testimonials
Ask your satisfied customers to write testimonials for you to use in your advertising materials. Include one or two of these on your print poster. Be sure to get the customer's full name and some kind of identifier, like "Sally Smith, teacher at Northside High," so people will know it's a real person. For more privacy, you could use the first name and initial of the last name, or vice versa. Ask your customers with what they are comfortable.

6. Include all Your Contact Info
At the bottom of the print poster be sure to include all of your contact information. The poster can't bring customers into your shop if they don't know how to reach you. And make sure that the most important contact information, whether it's your location or your web address, easily stands out from the rest of the poster so that viewers know exactly what you want them to do after walking away from your ad.

10 Super Cool Outdoor Ads

Using common objects as a basis for your advertising is pure genius when done right. Here are some of the best ads we’ve seen that have done it right.

KitKat – are you hungry? I know I am! This wouldn’t have worked quite as well if the bench didn’t look so chocolatey!

Ski lift – I’m not sure where this ad is located, but the beautiful mountains make me want to go skiing!
 

Ballet classes – The tutu look and stereotypical pink make me want to take my kids to ballet. Actually, I don’t have any kids, so maybe I’ll just take myself!

Canon ad – Anyone who’s worked in an office environment can appreciate this one! 

Milwaukee River Keeper – nice visual. Definitely makes me think about what’s in the water to keep me and my kids healthy the next time we go to the water park or lake. 

Dulcolax – Is this just wrong, or is it so wrong that it’s right? Some people might be disgusted, others might think it’s funny. Either way, people will be intrigued, which will lead to word-of-mouth marketing. 

Formula toothpaste – An inventive way to use the entire billboard. 

Schweppes Indian Tonic – This is the most creative use of a fountain I’ve ever seen! I think it would have been better with a champagne brand, though. 

TimetoThaw.com – Nice concept, although I’m not sure why we’d be stepping on suitcases. I guess if a staircase can lead to Heaven, a staircase of suitcases can lead to vacation paradise. 

Denver Water Conservation – These ads definitely make their point! But I wonder if it made people who wanted a seat on the bench mad? Either way, the message is pretty powerful.

Design Principles of Posters

In the digital age we are living, it seems unlikely that printed advertisements such as posters are still used. Yet, look around in museums, airport terminals, on the sides of buildings, office walls, or poster boards - it cannot be denied that posters are still everywhere and, therefore, must still be an effective marketing medium.

Posters reach a general audience and help to build new customers; they can even create loyalty among existing clients. The purpose of a promotional poster can be to simply communicate with consumers, sell a product, or convince the audience of the benefits of a company's product or services. Whatever purpose an individual poster may have, a good one will be captivating, to the point, and persuasive. It must also be able to present information in such a way that whenever the poster is out of sight, a passer-by will be able to remember the message.

For a poster that accomplishes its goals, it should follow the principles of design below:

• Simplicity of both design, images, and text is one of the most important rules of creating a poster. Also, the arrangement needs to be attractive so that it captures the attention of viewers passing by.

• A company must consider the placement of each poster and also its appearance next to other competing posters. Usually, a poster campaign involves poster printing in large quantities for effective saturation. If this is the case, then each location and the audience must be taken into account.

• The text and any other important images must be viewable from 10-15 feet away, more or less, depending on the distance that consumers will be passing by. The design and text should be of complementing styles, and the text should always stand out from the background and images.

• The colors should blend well with each other and with the style of the design and text elements. Bold, vibrant colors work best with posters because they grab attention. A poster design should be in sync with the popular art style of the year.

Because posters have such a necessity for being captivating, they should follow common design principles. Otherwise, the time and money involved in poster printing will not be worth the advertising results.

10 Tips for Poster Design

Marketing posters can be displayed in the office, at other businesses, in public areas, or at events. Most people do not have time to stop for but a single glance at a poster, which makes the layout critical. Your company name, offer, and especially the call to action should jump off the page to any passer-by. The following are ten tips to keep in mind when designing your poster.

1. Color is an important aspect to a poster because, used correctly, it will bring to the forefront the most important information on the poster. Choose only two to three colors at the most that contrast well.

2. Choose only two different fonts to avoid over-stimulation. Although, play with the fonts by using bold and italics.

3. Make sure your poster flows in a reverse S, as this is a natural reading pattern. With this in mind, your call to action should be on the bottom left and contact information on the bottom right of the poster.

4. Do not use too many words. Pack a lot of info into short sentences. Remember that most people only skim the poster for the main idea.

5. Use visuals that catch the eye yet relate to your message. Avoid low-resolution pictures as these will be pixilated when blown up to poster size.

6. Your headline and contact information should be visible from a short distance. Too small of a font will be easily missed by passers-by.

7. Instead of boxes and borders, use white space to help create a flow and break up the information. Do this by grouping related info together and leaving enough space between groups so that the white space naturally draws the eye to the text. 

8. Make an offer that is believable but irresistible. Readers should be convinced enough to call your company rather than the number on the poster down the street.

9. Be original and creative. That other company might have a fascinating design but copying another style will make your company appear less than professional.

10. Print wholesale quantities of posters and place in multiple locations for high impact. For best results, use posters with other forms of advertising.

Poster printing and design for commercial advertising can be intimidating, so use the above tips and do more research if necessary so that your posters will create the response you desire.

Posters and Business

My office walls are covered with posters. It is just a hobby of mine, I guess, to collect posters that I find interesting and slap them up on the walls. I am especially prone to buying those motivational posters that you find in most workplaces. It’s not that I find them particularly inspiring; I just like them.

I just wanted to share some of my favorite posters with you. Feel free to comment on them. By the way, all of the images on this page are taken from allposters.com.



Here is one of my favorite motivational posters. “It’s All About Character” includes a rather good poem by Frank Outlaw. Obviously, this poster is about building teamwork and working for the good of the team, rather than individual glory. That is a great concept, to be sure. But I just like the outdoor feel and the basketball aspect.



Ah, another outdoorsy motivational poster. This one really typifies my favorite posters, though, because it is strikingly simple. There is just one word (determination) followed by a short phrase relating to that word. I love it.



I like this poster because there is a guy literally hanging on for dear life. Nothing is more interesting than watching someone struggle to avoid falling off a cliff. Still, you have to admit that the message this poster conveys – about persevering and sticking with your goals – is admirable too.



I am always a sucker for a nautical themed poster. That is probably due to my seven years in the Navy. But this poster also has a great message about the value of leadership. I have always tried to improve my own skills as a leader, and I think it’s important for anyone in business to do the same.



This poster is just a classic. No respectable poster collector can be without this one. And I like to think of myself as a respectable poster collector.



This is kind of the Russian answer to the Uncle Sam poster. I always like to keep a balanced perspective, so I had to add a Russian response to my American volleys. Plus, this is a relatively colorful and attractive addition to my walls.