Branded Promo Materials and Give-Aways to Promote Repeat Business

Custom promotional items are an easy and effective way to market and brand your company. They can also be an effective delivery system for promotions, create repeat business, and potentially increase your customer lifetime value (CLV).

Branding is by definition “The creation of a name, symbol, logo, or design which identifies and differentiates one product from its competitor’s products.” Making your brand visible, memorable, and useful through customer experience and promotional materials is an effective brand strategy that can attract new business and entice repeat business.

If your marketing strategy does not include the use of branded give-aways and promo items, you may be missing an opportunity to be seen and remembered when your customer needs your product or service.

In this article, the team from Clash Graphics offers valuable insight on how attracting new customers, the customer experience, and the CLV can be greatly influenced by the use of custom branded promotional materials.

Perfect Promotional Products for Your Customers

In any field of business, knowing the demographics, habits, trends, routines, and tendencies of your customers is fundamental to building an effective marketing strategy.

To illustrate how promo materials can be incorporated strategically, we will act as if we are marketing a local taco shop

TACO SHOP PROMO EXAMPLE -

Let's imagine this taco shop is in a busy business district, and the majority of their customers work in an office environment at a desk. Here are a few branded promotional materials their strategy could utilize:

Pen & Sticky Notes - Every Friday, all lunch deliveries would include a branded pen and pad of sticky notes. The majority of their lunch deliveries will be to offices, so including functional items that can be used every day is a no-brainer that keeps their brand in plain sight and on their customers minds.

Mouse Pad Monday - One Monday each quarter, everyone that orders to-go gets a branded mouse pad. The taco shop logo, lunch menu, and a compelling discount code is printed on the mouse pads. This incentive encourages repeat business, while allowing you to assess and track the effectiveness of the campaign using the promo code.

Punch Five Card - The customer carries a branded punch card (similar to a business card) and gets a punch with each entrée purchase. Once the card is full, it can be redeemed for a free entrée and another punch card. Numerous studies show this strategy is effective because humans want to complete incomplete loops, especially when it leads to a reward.

Taco Tuesday Office Kit - On Tuesdays, ten random lunch deliveries leave with an office kit (packed in a branded tote) including a pen, pad of sticky notes, mouse pad, note pad, coffee mug, lanyard, silicone wristband, and keychain, all branded with the restaurant’s logo, website and phone number. Also in the tote is a hand-written card from the manager thanking the customer by name.

Coffee Shop Placemats - The taco shop courts a nearby and popular coffee shop and strikes an agreement to print placemats for the tables of their coffee shop.

Printed on the placemats are product and strategic branding information for both the coffee and taco shop; include a fun game, puzzle, and a free item from the menu that is claimed using a promo code and their cell phone number or email address. Direct customer contact info is the best way to stay in touch and nurture a long-term relationship. Done properly, and this leads to repeat business and an increased customer lifetime value.

If the coffee shop needs more convincing, include a branded “free coffee” coupon in the delivery bag of every to-go order. This example shows how two non-competing companies that share a customer base can work in partnership to increase repeat business and reduce the expense of their marketing campaigns.

The following video shows statistics on a variety of promotional products.

How Give-Aways Can Promote Repeat Business

The message you are leaving with your customers after giving them relevant and useful promotional material (swag) is, “Thank you! Enjoy this token giveaway, and we welcome you to please come again.”

By using these materials, the customer has your brand in their hand, or within sight as it’s creating an impression. As long as their experience with your staff and product was pleasant, the grader the chances of them returning to your business.

When those items are interactive, like the “Punch Five Card” mentioned above, you have successfully added “renewable” incentive to the marketing formula. This is a vital component because of acquiring a new customer can cost you a magnitude of order more than the cost of encouraging an existing customer to return.

Watch this video to see how this restaurant attracts both new and repeat business.

Acquisition and Retention Statistics Prove the Value of Repeat Business

Customer acquisition can be far more costly than customer retention. According to research by Frederick Reichheld of Bain & Company a 5% increase in customer retention produces more than a 25% increase in profit.

Simply put, returning customers feel more comfortable purchasing from a company they have already done business with if they had a pleasant experience. They are willing to spend more, try new products, and when impressed, they refer their friends and family.

Consider acquiring new customers typically involves a much more expensive and involved marketing campaign including advertisements, billboards, digital marketing, direct mailers, etc.

Depending on the market and demographics you are targeting, a new customer can cost anywhere from 5 times to 25 times that of a returning customer.

Best Practices for Customer Retention

Return business can be inexpensively fostered by perfecting the following:

Customer Service - From from your business’ first contact with a patron, customer service must serve and exceed their necessities. Listening to them and getting their order or needs handled right, the first time, is a key factor to their subsequent return.

Staying Connected - For customers that have provided you with contact information, drop an email or text message ever-so-often - just to say hello, thank them, and reward or encourage them to provide you an open channel of communication to them.

You can sell them on a promotion or discount another time. This initial contact is to further the connection and forge a more personal interaction.

Once a deeper rapport is initiated, you can invite them to follow and engage on social media. Through your social media platform, engage, offer incentives, invitations, discounts, and reminders for upcoming events and invites to exclusive experiences.

Promo Strategies

There are several methods for generating sales, but capturing customer information and creating loyalty are also goals very important. To get the most from each promotion, ensure that your campaign is strategic and optimized. Here are a few promo strategies to accomplish this:

Promo Code Incentives for a New Account - By offering promo codes for your customers to access exclusive discounts and pre-release products, you create an exclusive appeal where they feel part of something special and compelled to return to your business.

To join and claim the deals, required that they create a new account. In doing so, you have the opportunity to gather their contact information, sales data, and buying habits.

Promotional Events and Customer Appreciation - Organize a customer appreciation event in which custom promotional products and branded merchandise are given away or raffled.

For the event, incorporate a “Bring A Friend” component where your existing customer is incentivized with a free product or discount, when they bring their friend.

This is a very efficient, low-cost new customer strategy that you can depend on to deliver. The idea is that everyone tries something new, has an enjoyable experience, and equally as important, leaves with something branded that will keep your company visible and in your customer’s mind.

BOGO - The “Buy One Get One” promotion can be used as a powerful tool to draw in both existing and new customers, because who doesn’t like free stuff?

However, have a purpose to the promotion, and use the offer in a way that will allow for deeper future communication. Capturing social media profiles or Mobile devices is the most direct and meaningful contact information.

What Is the Lifetime Value of Your Customer?

Known as the Customer Lifetime Value or CLV, this is the predictive sum of the net profit from the entire relationship with a customer. Knowing the CLV allows business owners to adjust their marketing campaigns to either generate more repeat business, attract new customers, or increase the sales of returning existing customers.

Research by market experts like Shopify have shown that the average lifespan of a customer with an establishment or service is 1 to 3 years.

However, before calculating a customer’s lifetime value, you must first know a customer’s single transaction value. For this example, we will take the average transaction value and multiply this figure by the average number of transactions of a customer in a year.

In our simple example, we would then take that customer value and multiply it by 3 to attain a net customer lifetime value (CLV) for that individual.

The above is a simple equation to aide in the understanding of the importance of CLV. For a more comprehensive look at calculating CLV, Harvard Business School has a downloadable Lifetime Customer Value Calculator tool

Watch this video to further understand how a customer's lifetime value is defined and calculated.

Customer Experience and Promo Materials Can Promote Repeat Business

When your customers are given a reason to return, they will. In some cases, it is the rapport that is built with your team. In others, it is the convenience of the location in combination with the quality of the product or service.

Incentives like punch cards, functional and branded promotional items, BOGO’s, give-aways, etc. all serve the same purpose. That purpose is to create an environment in which your customer feels appreciated, rewarded by their loyalty, thus returning frequently, and adding to their CLV and your bottom line.

Sources:

https://blog.smile.io/easy-way-to-calculate-and-increase-customer-lifetime-value
https://www.forbes.com/sites/larrymyler/2016/06/08/acquiring-new-customers-is-important-but-retaining-them-accelerates-profitable-growth/#5838b20f6671
https://www.invespcro.com/blog/customer-acquisition-retention/
https://hbr.org/2014/10/the-value-of-keeping-the-right-customers

Clash Graphics Print Shop Atlanta Flyer Printing

2233 Peachtree Rd NE Ste 202 Atlanta, GA 30309

(678) 235-3464

To view the original version on Clash Graphics, visit: http://www.clashgraphics.com/printing-tips/branded-promo-materials-giveaways-repeat-business/

Restaurant Marketing - Increase Sales and Fill Empty Seats

Successful restaurants establish a connection with their customers. It is this connection that keeps loyal customers coming back and telling others. Customers become “Fans for life” when the ambience and food quality come together to create a lasting emotional and culinary impression.

A fantastic example of this impression is found with a memory nearly all of us over 30 from all walks of life share: It begins with red and white checkered table cloths, dark wood finishing on the tables and booths (with their red leather padding), slightly dimmed lighting, parmesan and chili flake shakers next to the salt and pepper shakers, a juke box in the corner, and winding down to a table top PacMan or Space Invaders game somewhere close to the salad bar.

As the example illustrates, when a restaurant is able to capture all or a part of something unique and special, business picks up, sales increase and empty seats get filled. After all, “the greatest expense a restaurant can have is an empty seat.”

In this article, Clash Graphics addresses the impact of customer experience and marketing on keeping the seats in your restaurant filled. Both of which every restaurant owner should relentlessly keep at the top of their priority list.

Restaurant Customer Experience

Ask yourself this: “How do I see my restaurant?” Before answering that question, consider getting feedback from both customers and employees. Ultimately, it is the customer experience that drives a restaurant’s revenue. While it is the employees that support the customer experience by maintaining the ambience, food quality, service, and engagement with customers.

Discovery - The two principle ways a person finds a restaurant are by personal recommendations or through the marketing plan with ads, signs, invitations, etc. Both of which provide the opportunity to exceed expectations and create a customer for life.

Customer Expectations - Understanding the wants and needs of customers is vital to meeting their expectations. Encourage them to give reviews, fill out comment cards, or take online satisfaction surveys.

Customer feedback is often priceless insight that should be taken seriously. It is this information that provides an exact blueprint which enables the development of a plan to meet and exceed their needs.

Curb Appeal - What does the entrance of the restaurant look like? Are there cars in the parking lot (signaling success and popularity). Is the location easy to find for a first time customer? The importance of location and visibility cannot be overstated. That said, the outside of a restaurant will often times determine the customer’s mood and expectations before ever stepping foot in the actual restaurant.

Restaurant Staff - These are the people responsible for bringing your vision to life. In turn, they must deliver an elevated level of service, and seamlessly work together from all points in the restaurant to create an amazing experience for all customers and guests.

Think how genuinely engaged the staff at Disney World is, and how their cheer, charm, and willingness to go to any length impacts your experience and emotional association with their brand.

For this reason, service staff applicants should be screened and hired with the customers in mind. Remembering that personality and attitude are fundamental, they can’t be taught. However, the skills to support an amazing customer experience can be taught, and must be purposefully reinforced.

Food - The greatest asset (or detriment) to the customer experience is the food. It is the make or break ingredient from your menu (click here) which ultimately determines whether a seat remains empty or a restaurant has a highly sought after waiting list.

One of the most special things to hear is your customer saying, “Mmmmmm, this tastes so good...” or “This reminds me of...” It is food that is nearly always associated to people, places, and memories. Thus, being associated and part of a lifelong memory of your customer is the greatest of accomplishments.

So, when customers offer feedback on a restaurant’s food, they are speaking from their taste in food, cultural experience, and more importantly their expectations. Use this invaluable information to fine tune the kitchen and at times, refine the menu.

Superior Relationship Marketing for Return Customers

“What am I going to eat tonight?” This is the question that your restaurant’s marketing campaign should consider and effectively answer. People in general want to feel they belong and are a part of something authentic. Running promotional “gimmicks” can generate short term results, but consistent, meaningful, and engaging interactions will create “life long fans” for your restaurant.

Comment Cards and Satisfaction Surveys - In the above section we discussed encouraging feedback, comments, and online reviews. This not only gives your customers a sense of inclusion, but also illustrates that their opinion matters. The win for the restaurant is a better understanding of what customers not only want, but what they expect.

However, merely asking for feedback isn’t enough, and is your opportunity to prove your genuine concern and commitment to a fantastic experience.

An impactful way to encourage customers to contribute feedback is as simple as offering a free side or dessert. Not only have you gotten valuable feedback, you’ve given them a reason to come back to claim their complimentary dish.

First Time Customers - Creating an experience for a first-time customer venturing into your restaurant can be truly exciting and leave a lasting impression. Ring a bell, make an announcement, offer a token of appreciation, a discount on the meal, free drinks, a free appetizer, or free dessert. And for a cherry on top, involve the chef or owner to personally welcome and extend these accommodations.

Not only does such a gesture buy goodwill and leave an impact, but this personal touch also gives the patron an opportunity to become acquainted with signature dishes and desserts they may otherwise have never tasted. Sometimes, putting on a little show can bring big results, especially when combined with culinary charm and great food.

Celebrating Milestones - Set up a customer contact database with contact information and relevant dates (first time at the restaurant, birthday, anniversary, children’s birthdays, etc.). This information allows for dynamic future customer interaction via text, email, or phone.

Whether offering a “Half-Off” day for their “Birth” day, free champagne for an anniversary dinner, or even a free signature dish; their occasion will be unforgettable, unique, and special.

This level of personalization and attention is a sure fire way to permanently embed the idea that you and your staff care about and value them as customers.

And dare not forget about game day (if it’s that type of restaurant). If you simply collect their favorite team or sports preferences, you have the opportunity to create Super Bowl, Kentucky Derby, or World Cup events. Which affords your restaurant another rapport building opportunity, where your customers can eat, drink, and cheer on their teams while enjoying your food and service.

All too often, marketing campaigns are selfishly-focused and structured for short term results. Employing a celebratory and unique approach not only provides a higher frequency of engagement, but also establishes a deeper and more meaningful relationship with your customers.

Take a look at these guest testimonials from Adventures by Disney:

Using relational marketing you now have the opportunity to acknowledge, invite, and celebrate their milestones along with them.

Lifelong Customers Expect Value and Quality

Marketing and acquiring new customers is expensive, thus care and special attention to improve customer retention is an efficient means of improving lifetime value, and creating long-term relationships with potential loyal supporters of your restaurant.

The goal of this article has been to initiate a conversation on how customer experience and retention-focused marketing are inseparable. Simply serving decent food will only get you so far. Offering value and quality in exchange for the customer’s time, money, and experience are fundamental for a business to survive.

As people are becoming more desiring of ordering takeout and prone to convenience, it cannot be stressed enough that “value” is the key to unlocking the loyalty of lifelong customers and filling those empty seats.

High-quality food and unique experiences go a long way in communicating your restaurants commitment to earning patrons business, and delivering an unmatched service. At the end of the day, filing empty seats is a reward for the restaurant that caters to and serves its customers best.

Clash Graphics Print Shop Atlanta Flyer Printing

2233 Peachtree Rd NE Ste 202 Atlanta, GA 30309

(678) 235-3464

To view the original version on Clash Graphics, visit: http://www.clashgraphics.com/printing-tips/restaurant-marketing-increase-sales/

Three Secrets to Growing Your Gym or Personal Training Business

If you work in the fitness and personal training industry then you know how competitive and difficult it can be to keep loyal customers. Some clients give up after just a few sessions in the gym, while others will change their gyms to avoid the monotony.

You may feel people are going to come to train at your gym simply because it’s the closest one too them, but a gym needs more than being close to a client to draw them through the door. Marketing strategies are needed to not just get customers to join your gym in the first place, but also to build and maintain the relationship that keeps them coming back for more.

The only way to attract new clients and ensure old ones keep coming back for more is to offer them something that is unique to your gym. They must also be kept motivated. They rely on you to keep them on course for reaching their personal goals. It is also critical to create personal relationships with clients and offer them benefits that make training in your gym a more attractive and unique experience that what your competitors are offering.

Clash Graphics serves a number of fitness professionals that have and are aiming to grow their training businesses; below are 3 fundamental business strategies that will help accomplish that goal.

Offer Specialty-Focused and Unique Classes

One of the most common reasons for losing members – and an issue frequently brought up in customer feedback – is that there aren’t enough unique classes being offered by the facility. Providing clients with a range of relevant, popular, and interesting gym classes that give them the results they need is the simplest way to retain customers and boost business for your gym. Here are 3 fitness classes that focus and target varied demographics and customers.

Barre – Barre classes combines postures taken from disciplines such as ballet, yoga, and Pilates. Barre is popular with women in particular because it tones down the areas they want without stressing their joints. Barre is a group training that promotes community and brings women together as they tone their butt, thighs, abs, and arms.

HIIT – HIIT – short for High Intensity Interval Training – is a kind of interval training where short but intense periods of anaerobic exercise are combined with less intense periods used to recover. HIIT produces great results and is ideal for both men and women looking to push themselves past merely lifting weights.

Zumba – Zumba is an aerobic fitness program inspired by a range of Latin American dance typically performed to Latin American dance music. Zumba classes appeal to former dances and people that enjoy burning calories and enjoying an elevated heart rate while having a lot of fun.

Engage with your customers. Find out what they enjoy and any new classes they have heard of and are interested in. Kickboxing, spin, and Crossfit are all popular classes that have exploded in popularity. Listen to your clients and satisfy their interest with new and exciting ways to stay fit.

Build Community and Personalized Experiences

Personal trainers and gym owners need to give individual customers their personal attention. Providing quality customer service is another way to build sales and improve retention. Even if you have the most physically fit personal trainers around, clients will look elsewhere if they feel they aren’t treated as individuals.

A good quality personal trainer aims to make working out as enjoyable as possible. They encourage clients during the tough lifts, and show members proper form and technique to prevent injuries, which can cause clients to cancel their memberships.

Make the most out of group training and classes. Offer a range of group activities to get your customers conversing with each other and creating the kind of relationships that go beyond the gym. This creates the feeling of community and friendships, and gives clients more reason to come back to the gym outside of having a good workout.

Prioritize Online and Search Marketing

Search engine optimization and marketing through search engines allows customers to discover you when looking for a gym or personal trainer in their area. Consider how important and valuable it would be to have your service right in front of potential customers right when they want to find a workout solution or personal trainer. There’s also the important fact that these people might be customers you would otherwise have no access to, and they might go to a competitor.

Search engine marketing involves creating and distributing content relevant to your gym and potential clients. Create content that would interest your customers and makes you – and your gym – come across as an expert. You are an expert after all!

The content should be a mix of things like workouts, ideas for meal plans, and photos and videos of exercises. After producing the content you should push it out onto your social media networks and make use of relevant hashtags and keywords.

It all goes together to tell a search engine that you have a lot of relevance to fitness training, which means that your business will show up higher in Google search results when people search for local gyms and personal trainers.

Note: 9/10 online experiences start with using a search engine, and over two-thirds of customers that perform local searches go to locations within 5 miles of where they live.

Grow Your Gym Through Meaningful Marketing and Action

It is important that you think proactively about the next strategy you will use – along with how to best communicate the value and benefits of your services to ideal customers.

All too often a promotional or marketing campaign is focused entirely on bringing in new customers – and they do it well – but without considering, or indeed offering, the kind of long term care and attention needed to retain customers.

The process of marketing your gym or training business is an ongoing one. Surviving in the modern market means building interest and credibility through word-of-mouth, impactful advertising, and – perhaps most importantly – the results and experiences you deliver to clients.

Once you satisfy your customer’s needs, you must continue creating an unforgettable experience in the gym to keep them engaged, committed, and spreading the word.

In a later series we will cover specific strategies and promotions that will instantly drive new business. Check back, and for additional printing and marketing articles, visit
http://www.clashgraphics.com/printing-tips/

Clash Graphics Print Shop Atlanta Flyer Printing

2233 Peachtree Rd NE Ste 202 Atlanta, GA 30309

(678) 235-3464

To view the original version on Clash Graphics, visit: http://www.clashgraphics.com/printing-tips/three-secrets-growing-your-gym-personal-training-business/