|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Ah, my very favorite promotional product of all, the refrigerator magnet. They are my favorite, because they are so extremely inexpensive, and extremely effective in getting your company name seen in countless locations.
They don't make the greatest commission for a salesman of advertising specialties, but I can't stop myself from recommending these little beauties first and foremost to my new customers and prospects. And the reason is so simple. They WORK! I've yet to approach anyone in any kind of business where I don't feel that a refrigerator magnet will be effective advertising. Granted, some are more suited than others, but I still maintain that they'd be of use to any business.
Domino's Pizza is notorious for giving out a magnet with deliveries that includes their logo and the phone number of the local store. I worked for Domino's when I was a young guy, as a delivery driver. Often, whenever sales would dip a little, or the manager was bucking for a prize, we would go "door hanging". Boy did these door hangers produce strong results. Inexpensive marketing that had proven itself time and time again. My fellow employees and I would spend time in a "slow" neighborhood, hanging these on the door knobs of as many homes and apartments as we could, and the results would be immediate. Sales would shoot through the roof! If a crew went out "door hanging" you could count on a lot of calls coming in that evening from the area you'd just targeted, for the next 3 days. The problem with these door hangers is, they're paper, and they wind up in the trash, rather quickly.
A refrigerator magnet, almost always ? always winds up on the refrigerator. And there it stays, for a long, long time. What other conventional advertising stays in a home that long? A commercial, printed advertisement, a radio address, nothing ? stays as long as the magnet. And no matter what is put on the fridge, be it your child's neatest drawing of a hairy fire truck, or their lunch menu at school, what's on the very top? The beautiful, blessed magnet sporting YOUR company logo!
Let's say you own a heating and a/c company. You get a call from a referral, or yellow page ad. You show up, fix the problem the customer is happy with the work you've done, the price you charged, and then you or one of your service technicians leaves. Three, or four years go by, and this same customer's a/c breaks down. He says to his wife, "honey, what was the name of that company we used last time?" Who can remember that long ago? Had the customer been left with a refrigerator magnet, had the service tech actually physically went and put it on this customer's fridge the last time he was over, the number would be right there waiting for him. What if this time, he's going to need his complete a/c unit replaced? That's one heck of a sale to miss out on.
Now most men will probably gripe at me for this one, but c'est la vie. Let's say you're a florist. A young teen boy calls to get a mum for his girlfriend for homecoming or a corsage for prom or roses for Valentines. You deliver the item(s) with a refrigerator magnet. Months roll by, and the teen girl's father wakes up and realizes TODAY is his anniversary, and he didn't buy his wife a gift! Trust me; his immediate thought goes to flowers. The old faithful, the default at any time, flowers. He's going to have them delivered to her work. He remembers the "free delivery" comment on the magnet of your shop, and goes right to it. He calls the number and places his order. Without the magnet, he would have called AAAAmanda's Flowers in the yellow pages.
Online businesses can benefit too. Now if promoting a web site, one would immediately think to sell a promotional item that would sit by a computer, but I disagree. If you sent a magnet to an existing customer, it'd wind up on his or her fridge. A friend, family member, or delivery person could see it, and inquire about the site. In addition, magnets will adhere to most automobiles. You can carry them around with you, and put them on cars, for focused advertising. I have one client that does this, he's in real estate. Often he'll stop by a prospect's home, and if no one answers the door, yet a car is in the driveway, he puts a magnet on the car as he leaves. It's produced positive results for him, he says. And he's gotten word of mouth advertising from those people as well. I'd be willing to bet that it came from friends and family seeing the magnet on the former customer's refrigerator, or toolbox, beer keg cooler, etc.
In my opinion, no business is unable to benefit from this item. So if you own a company and you're looking to advertise, consider the refrigerator magnet. They're inexpensive, and last a long, long time. Plus the Dominos one on your fridge is lonely, I'm sure.
Need content? You may use this article at your website, or in your newsletter. The only requirement is inclusion of the following sentence - Article by Kirk Otto of http://www.MakeYourCompanyVisible.com - a premiere source for promotional advertising products.
What if you can understand and control your customer's mind?... Read More
In the world of advertising there are many forms of... Read More
The internet offers you the opportunity to seek out jingle... Read More
Digital printing has revolutionized the sign industry. Current printers can... Read More
The most common way to drive people to your business... Read More
Swapping business cards is one of the most basic and... Read More
An effective way to gain company recognition is to order... Read More
The ability to lead, persuade and influence are integral skills... Read More
Here is my personal list of things to do at... Read More
CD Business cards are the electronic version of the now... Read More
To bring great sales success, a great advertising technique is... Read More
Many home improvement contractors attempt to use advertising to expand... Read More
From my experience, I've been on many discussion groups and... Read More
When you spend money on an advertisement you want to... Read More
People say it all the time: "This advertising costs too... Read More
Is your advertising copy getting the results you want? If... Read More
What I'm about to reveal are myths that most people... Read More
Different Types of Station ContactReaching radio hosts (for the purpose... Read More
What's the cheapest, most under-used marketing tool you have?The answer's... Read More
We are bombarded with thousands of marketing messages daily?on television... Read More
When people discover my background in advertising, the questions flow.... Read More
Business cards are one of the most powerful and inexpensive... Read More
We're surrounded by advertisements that desperately compete for our attention.... Read More
1. You can get ad copy ideas by studying similar... Read More
The content of advertising is basically the same no matter... Read More
Typical methods of advertising-newspapers, radio and television are effective if... Read More
I did a quick, very unscientific survey of 25 of... Read More
1. Give Testimonials When you purchase a product or service... Read More
Having a quality brochure makes a positive impression on a... Read More
Most of us have seen at least a dozen different... Read More
The ability to lead, persuade and influence are integral skills... Read More
In part one of this article we discussed the importance... Read More
The decision on whether or not someone will read your... Read More
Mail order is a very complicated business. Every phase must... Read More
Swapping business cards is one of the most basic and... Read More
"The more things change, the more they stay the same".... Read More
I promise you'll be able to finish this article before... Read More
As I was searching through a kitchen drawer the other... Read More
Here's a neat trick to get lots of radio advertisement... Read More
To promote the audience, staff, customers and other people the... Read More
1. Give your customers a discount when they spend over... Read More
The internet offers you the opportunity to seek out jingle... Read More
As technology continues to improve, the quality of digital prints... Read More
Push vs. Pull Advertising - Understand the Consequences for your... Read More
Good Advertising creates more production, thus greater consumption, faster turnover... Read More
Solution: You can protect yourself by partnering with other lead... Read More
Moving Message Signs are a unique, attention-grabbing way to communicate... Read More
I suspect that everyone has an idea of what lamination... Read More
This is the third article of a three-part series. I'm... Read More
If you own a mobile detailing business or mobile car... Read More
Advertising Advertising |