When Should You Use Door Hangers?

When beginning any marketing campaign, it is wise to stop and assess which marketing tools are right for your purpose, message, and target market. If door hangers are on your list of possible advertisements, the following list should help you decide if they should be a part of your campaign or not.

You should use door hangers when…

1. Reaching a Specific Target
   Door hangers are great when you to target geographic locations such as your local neighborhoods. Plus, they allow you to reach your target audience directly – in their homes – without the mailing costs associated with direct mail advertisements.
2. Advertising Locally
   One of the best ways to make a personal connection with local customers is through door hangers because you can personally deliver the advertisement. Further create that local vibe by including an image of your store location or a local landmark.
3. Promoting Your Website
   Sometimes it can be difficult letting customers know that you now have a website, or have revamped your website to be more user friendly. Door hangers are a great way to steer customers to your webpage by including a discount that customers can use when they visit you online.
4. Needing Accurate Results
   Door hangers are one of the easiest marketing tools to use for tracking results, especially when you include a perforated discount card that consumers can remove and bring into your store.
5. Wanting Face-to-Face Communication
   Of course, not everyone will be home at the time that you drop off your door hanger, but there’s always the possibility, much more so than with other marketing efforts. Just make sure that if your distributors are qualified to talk to prospects.
6. Advertising Prices
   Placing your prices on door hangers are becoming an expected part of door hanger design. The greatest benefit of including your prices is that all of your calls from interested consumers are pre-qualified.
7. Wanting an Advertisement that Will be Read
   Door hangers have the added benefit of almost always being read. Consumers have to take them off of their doorknobs, and almost no one can resist at least glancing at your offer while walking back inside the house.
8. Including a Double Discount
   Because you know your door hangers will get read, you can take advantage of this benefit and “one-up” your competition by including a double discount. Not only offer to clean your customers’ air duct systems but also include spraying an air freshener in the system for free. Plus…offers such as this really get the attention of consumers and make your services that much more desirable.

Contributor: Anna Cruz

Constructive Criticism and your Graphic Designer

Criticism and critiquing are fine art forms, when properly executed. They can be some of the most beneficial elements used when your graphic designer is creating your logo. Criticism and critique used in the wrong way can also be your project’s greatest detriment.

The most important thing to remember is that criticism in itself is a relative term; something you find unappealing may be another person’s masterpiece. A key point one should always keep in mind when relaying your thoughts, whether good or bad, must always stay positive. Think to yourself, “If I had spent 2 days working on a design would I want someone to flat out say that it was horrible? Probably not.

However, you probably wondering, “How do I give constructive criticism without rewarding uninspired work or giving unstructured, critiques that my designer doesn’t take seriously? The answer is a perfectly administered critique structure.

A good critique structure is essential to getting product you have envisioned:

Always start out on a positive note:
This is key. Remember there is no such thing as “bad art” it’s all subjective and opinion based. Use phrases such as “That’s a good start”, “I see what you tried to do here”, “This is good work”.

Presenting negative points:
Chances are you aren’t the first person to give an artist a negative comment. This is the point of constructive critiquing; one’s art cannot improve without assessment. Negative is “negative” there is no way around it, however, do it in a positive way. Avoid words like “ugly,” “horrible,” “bad,” “worst”.

Be honest and direct:
If you don’t like something say so, but being polite and professional is never a bad thing.

Make it a team effort:
Use phrases like “We need to take a look…” “What we should do is…” Making your designer feel like he is working with you rather than trying to satisfy you will bring a better relationship and in turn a better product.

Give at least one positive point:
Even if you don’t like your designer’s attempt try to find a good aspect. Build the artist up. It never hurts to complement someone on their efforts. Bring out and reinforce the artist’s strong areas.

Always end your conversations with a positive note:
“This draft was good, Keep up the great work”, and “Thank you for your efforts” these will bring confidence to your designer, and with confidence comes better work.

Rapport:
A businesslike yet casual relationship will do wonders for a project. Keep the human element involved, and the results will follow.

Stick to these basic principles and you and your designer
will reap the benefits of awesome graphic design.

Online Ads: Do They Annoy You?

I conducted a mini survey of my clients and colleagues to see where advertising dollars are going. Well, more funds are being allocated to social media and online advertising in the coming months. After reading the August issue of American Marketing Association’s (AMA) Marketing News magazine, I must caution everyone on the online ad methods they use. Based on a survey done by a LinkedIn Research Network/Harris Poll survey, many viewers are not so happy with the online advertising techniques used today. Responders answered the question: “How frustrating are the following characteristics of Internet advertising?”

  

 

When creating your online ads for this fall, use the bells and whistles with caution.

Why Every Business Needs a Brand (Part II)

Main Goals of Branding

• Deliver a clear message of what your company sells or why your product is superior
• Confirm credibility for your company among your target market
• Make an emotional connection, confirming that your product or service is what people want or need
• Establish loyalty with your users to keep them returning
• Create a valuable reputation to maintain a future in business
• Create motivation in a buyer so that they seek your service or product

The key to good branding is to create a thought or image, not only on paper, but in the minds of consumers. I know when I think of fast food or a hamburger; I think of McDonald’s golden arches and can almost taste a Big Mac. McDonalds is another example of excellent branding. They have been a presence in our lives for so long that most all of us even have childhood memories of McDonald’s birthday parties or hanging out after school in the play place. The company has achieved the memory in the minds of consumers, which makes them return to spend their money there. They have used their arches as their image so that when you see them, you also see their product and it causes those memories to be recalled. McDonalds and Nike are well-established companies and their marketing concepts are different from those of a small business, but their brands are well built up over long periods of time.

A company brand exists within the minds of customers, clients, and prospects. If you were to take your entire marketing strategy and add up all its components together, your brand would be the sum of your efforts. A well-established brand is priceless as companies continue to compete for customers, especially in today’s economy. Building a brand does take time, but the investment is worth it since your identity is what will draw customers and clients. Just like the mark on the cowhide, your brand establishes who you are and sets your identity apart from the others. It is your general foundation for your company and is something you would not want to find yourself without.

 

Contributor: Nicole Lee