Be Grateful and Grow Your Business
With Covid pushing tradeshows and other in-person meeting in hiatus, making a physical impression with your clients has become more difficult. Large-scale, multi-channel advertising or other marketing campaigns may be out of reach for your company, but you can still gain brand awareness with a simple, well-chosen gifting strategy. The cost is reasonable, and the impact is very high.
Greater Exposure
Much of the advertising found on today's media comes and goes in a matter of seconds. By contrast, a gifting program can be very affordable and offers an excellent return on investment. With a program centred around practical items, you ensure your customers will see your logo regularly. Every time they sip their coffee, put on their jacket or use one of your pens –these items increase your business exposure daily.
Customer Loyalty
When's the last time you thanked your clients for their continued support? One of the easiest ways to thank them for their support, especially during Covid, is to give them a gift. A premium product is an excellent way to impress these loyal clients while creating long-lasting impressions. Compared to their existing sales or, more importantly, potential sales volume loss, the low cost of gifting makes this a good investment.
Covid Appreciation
Do you have employees that worked longer and harder with reduced staffing to help you make it through Covid? How about customers that showed their loyalty to you during this trying year when competitors were trying harder than ever to take away your business? There is a wide range of gifts to be considered as a thank you. Clothing for staff "we survived"is popular. Gifting clients with a long-lasting gift such as a Bluetooth speaker (we heard your needs and responded.) A more expensive gift might recognize for high-volume customers might mark a sales benchmark or overall contribution to your success.
Brand Recognition
A gifting program helps your customers remember and recognize your business. In a recent survey, 89% of consumers could recall the name or logo of a product they received. Having branded gifts sitting in your customer's office, car, or home will serve as an ongoing reminder of how you appreciated their support and the products and services you provide.
Where to start?
You can begin by assembling a list of your top customers and the revenue that they bring to your company. From this, you may split them into several gift levels to recognize sales volume or other significant contributions to your success. For example, one popular gift is a Mont Blanc pen when signing a new contract.
One of the best resources for creating a gifting program is your Exhibit Company. They will have an expert able to develop your gifting program strategy, answer any questions, and source solutions from multiple vendors.
Be grateful and reap the benefits of improved customer relationships!
Written by Brian Keobke, a 30 year veteran of the exhibit industry and can be contacted for more information or advice on setting up your own gifting program at brian@xibita.com or exhibitadvice@telus.net