Marketing Schedule Templates 2016

Here is a marketing schedule you can use as reference for holidays ideas on when to mail, email, and send promotional products to clients and prospects.

You can use holidays celebration as a reason to reach to clients and prospects, here are some ideas:

• Update your website colors to pink during breast cancer month in October to show your support.
• Order some fun promotional products for “employees appreciation day” to say thank you.
• Send clients and prospects greeting cards during the holidays.
• Print sports related promotional products for tradeshow attendance during sports seasons.

There are so many ways to use holidays as a platform to reach out and stay in front of customers and potential customers.

 

5 Laws of Social Media Marketing

There is no arguing that social media has completely changed the way that we operate in today’s world. Everything from reaching customers, to dating, keeping in touch with family and reading the news has all been impacted by this new form of social interaction. With hundreds of millions of people using social media every day, it is extremely difficult to stand out on any of these platforms. However, a strong social media presence is essential for any company to thrive in today’s market. Here are five steps to boost your company’s online exposure.

1. Be Patient
   Social media is not an overnight achievement, it’s a process that will take time but will be worth it. Even if you feel you don’t have the time, make at least 30min daily to work on your social media presence. Some think that in 2015 social media is an option in business, if you are one of these people you are wrong. In a world of technology your clients and prospect are all connected to at least one form of social media and if you don’t stay connected with them online your competition will.
2.  Listen and Interact
   You cannot open a social media account just for the sake of having it. There is nothing worst but for people to advertise their social media pages on their website and when clicked on to find it has not been updated for the past 2 years! So before creating an account make sure you are ready to schedule time to participate on your social accounts. After all it is called “SOCIAL media” which implies that you need to be social and interact with your followers. Social media is not only about posting but also replying and “talking” to your audience. Find your voice, be authentic and just socialize (in a professional manner of course).
3. Share your Expertise
   Social media is the place to show your value as an expert in your field and shine. You should not only repost and share valuable content from others but most importantly share your expertise. The content should be related to your business as well as being helpful to your audience. By sharing valuable information your followers will want to share it with others and you will grow your online exposure.
4. Be Consistent
   Consistency is key! You cannot be socially active once a year and disappear. You need to post a minimum of once a week and for certain channels such as Twitter that is too low. You have to create a post pattern that your followers can get behind and know when to expect to hear from you.
5. The 80/20 Rule
   Your social media post should not be constant price information about your products, people will get turned off and move on. People are looking for value and fun, interesting content to either learn something or have a laugh. Make most of your posts valuable and only 1 out of 4 posts should be “sale” related. Put yourself in your audience’s shoes and how you would feel about being bombarded with “sales” posts from a company constantly.

It’s vital that you understand social media marketing fundamentals. From maximizing quality to increasing your online entry points, abiding by these laws will help build a foundation that will serve your customers, your brand and — perhaps most importantly — your bottom line.

Capucine Rismay
Top Class Signs and Printing
www.topclassprinting.com

Why do I need flyers or postcards for my business?

Flyers and postcards are a very inexpensive way to market your business and if you well done can be effective. Here is 9 ways you can use a flyer:

1. Menu
   For restaurants a menu is a good way to advertise your business. It is an inexpensive mandatory printed material and makes a great “take out menu“. When printing your menu on a cardstock flyer it is all in the design, because you printed a cheap flyer doesn’t mean it has to look cheap! Save on the printing cost and hire a professional graphic designer (Top Class offers this service), visuals are very important in the food industry.
   

   Menu flyer

2. Coupon
   A flyer makes a great coupon and if done properly will pay for itself with the new business it will bring in. Design the flyer to have an offer as well as all your contact information. The last thing you want to send out a great deal and the client or prospect have no idea where you are located or how to contact you. The offer could be a fixed number or a percentage off.
   

   Coupon flyer

3. Product Information
   Use a full color flyer for product information which you can display in your store, use at tradeshows, leave at other locations, and/or distribute to clients and prospects. For a product information card images are very important as well as a good description of the product or service in order to be effective.
   

   Product information flyer

4. Invitations
   There is no more inexpensive way to print a full color invitation then a flyer. Invite customers and prospects to your locations as often as you can. Use the flyer to drop off in stores around your community and at your business to hand out to customers and future customers.
   

   Invitation flyer

5. Opening a New Business
   You have taken a leap of faith and are now opening your business, congratulations! The only problem is that if no one else knows it is not very good. Create a “We are open” flyer to hand out to friends and people in the community; let as many people know about your new business!
   

   New business opening flyer

6. Postcard
   You can use a flyer as a full color postcard to mail to customers and prospects as often as you can. It is a very effective and affordable way to communicate to a group of people efficiently without breaking the bank. Of course this requires a budget for the mailing service as well.
   

   Full color custom postcard

7. Events
   You can print cheap flyers either for parties and nightclubs but also for corporate events. Whether you are having an open house, a block party, a charity event, a tradeshow, or any other event a full color printed flyer is a must. If it is also within your budget make sure you use advertise your events with a mailer as well.
   

   Invitation flyer

8. Mailer
   Commercial printing allows you to send out cheap flyers as often as possible without much labor on your part. In our days it is just a matter of including a mailing label within the graphic design and voila! A mailer only requires you to work on the content of your flyer, take advantage of it.
   

   Mailer flyer

   

   Custom mailer postcard

9. EDDM (Every Door Direct Mail)
   An EDDM is all in the design and most commercial printers can handle the service (Top Class offers this service). Use your Every Door Direct Mail to communicate specials, new products or new services and events to your community.
   

   EDDM flyer

These are only nine ways to use a full color custom flyer, but there are so many more ideas and options. Just make sure to incorporate flyers in your marketing strategy as often as possible. Contact us for your future marketing needs.

Disclaimer: The images on this page are not owned by Top Class Signs and Printing and are used solely as a design example.

Capucine Rismay

How to use hang tags for your business and personal needs

When people think of “hang tags” they picture clothes, but with a little creativity a hang tag can become so much more.

christmas hangtags

• Apparel Hang Tags

Of course you can use a custom full color hang tag to brand your apparel line. You can either use it as a form of branding with your logo, website, and phone number (or just logo for bigger brands like Levis), you can add a serial number for inventory purpose, and/or you can use it as a care tag. Whichever way you choose to go a hang tag is a must for any apparel brand. Hang tags usually come in standard basic shapes such as a square or a rectangle, but you can also customize your hang tag into any shape you want by getting a die cut hangtag. A full color custom die cut hang tag can be cut in the shape of your logo, mascot, or anything you want and is a great inexpensive way to reinforce your brand.

Fahion- Apparel Hangtags

Fashion line- Apparel Hang tags

• Business Hang Tags

Hangtags are a great and affordable way to brand and market your business. There are many ways you can use a full color custom hangtag in your business.

Gifting- The best business use for business hang tags is gifting tags! You can use the hang
tags for any occasion and for a very small investment it makes your marketing and brand
stand out and shine. You are having a business open house and are giving away goodies,
make it look better with your custom hang tag. You can use it on tradeshow and raffle
giveaways or during your holidays business gifting. The hangtag can be customized
in the shape of your logo just to make it that much more impressive.

Holidays Hangtags

Holidays hang tags

Product Information- Display items in your showroom with hang tags by adding product
descriptions on one side of the tag. Use the custom hang tag to display discount items in a
more professional way.

Like any printed marketing material it is all in the design of the hangtag. Design your hang tag with your company’s information on one side, but basic only, and maybe a coupon on the other side custom with the tradeshow or event you are exhibiting at. Design it with a holiday background and use the tags as holiday’s thank you cards to personalize your business holiday gifts. If you are using it for an open house just attach it to your party favors with your company’s information on one side and details about your business open house on the other side.

Thank you hang tags

Gifting hang tags- Bottle hang tag

• Personal Hang Tags

Hang tags are also perfect for all your personal celebrations in life. Use a custom hangtag for all you events gifting such as weddings, Christmas, birthdays, bar mitzvahs and bat mitzvahs, baby showers, parties, and more. A custom hang tags is much nicer than your generic tag from the store and won’t break the bank. Tie your customized hang tag to your guest party favors or your gifts. Full color hang tags are also great for craft hand made goods.

craft hand made goods hang tags – jar hang tags

Guest favor party hang tags

Recipes hang tags

Holidays- Christmas Hang Tags

The usage for your hang tags is versatile and like any printing materials it varies based on your graphic design. Design your hang tag to reinforce your brand if you are using it for business and if you are using it for personal purpose design your hang tags to match the theme of your event. No matter what occasion or purpose you have for your custom hang tags there are an affordable way to wow its recipient and make you look good!

Top Class Signs and Printing offers square hang tags and rectangular hang tags as standard shapes. We also offer various shape hangtags such as leaf tags shape, circle hang tags, oval hang tags, round corner hang tags and more. Top Class also offers custom die cut hang tags with can be customized to any shape. Our smaller quantities hang tags are printed on 12PT gloss cover or 100lb smooth cover paper. Our hangtags over 500qt are printed on 14PT UV or 14PT low gloss paper. All our hang tags are printed in full color on two sides with your own custom graphic design and come is various sizes. Call us and get your custom hang tags starting as low as $0.023 per hang tags only! For custom paper stock hang tags call us and we will give you a free quote.

Die cut hang tags

Disclaimer: The images on this page are not owned by Top Class Signs and Printing and are used solely as a design example.

Capucine Rismay

Cold Calling 101

Before cold calling

1. Plan Ahead
   Who will you be calling? When will you be placing your calls? These are questions you should answer the day before you make the calls. I advise starting out by blocking out at least an hour every day for cold calls and sticking to that regular routine.

2. Investigate Before You Call
   It may seem tedious, but doing homework on the person you’re calling will make a huge difference. This can be as simple as doing a Google search on the company or looking up the prospect on LinkedIn. Learn about your prospect’s business needs first, so you can more effectively tailor your pitch. “People don’t care about you, all they care about is what you can do for them.”

3. Practice! Practice! Practice!
   I recommend recording your pitch and listening to it repeatedly, so you can spot problems and correct them. Also keep practicing until your main points become second nature. Make your cold call selection based upon how “hot” the leads are. If they’re streaming in from your web site ALWAYS make those calls first. For other leads on your list, call the most recently-harvested ones first.

4. Schedule
           Block out time to make your cold calls sales in the early morning or late afternoon, preferably on Thursday, but avoiding Fridays- specially Friday afternoon.

Now that you are ready!

6. Seek Out a Personal Connection
   Whether through online research or during the phone call itself, you should try to find a personal connection with your prospects.

7. Get Information Before You Give It
   You should ask lots of questions during the call rather than immediately try to sell your product or service. Always write down information so you can get back to it later and use it to work the leads.

8. Adapt
   Get focused on being effective when you cold call. Make sure you adapt your pitch based on the person you are calling  and the flow of the conversation.

9. Keep Records
   Keep a record of your success rate. You may find that your industry or region differs. And consider your own rhythms: If   you’re a night person rather than a morning person, you may get a better response calling late afternoon than early morning. You want to keep records tracking who you called, when you called them and how many of those calls resulted in appointments. Measuring your progress will not only keep you organized, it will also give you a sense of accomplishment. While a call might not result in an immediate sale, you can always get something positive out of it even if it’s just more information about the company or person. Write it all down because it might prove useful if there’s an opportunity for a follow-up call.

10. Persistence!
    Don’t give up! Sales reps need to make between six to nine phone calls before they stop. Sadly, the majority of sales reps out there are only making one to two calls per lead before calling it quits. The contact ratio is between 10 and 11 percent, with that in mind the sales rep who is making only one or two calls is only going to reach 10 to 20 percent of the leads.

Timing is everything with cold call sales

Dr. James Oldroyd from the Kellogg School of Management recently examined the electronic logs of more than a million cold calls, made by thousands of sales professionals inside around 50 companies. He then applied statistical measurements to extract patterns of success and failure.

In the study, Thursday was the best day to contact a lead in order to qualify that lead. Contrary to traditional thinking with cold call sales, Tuesday and Wednesday ranked second and third, respectively. Thursday was almost 20% better than Friday, which was the worst day of all. Apparently B2B prospects are easier to reach on Thursday, and more willing to talk, because the week is winding down and they tend to be more relaxed.

Best time of day for cold call sales?

4 to 6pm is the best time to call to make contact with a lead (by 114% over the worst time block). 8-9am and 4-5pm are the best times to call to qualify a lead (by 164% better 1-2pm, the worst time of the day). 4-5pm is the best time to contact a lead to qualify over 11-12am by 109%).

Bonus: Phone Number Matters
Try not to call from a 1-800 or a blocked number to increase your chances of your call being answered or returned.

Capucine Rismay
http://www.topclassprinting.com