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7 Marketing Lessons You Can Learn from Football

football

It’s the most wonderful time of the year, and we’re not talking about the holiday season. Instead, we’re talking about the return of a sport that has millions of fans cheering across the country—football.

While you may think that marketers and football players are far from alike, that’s not exactly true. There’s actually a ton to learn from the sport of football. Not a football fan? Relax, because you don’t have to be a mega football fan to understand these marketing tips. Check out these tips and tricks to help you score a marketing touchdown.

  1. Watch the game tape.
    Football teams are notorious for watching game tapes of both their past performances and their upcoming opponent’s past performances. While you likely don’t have a game tape to watch back, you do have intel on what marketing worked in the past and what didn’t. Consult that data when you’re making your marketing decisions to be the best prepared going into your next campaign.
     
  2. There will be times when things don’t go your way.
    We can’t be winners all the time. In the game of football, one team has to come out on top and one will try again next week. In marketing, there will be times when things don’t go your way. Remember that a failure is only a true failure if you don’t learn from it. 
     
  3. Not every drive is going to be a touchdown.
    Good things take time. In football, it wouldn’t be a very good game if each time the team got the ball, they scored a touchdown. Remember that good things take time, much like your marketing efforts. Take time to develop a marketing campaign that will work for your business instead of rushing it in hopes to score big. 
     
  4. Teamwork makes the dream work.
    Football relies heavily on an entire team. You have offensive players, defensive players, the kickoff team and more. While you may be tempted to try to do everything yourself with your marketing campaigns, you’ll go much further and faster with the help of your team. Don’t be afraid to delegate with your marketing efforts! 
     
  5. You have to switch it up sometimes.
    What worked last time may not work again if you continue to do the same things over and over again. In football, running the same plays would be an easy way to be stopped by the opposing team. In marketing, doing the same thing time and time again becomes stale for your recipients. Mix it up with a fancy new direct mail piece or a fun banner that greets your customers when they walk in your storefront. 
     
  6. Leverage your biggest supporters.
    Football has fans and so does your brand. The people in the front row at the games are normally also the ones who are telling their friends about their team, sporting the team colors and logos and yelling the loudest. Find your biggest supporters and ask them to help spread the word for your business. Give them branded swag that they’ll wear to help gather more supporters. Ask them to leave you a review. Start a referral program and ask your biggest fans to help spread the word!
     
  7. Sometimes you have to throw a Hail Mary.
    Go big or go home. Sometimes it pays off to throw a long pass, high up in the air, with the hopes that your teammate will catch the ball down field and score. Likewise in marketing, sometimes it pays off to go for a big idea that’s out of the box. Branch out with something you haven’t tried before, like a vehicle wrap, a brand new event or anything new you can think of. Who knows? It could be the next best marketing campaign you’ve ever produced.

While marketing and football are vastly different, there’s a ton of common ground to be found. Next time you’re watching the big game, remember to take note.

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Strategic Signage Placement to Maximize Your Investment

strategic signage placement

Having a great sign is one of the most important things your business needs if you operate out of a brick-and-mortar location. Even if you don’t have a permanent physical location to display your sign, you can effectively promote your business by posting up in an area your target demographic frequents or bring portable signage with you to the tradeshows and events you attend. In addition to your main sign, there are so many ways you can use secondary signage to draw attention to your business. Strategic placement is key to making sure you get the most out of your investment.

To learn more about the options you have for strategic signage placement, check out our advice below!

For Strategic Signage Placement Outdoors Try:

1.    Along the street

The average person spends several hours driving their car every month, which makes advertising along major roadways a smart place to advertise your business. Advertising on the side of the road can be an effective way to get people to come visit your location since they are already mobile in their vehicles and can easily take a detour if they have the time. Additionally, commuters who regularly frequent the area where your signs are noticeable will be very likely to remember your business when they need your services.

2.    Nearby other billboards and signs

Billboards can be very expensive to rent yourself but that doesn’t mean that you can’t take advantage of the attention they draw. By setting up your signs near these focal points, you can get noticed since so many people will be looking in that direction to begin with. If you decide to put up a large sign, make sure it is not far from your actual location so that its easy for drivers to a) find and b) pull over and pay you a visit.

3.    In front of your shop location

It goes without saying that your shop should have a sign directly out in front of it. This is part of good branding, which reinforces the experience you want your clients and customers to remember when they walk in the door. In addition to your main storefront sign you can use something called a blade sign, which projects out of the side of a building to make its entrance noticeable from different angles.

4.    In the parking lot

This is a great idea especially if your location is in a shared parking lot with other businesses. Having signage here will help visitors find you and advertise your presence to other shoppers in the area.

For Strategic Signage Placement Indoors Try

1.    Along walls

Having signs on your walls is a great way to call attention to specific products you offer. Indoor signage can also assist in branding by creating an atmosphere that can be seasonally altered or changed depending on current products and campaigns. Working with a graphic designer to create eye catching designs will elevate your style and help you achieve the look you have in mind.

2.    Behind a reception desk

Your reception desk is likely a focal point in your space, so posting signage here that you want people to pay particular attention to makes a lot a sense. This is a great spot for informational signs that will guide people through the purchasing process, or to upsell them by showcasing available upgrades as they are nearing the end of their in–store experience.  

3.    In windows

Windows are great additional space you have at your disposal to feature signage. Often a front window may even be bigger than the space you have for your main storefront sign, so use it to make your location even more identifiable to passerby. With our decals you can easily remove and switch your window signage as often as you want without damaging the glass, making them a great signage option.

Things to keep in mind

Size

Your signage needs to be relative to the scale surrounding it. You wouldn’t use a sticky note as a poster on large wall, would you? The same principle applies here. Make sure you take measurements before placing your order, things can turn out different than you expected if you aren’t careful. A pro tip is to use a blank sheet of paper and post it on your desired location to visualize what the size of your sign will look like in person.

Legibility

What looks great up close on your computer screen may not translate so effortlessly to a banner or printed sign. Its important to be mindful of design principles when coming up with your signs to make sure they are easy to understand up close and from a distance. Check out this blog to learn more about improving design legibility.

Weather

If your sign will be placed outdoors it needs to be able to stand up to the elements. Rain, snow, hail, and sun all take their toll on the materials you use so investing in high quality materials makes the effort of creating and putting up a sign worth it.

Permitting

The last thing you want after you’ve designed, created, and strategically placed your signs is to find out that you’ve received a ticket or had your signs taken down. Some areas require special permitting from the city to be able to post signs without running into any trouble. Be sure to look into the rules for your specific region to make sure you can display your signs where you would like them.

Mounting

To prevent your signs from blowing away in the wind or peeling off after a rainy spring day, you need to use the appropriate mounting strategy for your conditions. Some signs will require a sturdy frame if they are rather large or heavy, while others don’t need as intensive structural support. If the goal is portability, mounting your sign on a sandwich board (aka an A-frame) could be the perfect solution. Check out our product offerings to learn more about available options.

Conclusion

Now that you know how to use strategic signage placement to your advantage, its time to start planning out your designs! Contact us today to chat with a graphic designer or to place your signage order today.

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Print For All Your Business Locations Made Easy

Multiple Business Locations

Do you have multiple business locations? If you are like most businesses, your company probably relies on printed material for several important aspects of business. When you add up all the internal documents such as labels, tags, business cards, envelopes, time sheets, PLUS external items like invoices, order forms, catalogues, and marketing materials, that’s a lot of printing!

While that is plenty enough to keep track of for one location, what happens when you have multiple business locations? Printing correct addresses on materials that require contact information is only part of the equation. The next important thing is to make sure materials get restocked to the right place and then keep track of supplies at each location to make sure you never run out.

Here at Minuteman Press Calgary Shepard, we know how much of a headache this can be and want to help take the stress off your back. By choosing us to help you manage your regular printing, you’ll reap benefits in these 4 ways:

1.   Take the stress out of managing your stock at multiple business locations

Once you get set up with us, we’ll get you on a re-order plan. This way, your order is timed to recognize when your supply may be running low at your multiple business locations. Keeping track of what you need and where you need it has never been easier!

And don’t worry about receiving excess stock, we’ll always confirm your order before printing to make sure you are only getting what you need. We simplify the stocking process by allowing you to order for your multiple locations and needs all in one place.

2.   Get consistent results every time

One of the challenges of managing a business that has multiple business locations is maintaining uniformity. You need your materials to be consistent with your brand at every location. Thanks to your strong branding, customers and clients come to expect a similar experience whether they visit you in the NW or in the SW of the city, or anywhere in Canada.

Having consistent branding across your materials can also help create a unified corporate culture across all your office locations. When you source your print materials from Minuteman Press Calgary Shepard, you can count on us to be consistent in quality, style, and service every time.

3.   Take off your delivery driver hat!

We can deliver materials to all your multiple business locations, so you don’t have to worry about chauffeuring your supplies. Your delivery will be planned to arrive exactly when you need it. By taking this step out of the equation, you can focus on your other important jobs. You have better things to do than spend your time running errands all over the city, so let us take care of the hassle!

4.   Merchandising made easy at multiple business locations

You can trust Minuteman Press Calgary Shepard to get all your locations the materials they need. We’ll remember the specific details like how many windows each location has for decals, whether or not a large or extra-large banner is needed to fill the space on your location’s walls, and which locations have a space outside to display additional signage.

We know how important it is to merchandise effectively in all your locations to attract customers, brand your space, and promote your products. With our help we will make sure every one of your locations looks professional and presentable.

Conclusion

Are you ready to level up your productivity? Take advantage of our amazing print services for businesses with multiple locations! Our expertise can help you with product displays, store design, and merchandising strategy. Don’t wait another day to enjoy the perks we offer, contact us today for more information!

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Best Friends: Direct and Digital Marketing Better Together

Direct and Digital

Remember when a self addressed stamped envelope was a thing? Or when your utility bill included a return envelope every month? Or when you stopped to buy a magazine and a torrential rain of advertising postcards fell to your feet? With the growth of digital marketing a reliance on business direct response return mail has diminished significantly – as much as 75% less usage than 5 years ago. New and more easily trace-able alternatives (we bet you cannot go a day without seeing at least one QR Code) have taken their place. Direct and digital marketing are best when hanging out with each other. They are best together, positively impacting your overall efforts.

Starting with a direct mail piece, it is end goal is to incite a positive action from the recipient. For decades, which meant a successful return of business return mail (BRM) or phone call (or dare we say…a fax response). With the advent of digital options like email and web URLs, benefits to both the business and the customer became evident. The ability for faster responses allows businesses to generate revenue faster and gain quick insights about their direct and digital marketing. This in turn leads to improvements and even more revenue. The limited speed of BRMs meant marketing campaigns could not react to positive or negative trends quickly. Improvements to marketing campaigns can still be made over time – which sometimes was measured in months. From your customer’s perspective, direct and digital working together means a faster fulfillment of their purchase making them happier.

Alternative Response Tools

It is obvious you want more revenue and happier customers. So, what tools should you use to maximize your direct and digital marketing relationship? You want to send the right message to the right person at the right time in the right medium. Here is a breakdown of response options that allow direct and digital marketing to work hand in hand.

Websites and Landing Pages

Have your mailer’s call-to-action (CTA) point to a website or web landing page. Effective websites are engaging, educational and, if built correctly, direct traffic. A landing page is helpful for campaign-wide communications consistency.

Pro tip: Keep the URL short. A printed piece does not have the same interaction of simply clicking a link. Your recipient must manually type in the address so the shorter the better. Or better yet…

QR code

Although they have been in use for over a decade, it seems like marketers have only recently figured out how to use them effectively. QR codes are the friendship bracelet between your direct and digital tactics. Recipients point their phone at your direct mailer or printed piece and have instant access to any landing page of your choosing for more information or to instantly make a purchase.

Pro tip: You can custom design the square. It does not have to only be a series of squares in each pattern. Imagery and colour elements can spruce it up with your branding

PURLs

A PURL is a personalized landing page specific to your recipient. It provides a “wow” factor by presenting info you already know to your recipients when they arrive at their own landing page. When they arrive, not only does the PURL address them by name, but leverages any other data – and associated copy and imagery – to create a memorable 1-to-1 experience and/or offer.

Pro-tip: A PURL can be a vanity URL such as sending Tony Stark a mailer with the CTA pointing her to www.yourcompany.com/tony99. Like above, it can be a QR Code or custom QR pointing specifically to Tony’s unique page.

Social Media

In your business, you want to engage potential customers wherever they are. And your branding needs to be consistent wherever they see it. Using a CTA that calls out to your social media pages can be a useful tool. Use social tags, callouts and icons on your mailers and printed pieces to tie your overall direct and digital marketing tactics together.

Pro tip: You can use your direct mail campaign for its lead generating purpose but also to gain more online followers. Your CTA can include a main promotion and a secondary – possibly more enticing one – that can only be redeemed by adding/following/connecting to your company on a specific social media site.

App

Your CTA response channel on your direct and digital campaigns can be combined to encourage a recipient to take any desired action you wish. That CTA may be to download an app. You may have a loyalty or rewards program. An app offers a simple but unique brand experience for a recipient to act on a tempting offer when it arrives in the mail.

Pro tip: Your overall success of a campaign can be massively bolstered by its use, but an app takes time to develop. Plan well ahead if you want to add this tool to your direct and digital tool belt.

Email

Email is not new, but it is still a highly effective tool in your multi channel tool belt. Including a personal email address (or a company inbox) as your CTA allows you to gather pertinent information on prospects from a direct mail campaign.

Pro tip: Do not use your “every day” email address on a print or mail piece. First and most important, it becomes difficult or impossible to track the effectiveness of the CTA to the campaign. In all marketing, you want to know what works and what does not. But also, it can bog down your inbox making regular non-marketing response business very cumbersome.

Phone

No list like this would be complete without including the reliable telephone response mechanism. As a response channel, an inbound phone call provides the greatest level of consistency, longevity and universality. Local businesses can show off their local Area Code to portray that they are a friend in the neighbourhood. Or use of 1-800 numbers show you care about the recipients’ time and money; calling you will be simply and free. The phone will continue to work for your business in any sector of the economy.

Pro tip: You can use an alias phone number on any campaign you want. There are companies that provide access to phone numbers for as little as $10 per month that routes to your any of your core numbers. The recipient is unaware their call has been redirected but you gain insight into which campaigns are generating calls or not.

In-person Store Visits

Your mail or print piece, by leveraging both direct and digital advantages together can assist your brick-and-mortar foot traffic objectives. You can use a tried-and-true map on your collateral or better yet…you can use a QR code and link them directly to Google Maps and they will have instantaneous instructions of how to get to your location.

Pro tip: If you have multiple locations, you can use variable data on the direct mail piece changing the closest store details (address, location, URL, QR code, physical map) on the printed piece based on postal code.

You Need To Be Where Your Customers Are

Today more than ever, you need to ensure your marketing investments get the most bang for the buck. You want to allocate those dollars into media channels with greatest proven results. But your customers spend time in several places – online and offline – at the same time. It is prudent to maximize impact by running your campaigns across as many direct and digital channels as you can afford to.

A 2020 USPS Delivers survey revealed that direct mail encourages action directing recipients to:

  • Website visits – 77%
  • Purchases – 64%
  • Program signups – 56%
  • Store visits – 53%
  • App downloads – 53%

Post-Press

Direct and digital marketing, working together. This is your business’ power couple. Are you using them both together effectively? Don’t know?  Looking for a local company that can help you design, produce, and print impactful direct marketing response-driving collateral that stands out from the rest? Let Minuteman Press Calgary Shepard handle your project from start to finish. We will even handle the execution of the mail campaign, ensuring you maximize your postage spend, sending it off precisely to the homes or businesses of your choice. Ready to get started? Request a Quote today to learn more!

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Do’s And Don’ts For Your Trade Show Marketing In 2022 

trade show marketing

While trade show marketing still exists in the current digital environment we are in, it is so much better in person.

Once everything settles down again and COVID-19 is defeated, participating in a trade show or conference will once again be a key marketing tactic for businesses like yours. Trade shows specifically provide you with plenty of public exposure, while also helping you create meaningful contacts with consumers who are interested in your offering and your industry. [Click here for a list of Calgary trade shows coming up in 2022.] You should learn how to use trade show marketing to effectively elevate their trade show experience. 

Custom trade show marketing promotes your business before, during and after the tradeshow itself. It requires an investment of time and money but unlike other marketing strategies, trade shows put you directly in front of potential buy-ready customers and partners in a dynamic environment. Keep reading for the do’s and don’ts to to find trade show success this year!

Do’s

1. Use trade show marketing to advertise involvement prior to show 

Organizations with booths at trade shows can use trade show marketing to send out advertisements to key customers to generate interest in the event. Businesses can use printing services to create a wide array of ads, such as flyers and posters.

Banners can also be made to advertise the event to motorists. Increasing awareness about the trade show can help generate more traffic for the conference, which in turn can expose more consumers to the company’s brand. 

2. Use trade show marketing materials to maintain high visibility 

Trade shows are popular, crowded events where stalls without proper promotional materials can fade into the background. Attending corporations can ensure they stay noticed throughout the show by investing in signs that boost their visibility. Banners and flags displaying the company name and logo can be placed in front of the booth to allow organizations to flaunt their brand to passing guests. 

3. Provide incentives for attendees to visit company booths 

Businesses should give people a reason to stop by the booth when attending a trade show. Printers like Minuteman Press Calgary Shepard can assist you in designing promotional products that attract consumer attention while creating positive interactions with the organization. Giving guests free branded items like T-shirts, water bottles, notepads, and pens is a classic trade show marketing technique that can make a lasting impression on potential customers. 

Don’ts 

Attending conferences and trade shows can offer businesses a chance to meet and connect with potential customers. It also makes a strong impression on the community. However, there are three main mistakes companies should avoid when participating in festivals. 

1. Trade show marketing with absence of logo incorporation at the booth

An organization’s logo is the face of its brand, making it crucial to showcase the symbol at the event to increase brand familiarity. A business lacking a logo – and a n overall cohesive identity – is not easily differentiated from other booths at the trade show. It will be less memorable.

Companies can use printing services to create eye-catching signs for the event that proudly display their symbol. Organizations can accentuate their logo by adding color to their banners. 

2. No forms of consumer engagement 

Businesses should have a plan for attracting consumers to their booths through some form of visitor interaction. Offering promotional products to people who stop by the booth, for example, will leave a lasting impression on the recipient. Organizations can give out event-appropriate items to increase the effectiveness of their ad specialties, such as gifting branded water bottles or caps during athletic events. 

3. Lack of networking with booth visitors 

Trade shows are the perfect opportunity to grow a company’s list of contacts. You can use business card printing to make customized cards visitors may take from the booth.

Organizations with newsletters and text-based promotions can bring signup sheets and pens to the event to increase their number of subscribers. 

Post Press 

Understanding how to avoid the above three mistakes will allow businesses to elevate their event-going experience while attracting more attention to their booth and brand.  The best printed items for trade shows include booth displays, handouts – brochures, posters, pens, notepads, presentation folders, booklets, etc. And don’t forget your business cards. To see our full array of trade show marketing products and request a quote, click here. 

Reach out to Minuteman Press Calgary Shepard. We can help with creative design aspects as well as developing an in-depth marketing plan to make sure your efforts pay off.

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Turn Your Employees Into Brand Ambassadors

brand ambassador

Your employees are the face of your organization. They are your brand ambassadors and leave an impression – positive or negative – with everyone they interact with. They are on the frontline interacting with your clients and prospects every day. It is important to your business that they leave a strong, positive lasting impression on everyone they interact with from customers to vendors. To best ensure they are leaving this positive impression, branding is key.

Strategically creating a strong brand starts from within. Is your frontline team acting as brand ambassadors in the way you intended? Your brand reflects your business’ reputation, popularity, visibility and viability in your marketplace. It increases both awareness and resonance distinguishing your organization from its competitors. Your brand also helps to retain and re-up/renew existing customers.

Five tips to turn your employees into brand ambassadors

Brand ambassadorship is too important to leave unwatched in the hands of your team without proper guidance. In order to do all this, you need to establish a shared understanding of your organization’s goals, vision, and mission. Building a successful brand requires an inside-out approach. Provide transparent communication on important news, goals, achievements, and milestones to inspire and motivate your staff. Keep employee experience high from day one.

Similarly, while building a brand with your clients and customers is important, failing to treat your employees as the heart of your organization can harm employee engagement and employer reputation alike. Have you created a common culture and an environment where people love to work through a strong brand? Four key ways to do this start with:

  1. Define your direction. Define your values, mission, and vision to provide a clear direction and give your business an identity or purpose with which your staff can identify.
  2. Strengthen staff loyalty. Help people understand why their role is important and how they fit into the overall picture by aligning them with the company purpose. Transcend your staff’s demographical diversity and create a common culture of togetherness and belonging that will make your staff love your organization.
  3. Support your workforce. Bring your most important resources directly to your employees to support them in their daily tasks and make their working lives easier.
  4. Inspire and empower. Encourage your employees to participate in the conversation and provide a direct line to company happenings and important information. Encourage your employees to participate in the company conversation by providing platforms for feedback and discussion.
  5. Make your workforce love your brand. Promote your brand internally through visual and engaging communication channels (not just email).

The concept and definition of your unique branding needs to be established amongst your team from top to bottom to create a meaningful connection to your brand. This will allow your employees to blossom individually but also collectively into brand ambassadors all rowing in the same direction. Once established internally, then you can focus on the outward presentation of your fabulous team…

Three print products to turn employees into brand ambassadors

Professionally designed printed collateral and promotional items can work to showcase your brand ambassadors in the best light. Minuteman Press Calgary Shepard is a print shop after all. Here are three print ideas you can use to help your team stand out embodying your branding goals:

  1. Incorporate branded apparel into your team’s everyday wear. Your team can become a living source of brand exposure by wearing clothing that showcases important brand-related imagery. Shirts, hats, and aprons worn by your brand ambassadors can be custom-made to feature the organization’s logo and color schemes. Any slogans created by the business may also be included on the apparel to familiarize visitors with the brand’s taglines.
    [Tip: Name tags offer a quick and easy opportunity for your brand ambassadors and your prospects to cut through the ice and engage on a personal level more quickly.]
  2. Provide your brand ambassadors with business cards. Your employees may hand their cards out to clients or prospects to promote future interactions with the brand. You should include details on the card such as your organization’s web and social media pages. This will help potential customers locate and connect with your brand online. Offering a business card to a person will also form a more personal connection between the recipient and the employee.
    [Tip: With today’s print technology, most printers can design and create business cards for your entire team – including small volume runs for your team who maybe aren’t on the frontline. It is a great way of showing they are part of a larger team.]
  3. Give your employees custom stationery, forms, presentation folders and/or notebooks to work with. Your brand ambassadors can be provided customized stationery to interact with clientele that includes  your company logo. This offers further employer brand exposure than a non-branded alternative.

Your brand ambassadors have a lasting impact on customers and can improve consumer recognition of a business. Companies can use branded apparel, business cards, and custom stationery to turn their workers into better brand representatives.

Post Press

All businesses should look within for their best opportunity to brand – their employees. Your employees – or brand ambassadors as we have called them throughout this blog – can become your single greatest secret weapon in branding. You can use the above tips assist you in framing how you can leverage this secret weapon most effectively. Don’t know where to start? Contact the team at Minuteman Press Calgary Shepard. 

We Design. We Print. You Profit.

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Unlocking the Key to Vehicle-Based Advertising

Vehicle-based advertising

There are many tactics available to promote your business. Have you ever investigated using the vehicle you drive to and from work every day as a moving billboard? Vehicle based advertising – via wrapping your vehicle, use of decals and incorporating magnets – have become an essential way to advertise your business.

Vehicle-Based Advertising creates Inexpensive Brand Awareness

It is no secret that branding is an all-important component for every business today. Brand recognition occurs both online and offline. That is where vehicle-based advertising can come into play for you. This kind of promotional placement is often seen on fleet, maintenance, and delivery vehicles. Vehicle based advertising delivers memorable and eye-catching graphics and/or images for your business. And it can be used for almost every kind of business imaginable.

Some companies that can most benefit from vehicle-based advertising wrapping include retail, florists, restaurants, pet groomers, IT service companies, accounting firms, realtors, dental offices and so many more.  With a little creativity, you can easily include vehicle-based advertising into your total marketing mix. Maybe your business is such that your vehicle is more like a travelling office. If this describes your business, vehicle-based advertising for you is just one part of a potential marketing business bundle available to you.

Benefits of using Vehicle-Based Advertising for your Business

Below are several worthwhile benefits your business can realize through incorporating vehicle-based advertising as a part of your marketing mix:

  • 24/7/365 promotion – Unlike more expensive forms of media, vehicle wraps work at promoting a business all the time.
  • A Few Dollars a Day – The cost, amortized over time, amounts to only a few dollars per day.
  • Flexible – Vehicle based advertising provides immense latitude for promotion. Partial coverage. Full vehicle coverage. Short-term coverage (decals and magnets are best for this) or long-term displays.
  • Local Targeting – This advertising tactic is ideal for local targeting. Driving your wrapped vehicle in your local geographic service area, parked in front of your business, or viewed in high traffic location all lead to high visibility.

What should you promote on your Vehicle-Based Advertising?

First and foremost, you should showcase a strong brand identity for your business. Businesses can design and customize their vehicles into impactful introductions of their brand. Your company logo and mission statement can be displayed onto the vehicle to familiarize motorists and passersby with key brand identifiers. Customizing the wrap’s color scheme and font style to match visuals in your other marketing tactics will help you consistently represent your style to consumers.

In addition, you should provide necessary information for customers. If your website can be considered your digital business card, then think of vehicle-based advertising as your local roaming business card. Ensure that vessel is easily accessible and includes pertinent details about your business.  Details such as your organization’s website, phone number, email address, and social media pages should be included. This ensures consumers have no trouble reaching you. Companies can also engage with consumers by adding a call to action on their vehicles.

Post Press

Any business can elevate its awareness campaigns by utilizing vehicle-based advertising. Companies can use the above tips to design effective ads for their cars leaving a stronger impact on those who notice the advertising. Awareness turns into trust and consideration. Don’t know where to begin, contact the team at Minuteman Press Calgary Shepard. We Design. We Print. You Profit.

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Custom Calendars Can Keep You Top of Mind All Year!

Custom Calendars

Using a custom calendar to promote your company is a great way to keep customers reminded of your business. Although the digital age has embraced almost every part of our lives – being able to see limitless things on your smartphone – you might ask yourself if the paper calendar still has a place in today’s society? The team at Minuteman Press Calgary Shepard can emphatically say yes. A custom calendar still has a huge place in our daily lives, which makes it an extremely effective promotional item for your business. According to a New York Times study, a staggering 70% of those who receive a custom calendar plan to do business with the giver. As a business, you need to learn how to fit calendars into your marketing strategy. Let’s see how this essential item with creative custom calendar designs can help you increase your conversion rates.

365 Days of Advertising

The advertising dream is to create something that will be noticed and remembered and held onto. Branded custom calendars are a fantastic way to do this and more. How many days or weeks do people hold onto a brochure? A flyer or pamphlet may seem interesting at first, but it will often end up in the trash or drawers where they’ll spend the rest of their lives. With custom calendars, you don’t have to worry about it never seeing the light of day again. People will almost certainly put it in a prominent location where they and other people can look at it constantly. Every time they look at a calendar, which is possibly more than a couple of times a day, they see your brand. If you do a good job on the calendar design, it will generate even more positive feelings.

If that wasn’t enough, after the calendar expires in 12 months, people are also more likely to come back to your business to get another custom calendar. Humans are creatures of habit and we like things that are familiar to us, so your consumers will likely prefer your company’s calendar over others. You want to design original calendars for your customers each year, giving people an incentive to stop by the store. Organizations may also alter their orders to include monthly coupons at the bottom of their calendars. Offering exclusive deals will give consumers another reason to return to the business. With that in mind, make sure you properly plan in advance when you’ll start handing out those freebies. You don’t want your competitors to get to your consumer’s desk or wall first, especially if the design is better than yours.

[Minuteman Press Calgary Shepard team strongly advise you start the custom calendar process now. August and September are perfect months to start your design and ordering of custom calendars. Contact us to get started today. Although it is never too late as they can be gifted all year long, the best time to give them away is November and December so start now.]

Customer Loyalty

Are you looking for a way to say thank you to the clients who support your company? Creating custom calendars can be a great method to reward those who have helped your company grow. From large purchases to frequent visits or even referrals, expressing your gratitude can be affordable even on a larger scale when you choose custom printed calendars. Or how about giving them out to people new to your business as a show of appreciation that will help them remember who they visited even later in the year when they might otherwise forget. Whatever the reason, creating a custom yet practical item like calendars for your business can be an awesome way to say thank you and increase customer loyalty at the same time.

A Gift That Keeps on Giving

Investing your advertising budget on a custom calendar in addition to flyers or social media will get you the trust of your consumers. Your customers perceive the free calendar as a gift, creating a positive feeling toward your brand. In fact, the NY Times study above also shows 82% of the recipients say that they enjoy getting it and even look forward to getting the gift again next year. Conversely, they won’t feel the same level of appreciation seeing you on television or interrupting the Facebook video they’re watching. Furthermore, its ingrained habit that people have to display a calendar somewhere conspicuous. This opens up the possibility of other people seeing your brand and has a physical virality to it. The branded custom calendar proudly hung allows you to reach a demographic that may or may not have heard or considered your brand before seeing it on a friend or family’s property.

Everyone Needs a Calendar

Whether a physical calendar or on their smartphones, calendars are a daily necessity. Sometimes, all we need is a quick look at the wall or at our desk to look at a date without having to get our phones and go through the motions of opening the app. Although buying calendars has waned since the advent of the new technology, it’s still popular among consumers. That’s why it’s an effective promotional item. It caters to the needs of the people supporting your business. Professionals at their office still have one at their desk, and every home could use one hanging on their kitchen wall. It’s a tool that helps people to better manage their time, and it helps greatly if it’s available physically. Some people even deem it to be more effective than to-do lists that people also like to have a physical representation, whether on a notepad or on a physical planner.

Advertising In Their Space

As fun as it would be, you can’t go into people’s work spaces and hang your advertising banner. You can’t log into their website and include your digital ad. A fantastic solution to this is to choose something with a good sized surface area that will have a practical use in the office or home. Almost stealth-like, you can provide a custom calendar as a gift and they will happily hang it (your banner) up in their work space themselves. Branded calendars are a handy solution when looking to create easy to notice advertising that doesn’t come across as unsightly or unwelcome. People might not want a poster of your company where they work and eat, but a custom printed calendar is likely to remain for the entire year.

Calendar Design Up To Your Imagination

As mentioned a handful of times above, calendars are customizable. So, you can design it however you want. You may want to use high-quality glossy materials to make your colourful product photos pop off the page. Or perhaps you would like your customers to be able to write on your calendar to get extra functionality out of it.. Calendars also come in many sizes and types – pocket, desk, wall, jumbo, and more!

As with all promotional materials, consider your customer base and add any special dates that will be valuable to your customer to ensure that yours is the custom calendar they cannot live without. It’s best if you choose a design that best represents your brand. In the automotive industry? Put attractive cars on every page. Maybe you want to highlight previous work you have done. Or showcase key staff volunteering their time in the community. Lifestyle shots can be used to show your green initiatives. Do you support environmentalism? Put pictures of nature and its inhabitants, or if you really want to drive the point home, put photos of balding forests or endangered species.

However, don’t think that you can only put pictures that represent your brand. No one’s stopping you from putting adorable baby animals or the best sights in the world. You can also showcase local destinations, which opens up the avenue for you to hold a photography contest wherein the winners’ photos will go to your calendar.

Endless Possibilities

Aside from the design, you can pretty much put anything you want on a custom calendar. With a calendar, you have the opportunity to add seasonal specials to promote your business throughout the year that only calendar recipients can access. Want to add coupons or promote a specific product/service monthly? Attach one to every month (you can even have them only valid for that specific month if you wanted). You can also personalize the calendars with special marks on certain events. If their particular industry has trade shows a couple times a year, you can include those in the daily markings. Want to highlight cause days such as Bell Lets Talk Day, you can do that too.

Don’t Forget About Me (You)

Needless to say, your branding and contact information need to be inserted in numerous places throughout the custom calendar. From your perspective, over and above the act of gifting them to your client base, they are an incredibly impactful means of keeping clients updated on important information regarding you and your brand. Details such as the organization’s telephone number, location, and email address need to be included on the calendar to make sure customers have no difficulties with contacting the business.

Post-Press: Ready to Get Started?

Understanding the benefits of branded custom calendars is essential to getting the best results from the promotional item. Whenever a customer thinks of contacting or visiting your business, make sure the information they need is easily accessible to them. Interested yet on getting calendars for your advertising campaign? Great! Any time is the best time to start planning for the next calendar year. We offer fast quote times and friendly, professional staff who are ready to get those items off the wish list and into reality. Contact us and let’s help you with creative calendar designs. We’ll work together to make the best calendar to make your customers happy.

We Design. We Print. You Profit!