Happy Autumn! That's right, Happy Autumn!
In retail, the Spring and Summer are over for the event planners and marketers. They did their planning long ago and now it is time for execution. Now, they turn their attention to the Autumn and early Winter. Your business should be no different. Your creative marketing efforts need to plan no less than one quarter or, best practices, two quarters ahead. It takes time, which you have little of, money, which you probably don’t allocate enough of and creative planning.
I have written often about the fact that, whether you own a distributorship or are an independent sales associate, you are the VP of Marketing. Did you redeem all your sample rebates from 2017? It may not be too late. Many suppliers have done away with this type program or tend to keep it a secret. For those who don’t know, suppliers give a rebate (credit) for a percentage of gross sales in the previous year. Perhaps it is only $50 or $100 or more that can be used by you for their products in a self-promotion. We also need to question if you allocated any monies for 2018 to your “marketing and promotion” budget. No less than 3% of your annual sales or commissions should be allocated to sales and marketing and, frankly, that’s not enough.
Today, more than in past years, it takes an EVENT to gather the masses. Everyone is on digital overload, everyone is time crunched and everyone discounts the world around them unless it is unique. Webinars are not unique. I still claim to be among the first, or very first, to do webinars. Imagine my bandwidth costing $25,000 in 2003. In the early days I chatted with over 3,000 distributors a year for 5 years or so. The field got crowded, but webinars still work. They are extremely cost-effective and provide you with opportunities greater than imagined. However, to get an end-user to a general webinar, it should be an event. Here are the steps to creating a magnificent event:
Themes
This really needs to be creative and have value. A webinar does not have to be for a general market; market focused webinars attract more fresh faces. The Secrets of Safety Motivation, How to Motivate Employees Toward Wellness, The Top Ten Business Ideas for Christmas 2018, Happy Employees Mean Long Tenure & Productivity, Runway 2018 – The Latest in Branded Apparel. These are just names, but they are meant to offer value and appeal to targeted group. No, you won’t charge, but all your marketing should indicate there is a charge, but your invitations are complimentary.
Participants
From your contact management program, create a master list and be sure to list “occupation” to indicate the person’s job. You will want to pull specific people from the list for a given webinar. Live on LinkedIn. Join every local group, and even national groups, under the umbrella of special interests. You will find safety directors, advertising, marketing, fund raisers, wellness, etc. etc. To join, do not let them know you want to sell them something, rather, you have expertise in the market that can help the members. Consider doing a blog on a subject that a group has interest in, then post it and sit back and gain fresh faces.
Marketing
Dimensional mailings work. Plan to use your budget to lure people to attend. Plan two, if not three, mailings. Combine the physical mailing with a digital explosion. Use all the social media platforms, use your own e-mail, push for friends and clients to invite their associates. Get firm responses and confirm them. Let them know a surprise gift package will come their way just before the event.
In Your Face
No matter what, less than 66% of those who register will get on line. To help boost that number, be sure to mail a dimensional package to arrive about 24-48 hours before the webinar. On the box, have a note reading …To be opened only at the start of the webinar – time, URL, etc. Do Not Open Before. It’s not a threat, it’s an attention grabber and reminder. If you can’t figure out what to put in the box, well, you must ask if you are really a creative consultant.
Content
Make it short, sweet and relevant. 15 minutes is as much as you can get. Hold questions until the end so it does not eat into your time. Be creative. Yes, record it and send a link to everyone who attends and those who missed it.
Welcome Screen
Think of yourself as a school teacher. Have a welcome screen up at least 5 minutes before the webinar begins. Have fun, some trivia, some "did you know" or something to keep the class involved and alert.
No Polls, No Nothing
Stay away from all the plenary tools offered by the webinar services. It’s strictly business.
Offer and incentive
This is your store … so to speak. They came but did not buy. When it is over, offer them some type of incentive that can stimulate an appointment or a purchase, depending on the content. It could be free, a discount or an opportunity even more creative.
Follow-up
An immediate Thank You for attending via e-mail; add an attachment of product relevant materials - your own digital catalog, JPGS of your products, a Power Point show of your slides.
My best bet for the Autumn: A Christmas gift webinar and a Fall Runway Show of branded apparel. Two-time proven webinars that still get attendance.
Joel D. Schaffer, MAS is CEO and Founder of Soundline, LLC, the pioneering supplier to the promotional products industry of audio products. Joel has 48 years of promotional product industry experience and proudly heralds “I was a distributor.” He has been on the advisory panel of the business and marketing department of St. John’s University in New York and is frequent speaker at Rutgers Graduate School of Business. He is an industry Advocate and has appeared before the American Bankers Association, American Marketing Association, National Premium Sales Executives, American Booksellers Association and several other major groups. He has been a management consultant to organizations such as The College Board and helped many suppliers enter this industry. He is a frequent contributor to PPB and Counselor magazines. He has facilitated over 200 classes sharing his industry knowledge nationwide. He is known for his cutting humor and enthusiasm in presenting provocative and motivating programs. He is the only person to have received both the Marvin Spike Industry Lifetime Achievement Award (2002) and PPAI’s Distinguished Service Award (2011). He is a past director of PPAI and has chaired several PPAI committees and task forces. He is a past Chair of the SAAGNY Foundation, Past President of SAAGNY and a SAAGNY Hall of Fame member. He was cited by ASI as one of the 50 most influential people in the industry.