Build Momentum with Contests that Make Your Customers Smile

     Build Momentum with Contests that Make Your Customers Smile

Boston was overjoyed again as their darling RedSox capped off a 5-1 series victory over the Dodgers to take the 2018 World Series title.

The championship was well deserved, as Boston won a record 119 games, more victories than any World Series champion except the 1998 Yankees. “Now we deserve to be known as the greatest Red Sox team of all time,” said infielder Brock Holt.

If the RedSox are not the greatest, they are certainly the most loved. According to numbers crunched by Bundle, Boston fans are “America’s most obsessed baseball fans.” Bundle’s stats include money spent on tickets, food, and merchandise, including neighborhood restaurants and bars. From May of 2003 to April 2013, the Red Sox sold out every home-game seat – a total of 820 games for a major professional sports record!

The “Perfect Game” Promotion


One Boston retailer recognized this passion and tapped into the momentum.
In 2013, Jordan’s Furniture held a “Perfect Game” promotion with one simple premise: any fan buying furniture or merchandise before May 5 would receive the furniture for free if a Red Sox pitcher threw a perfect game between July 17 and October 1. While that perfect game never materialized, the contest was certainly a home run. In 2014, Jordan’s offered a new promotion: if the Sox could repeat their 2013 World Series victory, everyone who bought furniture between before May 18, 2014, would get a full rebate on their purchase!

Jordan’s grabbed local excitement and used it as fuel for sales. And why not? A wonderful way to build brand loyalty is by making your customers smile. Like a “kiss a pig” contest generates giving, you can grow marketing engagement with an entertaining contest of your own. Here are three examples to get your creative juices flowing:

1. Get Them Snapping.


People love to snap and share photos, especially of themselves.

Capitalize on that obsession with personalized photo contests! Any photo contest can begin with these words: “Show us your _____.” Contestants then take photos that demonstrate their best, their worst, their ugliest, their cutest, etc.

Perhaps the winner of the ugliest couch gets a free upgrade from your showroom. Maybe the cutest baby picture nets a year of free diapers. The craziest bedhead gets a free cut and style from your salon. Get them sharing and enjoy the results!

2. Get Them to Go Wild.


In this scenario, customers capture shots of themselves using your product “in the wild.”

This contest could include video or traditional photo categories and might also be used as a monthly or bi-annual promotion. Winners receive a prize, a service credit, or a gift card.

When you publicize the contest, include questions that might draw fun testimonials as well. Feature results in your newsletters, social media posts, or in hilarious product reviews!

3. Get Them Celebrating.


What food do you adore? Do others love it too?

Get their taste buds tingling by building contests around minor secular observances like national doughnut day, coffee day, s’more day, etc. (Run a quick internet search of “national food days” for inspiration!)

Seasonal contests allow you to foster anticipation every year, especially during your off seasons. Ask people to vote on their favorite pie flavor then serve samples. Ask contestants to guess the number of Ghiradelli chocolates in your vase on National Chocolate Day. Ask for sweetest first date stories and give away a Valentine’s Day package at a local restaurant or hotel.

 Make customers smile and keep your name front and center all year!
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Labels Are a Promotion that "Sticks" With Your Customers

Labels Are a Promotion that "Sticks" With Your Customers

Customers can be a difficult and fickle lot.
They're always shopping around for the "Next Big Thing," surfing your competitor's websites, and price-checking on their phones. With all the different business options available today, it can be tough to keep your business in their mind without spending thousands of dollars on local and digital advertising.

There's a smarter way to keep your customers engaged with your brand's identity without breaking the bank -- labels!

Labels are the ideal way to turn a basic and ho-hum bag or box into a full-color masterpiece that is interesting and fun. See how you can leverage labels to create a promotion that truly sticks with your customers.

Adding Excitement to Your Packaging

Basic white or kraft boxes and bags are simple, inexpensive packaging for your products, but they don't do anything for your brand identity.

When Maggie, a bakery owner, recently visited her local print shop, she was looking for a logo that could be printed on her various sizes of packaging. What she learned was that each size of packaging would require different setups to print the logo, and full-color printing on non-standard size items could get add up. After speaking with the sales team at the print shop, Maggie realized that there was a better option that would reduce the overall costs of using different packaging for her products.

Full-Color Labels in Any Size or Shape


Part of the challenge of running a bakery is that you're selling all different sizes and shapes of goods.

You may need a small bag for a donut or bagel, a nearly-square box for layer cakes, and a large rectangle for sheet cakes or a dozen baked goods. Creating a single logo for packaging that would look good on all of these sizes and shapes would be difficult. However, labels are so easy to create that you can utilize a variety of labels to make a custom-printed look that features a stunning full-color image.

Add Promotions When You Need Them


Labels are an incredibly versatile promotional tool.
You can add them to a package or leave them off to create a different mood or message for your customers. If you'd like to offer a coupon on a particular type of order -- for instance, a dozen donuts -- then you can utilize a label to attach a printed coupon to draw added attention to the offer. The label itself could become the offer, too. You could have a batch of labels printed offering "10% Off, Tomorrow Only" and then be able to pull out this promotion anytime sales are experiencing a bit of a slump.

Operational Labels

You can also use labels within your business to classify items at a glance.

For instance, a tiny sticker that denotes which day of the week a particular item was baked, or showing a 'Sell by' date. Write-on labels and waterproof labels are available based on your particular needs and are a great way to keep your business organized and running smoothly.

In this particular instance, Maggie was inspired to create a series of labels for each day of the week to indicate freshness to her customers. She also worked with a designer to envision a new look for her packaging that included a single-color package and full-color labels that added a pop of color and plenty of personality to her baked goods. Since people "eat with their eyes" it made good business sense for the packaging to be as appealing as possible!

Ready to revamp the look of your products or rev up your organizational skills see the Print Cafe of LI?
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Coupons that Count

Coupons that Count

Persuasive Promotions Can Transform Browsers to Buyers

Are you the child of a parent who meticulously clipped coupons to pinch pennies?

As the pace of life has accelerated, the frequency of in-store couponing has decreased, in part because online coupon codes and apps have blossomed.

But coupon promotions are not a thing of the past!

According to the 2017 Holiday Shopper Report, 92 percent of consumers say promotions influence their holiday purchasing decisions. And coupons can be the catalyst that converts people from browsing to buying.

So which types of promotions do your clients want, and how can you use them most effectively? Here are a few tips to sharpen your focus.

Keep it Simple and Straightforward


Have you ever tried to use a coupon only to find the fine print disqualifies almost every purchase? This “fake sale” frustration can turn off clients from your company for good. Keep your coupons and discounts simple – avoid the fine print and honor the effort consumers have made to connect with your business. The same goes for referral campaigns – if a customer provides a valuable referral, honor their effort with a quick, valuable, and personal token of thanks.

Try to keep things simple with your product presentation as well. Remember, an overload of options can lead to “analysis paralysis,” or situations where a customer finds it too difficult to decide which product or promotion is best. When it comes to numbers and features, promotions should be clear and compelling enough to comprehend at a glance.

Push the Freebies


Shoppers often value freebies more than they value discounts.

Whether you offer a “buy one, get one free” or you include a complimentary gift with a particular purchase, often a free item is more psychologically compelling than a percent discount that actually brings greater savings. Free stuff also warms the heart and builds goodwill with loyal customers. If a free product is too great a stretch, consider offering limited time offers for free shipping, gift wrapping, refills, or deliveries.

Price it Right

In his book, Contagious: Why Things Catch On, marketing professor Jonah Berger explains how our perception of numbers affects how we understand a discount price.

He called this theory, “The Rule of 100.” Berger’s research highlights two pricing cues:


A percentage discount off an item under $100 off will always look larger than the dollar discount. For example, 25% off of $75 appears larger than $18.75 off of $75.
A dollar discount on an item over $100 dollars will always look larger than a percentage discount. For example, $93.75 off of $375 appears larger than 25% off of $375.

Offer Tipping Points to Incite Action

A tipping point can be anything that creates urgency or builds customer confidence to the point they’re willing to pull the trigger.

As you craft coupons or print promotions, remember to highlight time-bound flash sales, limited product quantities, or how your promotion is most relevant to your customer’s calendar or budget cycle.

Alternatively, the right emphasis on product quality can also move prospects to bite because your item is “worth it” or because they “deserve it.” Discounts are great, but sometimes value is even better!

Make Your Move


Ready to transform your browsers to buyers? Printed inserts and coupons are a great way to make your offers leap off the page! We’ll help you craft clear, compelling, visually stimulating promotions that reel in prospects and keep your loyal customers coming back again and again!
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