From the time you wake up until the moment you close your eyes, you’re bombarded with marketing messages. You may even have dreams of the ads running in your sleep!

Most of the messages you see during the day just blend together without much notice. Many are of the “me too” variety. Either the owner or the advertiser is practicing the lazy marketing technique of simply copying a competitor’s ad with very little real change. Maybe the original ad had some creativity to it, but now it’s lost in a sea of similarity.

For your ad to have any chance of succeeding, you must use “pattern interrupt marketing” as one component of your message.

What’s pattern interrupt marketing? As the name implies, it’s marketing that stops a prospect in their tracks and engages them. Your message must be able to capture a prospect’s attention if it’s to have any chance of being noticed.

Imagine you’re driving down a street looking for a place to eat lunch. The street is packed with similar looking eateries on both your left and right. The buildings all look the same and have signs with business names on them. The business owners have all copied each other in building design, colors, and layout so much that it’s very difficult to tell them apart. But one smart business owner has hired someone with a colorful costume and given them a professional-looking sign with delicious-looking food photos and a message that clearly states all the benefits of their restaurant; in addition, if you come in today, you’ll receive a great discount. The guy holding the sign interrupts your attention, and the offer lures you in to try the food.

That’s what pattern interrupt marketing is all about.

Now, you could try any number of gimmicks to grab a prospect’s attention, but there are only a few things that will truly capture their interest and hold it long enough for you to make an impression. Here are three steps to get you started:

1. Make a list of problems your product or service can solve.
2. Pick just one as the focal point for your marketing message.
3. Think about the types of language and visual cues your customers would use to best understand this message.
   With those elements in place, you can better plan your marketing.
   Pattern interrupt marketing can be used in every type of business and in every type of marketing communication. Whether on a billboard, through direct mail, via email marketing, or even at a trade show, pattern interrupt marketing can be very effective. The goal is not only to capture the prospect’s attention by doing something different or unexpected but also to encourage them to take further steps with you once they’re engaged.
   Pattern interrupt marketing is only the first step in a process, but in some ways, it’s the most important step. After all, if you can’t capture their attention, the rest won’t matter.

Many businesses are currently experiencing a decline in sales. Some owners and executives believe this is due to outside economic conditions. Although the economy may have some bearing, perhaps the real reasons for the decline are more fundamental issues that no one in the company wants to face. The economy has only masked the issues and helped sweep them under the rug.

Many in this predicament think, “If only we could increase sales, everything else would take care of itself.” Oftentimes, the declining sales pattern is not the real problem; it’s just a symptom of other underlying issues. Perhaps the issues are in management, staffing, or a lack of effective marketing and sales. 

If your company is experiencing a sales slump, it may be time to do a little soul searching to find the real issues. If you decide to take this head on, here’s a four-step plan to help you lick the problems.

Step 1 – Assess your current situation. What strengths do you see? What weaknesses? Are there opportunities you might be missing? And what are your threats? The more honest you can be at this step, the better the foundation for the rest of the process.

Step 2 – Now that you have an outline of the problems, it’s time to make a diagnosis. What are the causes behind the problems and issues you’re facing? Look beyond the surface issues, and try to get to the root causes.

Step 3 – Now that you have the assessment and a diagnosis of the situation, it’s time to make a plan that addresses your diagnosis by taking advantage of the strengths you identified and establishing ways to correct the weaknesses.

Step 4 – This is where the rubber meets the road. All that analysis will lead to no good unless you follow up with action. It’s time to follow through and act on the plan by implementing the changes outlined in the previous step.

By following through on these four simple but powerful steps, you can not only turn around sagging sales but also position your company for long-term growth.

Consider attending our Marketing Classes, call the shop for more details or click here

In order to sell any kind of product or service, you first need to know the challenges your prospects face, so you can offer the best solution. On the surface, this seems like an easy problem to resolve. You send out a few surveys and questionnaires. You dig and do your research. You think you’ve found the answers. Yet when you build your pitch or presentation around what you think your prospect wants and needs, it falls flat.

Why? Because the prospect is hiding the truth from you.

It’s not done with malicious intent. They’re not even necessarily lying. They simply want to be liked and don’t want to hurt your feelings by telling you things they think you wouldn’t like to hear. Also some prospects don’t really know what they want. Emailed and online surveys aren’t the best at this type of information gathering.

That’s the reason most surveys don’t reveal many helpful answers. The problem isn’t with the surveys themselves, but with the questions and how they’re presented. Most survey questions don’t get to the heart of the matter in order to pull out the answers you’re looking for.

What can you do about this? Pick up the phone!

The best way to get the answers you’re looking for is to call your prospects and engage them in a conversation. But before you do that (and if you don’t want the phone slammed in your ear), do your homework first.

The responses will only be as good as your questions. Your questions need to be open-ended. You must be able to tap into the emotional and/or logical reasons why a prospect would (or wouldn’t) buy your product or service. The more you’re able to get them to open up and give you honest answers, the closer you’ll get to the heart of what you’re looking for. Keep good notes on the data you gather, and review it so you can make the next call even better at intelligence gathering.

Start your call with a very brief description of why you’re calling, then quickly turn your attention to the prospect. Let them know you’re not trying to sell them anything (so it brings down the wall and barriers they automatically put up). State that you respect and value their opinion, which is why you chose them to call. Make them feel respected and special before you dive into your questions.

Once you have your answers, take the time to carefully review all the information. Look for common themes or threads in the answers. If you don’t find any, go back to your questions and reword them to get better answers. Yes, this takes real work. But the end result will be well worth your time. After you analyze the information, it will make your job of creating an irresistible offer that your prospects can’t refuse much easier.

Our local business leads group and Chamber of Commerces’ can be great sources of leads for you and your company. Why can and not are? Because many business owners join and expect the leads to just fall in their laps without much effort on their part. Then they quit and decide that this type of lead generation simply doesn’t work for them. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Paying the monetary dues is only the first step in joining a chamber or business group. Showing up to the events regularly and showing your face is the next basic step. Being friendly and helpful is another basic prerequisite for success. But none of these are guarantees for bringing you prospects and customers. They are the entry ticket. Sadly, many stop with these steps and drop out before giving it a real chance.

What does work?

Consistency – The long-time members and those you would love to have as clients will quietly decide for themselves through your actions whether you’re someone they can trust. Caring enough to show up and be active will go a long way in building that trust. If you can’t commit to doing these basic steps, save your money and don’t join. If your sole purpose for joining is to find leads and someone to sell to, you’ve missed the main point of joining this type of organization. Sure, those are important reasons and by-products of joining, but they cannot be the sole or even the primary reasons.

Attitude – Go in with a truly helpful and positive attitude if you want to succeed. Proactively seek out opportunities to help other members in every way you can, through referring and introducing them to other members, even if those actions don’t directly benefit you. Do this, and you’ll be on the right track.

Active participation – One of the secrets to being successful with your membership is to join committees. Every group will have sub-committees for various needs and functions of the chamber. These may include groups like education committees or new member committees. Not only will you get to interact with other dedicated members in a smaller setting when you join these committees, but you’ll also get recognition and notoriety for your efforts, which will lead to more chances to get to know other members better. This takes time and is a sacrifice, but it’s extremely important to do.

To have real success from your membership, remember that you must give before you get. The more effort you can put in, the more success you can expect. It’s a long-term strategy that has a proven track record for those who can practice one of life’s golden rules.

Here is a list of our local chambers, take time to check them out!

www.ferndale-chamber.com  
Enjoy many activities that the Ferndale Chamber does to promote the city and the businesses.
They have a membership luncheon every month as well

www.bellingham.com
(Bellingham/Whatcom Chamber) has a networking breakfast on the 2nd Wednesday of each month, (360) 734-1330)

http://www.eversonnooksackchamber.org/

Just because a customer buys from you a few times doesn’t mean they’ll immediately think of or even remember your business again the next time they need the kinds of products you sell.

Here are a few ways to increase front-of-mind awareness for your company in the minds of consumers:

• Educate your audience about the ways your products are better than the competition. Consider creating a comparison chart to make the differences stand out in people’s minds.

• Send thank yous for past purchases, and offer future discounts or coupons that are too good to ignore. For example, one might read: “Use this coupon anytime during December to receive 50% off any single item!”

• Encourage customers to reorder supplies before they run out. A reorder form placed near the bottom of each package you ship is one way to accomplish this. Periodic email reminders and promos based on past order history are another.

• Provide knowledgeable tips, tricks, and other industry-related information in a newsletter or periodic mailer that will leave recipients asking for more.

• Invite customers to open-house celebrations, hands-on training classes, or exclusive customer appreciation events.

• Create a customer loyalty program that rewards visitors for repeat purchases.

• Offer promotions or giveaway contests that spark interest in the products and services you sell.

Let us know if we can help you create direct mail pieces that will help ensure your business isn’t forgotten!

Trees are the only renewable resource we have…

In lieu of a “Think before you print” email tagline, we encourage you to consider adding something like this to your emails:

“It’s OK to print responsibly. Not using paper in order to save trees is comparable to not eating salad in order to ‘save’ vegetables. Managed timberlands are similar to agricultural crops which provide clean air, clean water, and wildlife habitat, as well as millions of jobs nationwide.”

While there are many misconceptions about the paper and printing industries, we proudly stand behind them both, and we encourage you to check out these resources to learn more about why printing is a responsible choice:

• www.paperbecause.com — Domtar’s Paper Because campaign highlights the key role paper plays in our lives and the reasons why it’s environmentally friendly.

• www.chooseprint.org — Choose Print is an educational campaign designed to promote the effectiveness of print as a sustainable choice.

• www.rediscoverprint.com — Rediscover Print is committed to searching out credible information, case studies, and statistics on how print makes a positive impact in our daily lives.
• www.twosides.info — Two Sides promotes the responsible production and use of print and paper. The site provides information on why print and paper remain a versatile, sustainable communications medium.

For many years, “think big” has been the theme for many businesses, as they try to compete in a sea of retail giants. However, the tables are turning, and large organizations realize that their audience is looking for more personalized, customer-focused attention, causing businesses to “think small.” Here are a few ways to leverage your natural small business advantages in your marketing efforts:

• Personal attention. Small businesses are more likely to recognize their customers and provide sincere, personal attention, without customers feeling like they’re just another number in the company’s statistics.

• Industry experts. Many small businesses develop a narrow market focus and develop a premium reputation for serving that niche market effectively.

• The power to change. While large companies generally take several months to change company policies, small businesses usually have the ability to make decisions on the spot and implement changes quickly when they feel it is appropriate.

• Flexibility. Small businesses are more willing to work with customers and do whatever it takes to earn their business, including filling customized requests at a moment’s notice.
• Customer satisfaction. Because it takes more effort for a small business to build a strong customer base, they also work harder to keep their current customers happy.

When it comes to marketing, don’t hide the fact that you are a small business. Instead, take the opportunity to promote it proudly and show customers the many advantages of thinking small.

If you’re planning to introduce a new product into the market, here are a few tips to help you create a likeable product name that will also be relevant and memorable:

• Choose an expressive name that describes what the product does.

• Avoid acronyms. Give your product a full name, and use brief acronyms internally only.

• Consider naming similar products together as a family. For example, Apple’s operating systems have used similar names such as Panther, Jaguar, Leopard, and Lion.

• If you have a tiered product line (good, better, best), name your products accordingly to show order of ranking.

• Add a prefix or suffix to a common name, such as the iPhone, iPad, and iPod.

• Choose a name that gives people a mental image of the benefits your product provides or how it works.

• Select a name that is easy to pronounce. If your audience can’t pronounce it, they likely won’t remember it.

• Creatively change the spelling of a real word. The popular cereals Kix and Trix are good examples.

• If your products are sold internationally, always screen your product name to check for embarrassing meanings in other languages.

• Consider using a verb as your product name, like Bounce dryer sheets.

• Blend two descriptive words together to form a newword that describes your product, such as Miracle Whip.

• Beware of any potential acronyms that may cause issues. For example, some people joke that Microsoft’s Bing stands for “But It’s Not Google.” Also check if there could be issues with shortening the product name.

• Think about what you like/dislike about other product names across various industries, and compare that to the list of names you’re considering.
• Lastly, beware that a long, drawn-out product name may cause a challenge when creating advertisements and promotional materials.

No matter what product name you choose, we have endless creative ideas to help you spread the word and increase your sales. Give us a call today!

Poster and banner marketing has been a popular way to spread the word for more than 200 years, dating back to posters for everything from World’s Fairs, recruitment, and war propaganda to bicycles and bullfights. Today, posters continue as a flexible marketing tool for publicizing upcoming events, promoting ideas, and advertising new products and services. Here are a few benefits of poster marketing:

• Versatility. Posters can be printed on a variety of surfaces, protected with UV coating or laminating, and mounted or framed. As a result, they can be used either indoors or outdoors in any number of ways.

• Simplicity. Because posters are created for viewers on the move, some of the best posters don’t say much. Effective posters capture the viewer’s attention immediately — often with large, eye-catching graphics, a catchy headline, and a web address that is easy to remember. You can then provide more detailed information on your website and entice readers to join your mailing list for additional updates.

• Any size you need. When creating posters, think about where you plan to display them. While the most popular posters are 24″x36,” this large size would be overpowering on corkboard displays (which would be much better suited to an 11″x17″ poster).
• Fresh factor. Because posters offer a high-quality, low-cost marketing solution with fast turnaround, replacing posters frequently with new content is a great way to prevent your advertising efforts from going stale.

Give us a call if you need help creating posters that will make an exciting addition to your marketing materials. Our creative experts specialize in bringing great ideas to life!

Trade shows are a proven way to showcase your company’s products and services, but it can be challenging to stand apart in what can seem like a never-ending sea of booths. Here are a few tips to ensure your company gets noticed before, during, and after the event:

• Send teaser pre-show mailers that encourage prospects to visit your booth. Include a raffle ticket for a giveaway, promote a prize drawing, or encourage recipients to stop by your booth for a free giveaway item.

• Consider a theme for your booth, such as a Hawaiian theme, coffee shop theme, or sports-related theme. If you don’t want to go the theme route, simply wear attire that is appropriate for the products you’re selling. For example, if you sell ski equipment, you could dress in ski apparel and offer visitors hot cocoa and free demos.
• Inviting banners and posters that can display your booth/business. We have seen booths in the past where no-one knows what the business is!! This is the whole reason why you are there! Banners can be used over and over again, so the cost/expense is well worth it.

• Attract visitors with a delicious treat they can’t resist, such as homemade cookies, cupcakes, ice cream bars, cinnamon rolls, or even full-size candy bars wrapped with your marketing message.

• In addition to having a widescreen display that offers engaging, informative content, videos, and product highlights, remember that print materials (including business cards, brochures, and flyers) are a must for ensuring visitors will remember you after they walk away.

• Use a spotlight to draw attention to a new item or promote a “show special” or “best seller” item. Consider offering a significant discount for placing an order during or within a few days of the event, and have promotional flyers ready to pass out detailing any exclusive offers you provide.

• Be on the ball when mailing follow-up information. If you’re on the road, email someone at the office daily with requests to send info packets immediately.
• Consider sending a lumpy mailer shortly after the event that includes a thank you card or flyer featuring a photo of you and/or your booth (to spark memory), a small promotional item, and a sample or trial offer of your product. You may also wish to promote an extension to any exclusive offers you marketed at the event.

Let us know if we can help you create stunning marketing materials that will not only spread the word but also help turn prospects into customers!  Check out our tradeshow packages!