16 Sep

Gift Giving Done Right

Posted in Promotional Products on 16.09.11 by John Meloche

In yesterday’s blog, we took a look at The Ecommerce Blog to help add strength to our steadfast belief that, when distributed properly, promotional gifts are extremely efficient advertising tools. In fact, our experience has shown us that they are likely the least pricey and most rewarding ways to grow a company’s customer base.

But as we said yesterday, you don’t have to take our word for it! The Ecommerce Blog lists four key factors in making promotional gifts work for you. Two of the factors covered yesterday outline how your gifts should be practical, useful and of high quality. Today, we’d like to share with you two other important factors in using promo gifts to your advantage.

“Design your promotional products properly,” insists the blog. Remember that a key component to your gift is the fact that it bears your company’s name and often its logo and contact information. At Synergy, we ensure that there is at least one location engraving on each and every item so that your information is clearly seen.

You want your gift to be a distinguished representation of your business. So attempting to fit your company’s entire mailing address on a pen, for example, is probably a bad idea in the cosmetic category. How your gift looks will help convey how your business should be regarded.

Finally, “quality targeting is more important than quantity,” says The Ecommerce Blog. It notes that there are two groups that should get your promotional gifts. The first group is your current customers who are the most likely to keep visiting your store. The second group is made up of non-customers who may make a purchase from you in the future.

It’s very important to determine who makes up your target audience. You don’t want to throw your promotional items away on people are not likely to ever pay your store a visit. The blog suggests that you use “web analytics programs to find who your repeat customers are.”

That way, you can determine trends including purchased products, titles and locations for you to mail out promotional material to. “Just use some common sense,” writes The Ecommerce Blog, “If someone makes a purchase for a product that requires continuing upkeep or additional supplies, make sure you are getting them promo material. If someone makes even a single repeat order make sure you include them as well.”

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15 Sep

Using Promotional Products Properly

Posted in Promotional Products on 15.09.11 by John Meloche

Our clients are taking advantage of one of the best advertising strategies in the world. Using promotional products to help grow your customer base is both a cost-conscious and effective practice. It doesn’t require a huge budget to foster the development of customer loyalty. Take it from us!

Then again, you don’t necessarily have to take it from us. The Ecommerce Blog shares the exact same sentiments. The thing is though, it’s great to give out great promotional gifts to grow your business, but it isn’t the gifts themselves that do the trick on their own. It’s important that you have an intelligent strategy when showing your generosity.

The Ecommerce Blog lists four key factors in making promotional products work. We’d like to share these ideas with you in today’s blog. The first thing to make sure of when you are giving out your promo gifts is that you are giving people something that they actually want and need!

As The Ecommerce Blog points out, people really don’t have much use for lanyards, stickers and folders. When these items are given out as gifts, they are often discarded and therefore are wastes of material. The best gifts are the ones that people can actually use on a daily basis.

Among the most useful gifts are sticky pads, note pads, and pens, as people need and use them every day. At Synergy, our wide array of pens ensure that business owners can choose from a large selection of items that are sure to be used regularly. With your business name and information on these pens, their recipients are certain to have you on their minds every time the pens are in use.

The Ecommerce Blog also recommends that you “don’t skimp out”! At Synergy, we ensure that our clients receive top-of-the-line gifts. After all, what good is a pen that runs out of ink after its first couple of uses? You will want to make sure that the quality of your promo item is indicative of the type of business you run. Dependable, high-quality items are the only way to go.

Recommends the blog: “you should buy and distribute the kind of pens that people will get upset about if they loose them. The kind that write well on most surfaces, that don’t smear, and that feel good in your hand. You want to provide the type of products that are better than what your customer is used to using. This way, when they look for their pen, they look for your pen first.”

We’ll continue to review this topic in tomorrow’s blog.

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14 Sep

Continue To Grow Without Overspending

Posted in Synergy Suggestions on 14.09.11 by John Meloche

In yesterday’s blog, we touched upon the topic of growing your business without having to delve into a big budget. As we have blogged a number of times before, one of Synergy’s chief objectives is to help business owners expand the reach of their companies without overspending. Continuing with that trend, we took a look at a YourArticleSource.com article by Michael Griffiths.

He often helps business owners gain more leads with his relationship-based marketing strategies. In addition to the tips that we highlighted in yesterday’s blog, Griffiths also believes that business owners must create a quality customer experience.

How do you make your customer feel when he or she walks through the door? Remember that a visit to your store should be much more than simply coming to a place to buy a product. It should be a welcoming experience that one will want to enjoy time and time again. It’s important to go over and above the customer’s expectations to keep him or her happy.

Just as we do, here at Synergy, Griffiths believes in creating the “wow” experience. It’s important to let your customers know that they are appreciated. This is when handing them practical and useful promotional gifts definitely comes in very handy. By creating a great customer experience, you will encourage your clients to not only return, but bring others along with them.

Finally, be honest to your customers, says Griffiths. You know what they say about that policy! He writes: “Do not try to deceive them into buying something that they may regret later on. If they do decide to purchase a product or service from you, make sure that you give them good quality product or service.”

Inaccurately representing your products or services will only leave bad tastes in the mouths of your customers. It will create “buyer’s remorse”, according to Griffiths, and it is unlikely that you will be able to regain the trust and respect of anyone that you have deceived.

Growing your business isn’t the easiest task you’ll ever take on in your life. But it doesn’t have to be the hardest either. Give one of our awesome representatives a call today to discuss the ways that Synergy can assist you with growing your business without paying a hefty fee for advertising. Talk to you soon!

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13 Sep

Grow Your Business Without The Big Bucks

Posted in Synergy Suggestions on 13.09.11 by John Meloche

One of the primary goals, here at Synergy Marketing Consultants, is to inform our great clients about the ways in which they can grow their businesses without having to spend a lot of money in the process. The cost-effectiveness of our amazing promotional gifts is just one of the many benefits of using the gifts to help grow a company. But this fact doesn’t always convince everybody.

Some business owners get discouraged when they assume that a lack of a big budget means that they won’t be able afford to advertise. There are ways around this, of course. On YourArticleSource.com, Michael Griffiths writes of the four key aspects of business growth. We’d like to share some of these tips with you in today’s blog.

Griffiths is the CEO and Founder of My Small Business Marketing Guru. Keeping in mind that not all entrepreneurs are working with a lot of money to push their companies, he outlines a few important things to keep in mind when you are looking to expand. The first tip, says Griffiths, is to know your business’ peak timings.

He writes that in order for a business to gain a large customer base, an owner must be aware of the times that customers are most likely to visit either the store or even the company website. Some business owners have stores that are actually closed during what would be considered their “peak hours”. This is a big misstep.

It’s important to keep your store open during the hours that people are most likely to visit it. “For example,” writes Griffiths, “if your business is located on a beach front, you know that potential customers are likely to visit in the morning through to the afternoon. Keep your store open during this time and make sure that you have ample help around the store to attend to all the customers.”

He also suggests that companies “produce unique and original packaging for your product”. This is often overlooked by business owners who may believe that if they have a quality product that is ready for sale, it doesn’t matter how the product is presented. However, your packaging is what will first help to set your company apart from its competition.

You want to grab the attention of your customers right away. Griffiths insists that people are attracted to new and different things. You don’t want people to get bored of your brand as it is very easy to lose attention when you are bland. This happens when they keep seeing the same old thing over and over again. Be unique, be different, freshen things up and stand out!

We will continue to take a look at these ideas in tomorrow’s blog.

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12 Sep

9/11 Victims Memorialized

Posted in News on 12.09.11 by John Meloche

“I can’t believe that it’s been ten years already,” remarked one of our Synergy representatives early this morning. Referring to yesterday’s ten year anniversary of the tragic 9/11 attacks in the United States, our rep made clear that time really does seem to fly for most people. Perhaps, the relative quickness of the time passing is a reason why so much pain is still felt by so many people across the world.

“I practically remember it like it was yesterday,” said another staff member, “It’s easily the biggest tragedy I’ve ever witnessed in my lifetime. Of course, I saw it all unfold on television, but the shock of that day still haunts me. Ten years just flew by. And pain is still being felt everywhere.”

This is especially true for those who lost loved ones in the September 11, 2001 attacks that took the lives of nearly 3,000 people. At Ground Zero, the former home of the World Trade Center, many people gathered yesterday to pay their respects to those who lost their lives those ten years ago.

As Mitch Potter of the Washington Bureau reported yesterday, those people included United States President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle as well as former President George W. Bush and his wife, Laura. President Obama spoke to the crowd who gathered at Ground Zero to commemorate the ten year anniversary of 9/11.

Said Obama: “Nothing can break the will of a truly United States of America. More than monuments, that will be the legacy of 9/11 — a legacy of firefighters who walked into fire and soldiers who signed up to serve; of workers who raised new towers, citizens who faced down fear, and children who realized the dreams of their parents. It will be said of us that we kept that faith; that we took a painful blow, and emerged stronger.”

Today, there are twin black pools in place of the Twin Towers that made up the World Trade Center. Ground Zero has now become an offcial memorial for those who lost their lives in the 9/11 attacks. The names of each of the many victims are inscribed in bronze panels along the perimeter of each of the two pools that feature 10-metre waterfalls.

For families of the victims of 9/11, these inscribed names are the best possible alternative to final resting places for their loved ones, as many remains were never recovered. As Potter reveals, the memorial was designed by architects Michael Arad and Peter Walker and it accommodated the requests of over 1,200 families who wished for their loved ones’ names to be placed beside specific others.

Even without the memorial, it is clear that who lost their lives ten years ago will never be forgotten.

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09 Sep

Make Facebook A Fierce Promotional Tool

Posted in Synergy Suggestions on 09.09.11 by John Meloche

In yesterday’s blog, we continued speaking about the use of Facebook and Twitter as important marketing tools in today’s business world. Earlier this week, we noted that we, here at Synergy Marketing Consultants, would be making better use of our own social networking profiles to stay in better touch with our clients. And the way we figure it, you should probably do the same. Wouldn’t you agree?

We wrote yesterday about a Laura Lake article from About.com that highlighted some of the main benefits of using Facebook to promote your business. In addition to creating a “Facebook Page”, Lake also suggests that you join a “Facebook Group”. What is that, you ask?

“Facebook Groups,” writes Lake, “carry a similarity to Facebook Pages, the difference is they are built around a group of people rather than your business or your brand. You must be a member of Facebook to create a Facebook Group. In order to create a group just login to Facebook and then click on the Groups link in the main menu on the left hand side of the page.”

What your Facebook Groups do is create a greater awareness about your brand. They allow current and potential clients to become members, instead of fans the way a regular profile would allow. By doing so, you encourage a dialogue between members of the group who may share their thoughts about your company.

Naturally, you will want to foster a discussion about the various ways that your company can serve your customers. Encourage members of your group to offer their opinions about what products and services you may offer that would be of the greatest use to them. Perhaps you could offer your group members special discounts if they mention the group when coming into your store.

Lake reminds business owners to consider the message you want to send about your business when you are on Facebook. Remember that your profile should help accurately represent your company. As always, you should try to position your business in such a way that it appears friendly and welcoming.

How else will you get more customers if they don’t feel welcomed? We would like to welcome you to check out our Facebook page and “like” it so that you can be regularly updated with news about our great promotional products. Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter as well!

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08 Sep

Unleash The Power Of Your Facebook Profile

Posted in Synergy Suggestions on 08.09.11 by John Meloche

In yesterday’s blog, we revealed that we would be making much greater use of our Facebook and Twitter profiles. It’s about time we practiced what we preached, right? For many months, the Synergy Marketing Consultants Blog has offered business owners numerous tips on how to utilize social networking websites to help grow their businesses. And we plan on doing just that.

By today’s standards, a company’s online presence may arguably be its most important asset. With so many consumers going on the internet to peruse items, shop for discounts and compare prices, it only makes sense to have a regularly-updated, user-friendly website. Our blog, of course, is one of the things that helps to keep our website popping up in search engines.

But it’s another thing to keep in constant contact with your customers through your Facebook and Twitter pages. If they aren’t numbers one and two already, these two sites are among the world’s most popular websites. And they are only growing in popularity. On About.com, Laura Lake writes that Facebook is an especially effective marketing tool for business owners.

A former skeptic, Lake points out that Facebook is not just for kids. People of all ages are becoming fascinated with the online phenomenon. In fact, she points to an O’Reilly Media study that took place between September 2008 and February 2009 that found that “the number of Facebook users between the ages of 35 and 44 increased by 51%”.

In addition, the study also shows that “Facebook users among the ages 45-54 grew by 47%. Facebook users ages 26-34 increased by 26% (and) more than half of the 140 million Facebook users are out of college.” Evidently, Facebook has the ability to gain business owners more clients, in addition to helping them stay in touch with current clients.

Lake points out that there are numerous ways to utilize the social media site to create a buzz for your company. One way is to create a free “Facebook Page”. This gives your company its own profile page, allowing for you to build an identity for your brand. As you may already know, this page allows other users to “like” your page.

Once you are “liked”, both current and potential customers can receive automatic updates each and every time you post something on your page. This is why we are now making sure that our blogs get posted to our Facebook profile. It guarantees that we will be updating our fans and followers on a daily basis.

We will continue to explore this topic in tomorrow’s blog.

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07 Sep

Like And Follow Synergy Today!

Posted in News on 07.09.11 by John Meloche

At Synergy Marketing Consultants, we believe strongly in promoting your business. Big surprise, right? In many of our past blogs, we’ve discussed the importance of using today’s popular social networking websites as methods of spreading the word about your company. And why wouldn’t you? We’re sure you know what we’re talking about.

Websites such as Facebook and Twitter are among the most popular in the world! And while our blog has done wonders in drawing more attention to our website, we have to admit that we’ve actually been guilty of not regularly updating our social media profiles as often as we should. Well, all of that is about to change!

Starting this week, we will begin posting all of our blogs on Facebook and Twitter. In fact, this is a practice that we commonly employed on Facebook, but we will be doing so on Twitter for the first time. This way, it will give our online friends an opportunity to personally respond to any of the comments made within our blogs.

In addition, it will help to demonstrate many of the pieces of advice that we have been giving our colleagues for numerous months through our blog. That is, when you use social media to promote your business, it helps for you to gain widespread recognition without costing you a penny!

Naturally, it’s our job to present to the world our mission statement which involves providing a combination of the best promotional products in the business and unbeatable customer service. As always, we do our best to inform business owners across Canada about the many benefits to using promotional gifts to grow their businesses.

Affixing your company name and logo to one or more of our amazing promo gifts is not representative of your normal, everyday marketing campaign. Instead, these gifts provide that “personal touch” that your customers will be very appreciative of. The giving out of promo gifts encourages stronger senses of customer loyalty.

In addition, the recipients of promo gifts very often recommend others to the company who provided the gifts. All in all, promotional items are very cost-conscious methods of promoting your business and Synergy is proud to provide the best ones around. From mugs to sunglasses to hats to keychains to knives to pens and so much more, our catalogue can’t be beat!

We look forward to connecting with you on Facebook and Twitter in the days and months to come so you can learn more! “Like” and “follow” us today!

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06 Sep

Stick To The Plan

Posted in Synergy Suggestions on 06.09.11 by John Meloche

When planning a marketing strategy, it’s always important to consider who your target audience is. You don’t want to waste money on ads that will not get to the people who are most likely to be interested in your products and services. A good marketing plan requires a well thought out strategy, not just money. So how can this be achieved?

There are a number of ways that you can make the most significant impact with the money you spend on your advertising campaigns. The Business Development Bank of Canada shares a few ideas about this topic on their website. We trust that, as always, these tips will be very useful for you when considering the ways that you can build your business.

“Be sure you adhere to a firm plan and give it time; you have to be patient before you see the payoff,” says BDC. It’s important to know that not every strategy you come up with will show immediate results. Your ideas must be tested to see how successful they may or not be. Don’t judge too quickly, but give your efforts some time to turn into greater profits.

BDC suggests that you “test your campaign before committing to it.” Are you able to organize focus groups? Many companies encourage customers to take part in surveys or even discussions about various products and advertising campaigns before they are launched. Don’t be afraid to take some advice about your ideas before you implement them.

And although patience is a virtue, you will want to be sure to “keep track of how much you spend on research. You’ll need money to produce your campaign.” It’s important to not overspend but make clear just how much you can afford to put towards any marketing campaign that you wish to launch. Proper budgeting is always important.

“Prepare timeless marketing messages that don’t have to be updated regularly,” says BDC. It makes sense to give your target audience the confidence that your business can be depended on for years to come. This is better than listing the number of years that you have been in business, as this changes every year. You don’t want your ads to become outdated too quickly!

As well, try to avoid relying only on humour to position your company. BDC’s website insists that “the benefits of your product or service as well as competitive differences and company culture are much better themes to emphasize.” These suggestions should help your company make decisions that will help it grow its customer base for years to come.

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05 Sep

Labour Day Marketing Tips

Posted in Synergy Suggestions on 05.09.11 by John Meloche

On behalf of everyone here at Synergy Marketing Consultants, we hope that you are enjoying your Labour Day weekend. Of course, for most business owners, there really is no such thing as a holiday. Even when they’re not actually going in to work, they still have the needs of their businesses on their minds. But that’s the thing about being an entrepreneur.

You know that no one is going to care about your business more than you are. You understand that you often can’t afford to take a day off. And while we do hope that you are enjoying the long weekend, we’d also like to assist you with ways you can take advantage of this year’s Labour Day.

On OverstockAds.com, a recent blog discussed ways that business owners can advertise to boost their Labour Day sales. Now while we know that the long weekend is already drawing to a close, we figure that these helpful tips are the types that can be useful all year round. After all, with the summer almost officially over, we know that business owners are already starting to think about the holiday season just a few short months away!

The first tip is to focus on branding. The website notes that it’s important to consider ways to keep bringing customers in long after the Labour Day long weekend. Think of the different things that makes your brand unique. Are there ways to better expose your identity to the buying public?

OverstockAds.com insists that it’s important to have an identity that separates you from your competition. They recommend that you reinforce the image of your brand by affixing your company logo to all ads during any promotional campaign. Naturally, we couldn’t agree more, knowing that promo gifts have always been great ways to spread the word about your company.

Prioritize your advertising, says the website. Even in a tough economy, it is still a good investment to advertise your business. Remember to think about your brand and how to best target the audience that would be most interested in what you have to offer. Be sure to pick ads that stay true to the image of your company.

Finally, remember that the customer is always right. According to OverstockAds.com, “If a small business treats its customers well, those customers stay loyal and come back again and again. Make sure your small business is doing its best in terms of customer service. It could mean the difference between a one time sale or a lifetime customer who refers others to your small business.”

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