When I was a kid, every January the local drug store had a huge box of calendars ready for patrons to pick up when they purchased items in the store. My mom made sure we picked up our free 12-month calendar; she appreciated the useful gift and we enjoyed scrolling through the monthly pages on the way home to see what images would be feature. As an adult I look forward to the free calendars our suppliers send us since our industry "counts days"; daily. We must project ahead for production, so it's critical that we have access to a calendar at our finger tips.
For 2018 we distributed National Calendar Dates to our clients, which was a HUGE hit; clients loved the fun of seeing what fun or quirky day of celebration was featured 365 days a year. While we are living in a digital word, we keep track of dates for a variety of reasons and access to information quickly keeps us productive. Looking up or down with our eyes to a quick reference to dates is still easier that clicking some buttons to pull up a screen. There is also a lot of research to suggest that physically recording information with hand to pen increases retention of information. There is also a lot of research related to who is using calendars, look at this ASI Study from 2016.
Our friend's at Warwick Publishing came up with 3 compelling reasons to use calendars in 2019.
1. Inspire a New Year’s Resolution – Think about how your clients’ services or products can fit into a new year’s resolution. How can their business improve life for their end-user customers? Can they help them decrease stress in 2019? Become more organized, or live a healthier lifestyle? Can they help them reach their business goals? What about improving family life or personal relationships?
Chances are, there’s a great way to position your client’s business in a way that will inspire their end-user customers to take action in 2019. Focus on the problems they help solve for their target audience. Mail a custom value stick calendar, desk calendar, or trifold calendar with a special, timely offer for a free trial, discount, or consultation to be redeemed by January 31st, with some creative ad copy about how the business wants to help them make 2019 a great year.
2. Track ROI with a special promo code or URL. We often hear how hard it is to track the ROI of promo, especially with printed items like calendars. However, with a little digital strategy, this doesn’t have to be the case! Talk to your social media specialist or web admin about creating a special landing page, promo code, or social media contest to tie in with a printed calendar. Print the unique URL on the calendar with a clear call to action you want your customers to take. We recommend using bit.ly to shorten a customizable, trackable link for simplicity.
Maybe you use the calendar to direct recipients to comment on a Facebook or Instagram post with a goal they have for 2019 in order to win a $50 gift card to your business. Perhaps you encourage calendar recipients to visit a special landing page to submit a form for an exclusive coupon. (Bonus: this can help you capture emails for your email marketing list, too) If you have Google Analytics set up (it’s free!) You can track all of your website traffic, and add some real ROI to any promotion.
3. Encourage Monthly Repeat Business in Store. Hand out value stick calendars printed with a promo code good for 10% off a customer’s next order when they bring in last month’s calendar page! Encourage repeat traffic in store for restaurants and cafes, retail shops, salons, and beyond. This idea also works with our premiere Desk Calendars, which have tear-off monthly pages and 3 imprint areas included, with NO setup charges.
No comments:
Post a Comment