I have to be honest; a pet peeve of mine is walking into someone’s marketing closet and seeing boxes of brochures, t-shirts, and various items of marketing intent collecting in boxes, months, if not years, after they were printed with the intention of promoting the company.
I have seen this scenario happen so often it’s become a mission of mine to be nosey and ask why. Here is just a few of the answers I’ve gotten:
“Well, it cost so much money we only give it out at special occasions. Then we forgot they were there.”
“We figured they’d end up in someone’s trash anyway.”
“What?! Those things? We over ordered.”
“We just made those to shut [insert department] up and they never used them.”
I am honestly floored each time. I want to grab these knuckleheads and ask how their owners of their company feel about them bludgeoning their marketing budget to death with stupidity. If they are the owner I want to smack them with their own ledger.
I am frustrated with the lack of use of these pieces. I am annoyed at the lack of hustle on the part of the company to get these pieces of hard earned marketing dollars in the hands of as many people as possible. I am upset for the loss of marketing dollars that could have gone into something they would have more heart to promote with greater gusto.
I want to rescue these pieces of marketing budget waste discarded to the island of forgotten marketing ideas. They could be in the hands of hopeful clients or advocates for your company instead of in boxes. They could be on display in their front lobby or part of every sales persons pitch. True these pieces could end up in the trashcan at someone else’s shop, but the money has been spent. I’d rather they be somewhere other than the closet of the company that ordered them.
Take stock of your marketing pieces around your office. Does the above describe the state of the marketing pieces in your closet? If so, dust them off, make sure they are relevant, and put them in as many hands as you can. Make it the Fire Sale of your marketing pieces. Everything Must Go.
If your marketing pieces are out of date, or no longer relevant, take them out and give them a proper burial in your trashcan. Always keep one piece for yourself as a reminder of things you’ve done, right and wrong, but it’s time to let those wasted marketing dollars go. It’s also time to look at what was the reason they were created in the fist place.
Before you create your next, what seems like, brilliant marketing piece I want you to think of these questions:
- Do you honestly intend on putting every single piece of material in the hands of every prospect or client once they are created?
- Do you know how you are going to make $1 back on ever dollar you spend on your marketing pieces?
- Why are you creating these marketing pieces to begin with?
- Do you have the money to waste if you never move a single item?
IF you can answer these questions honestly and with the intent of success then who am I to stop you. What I do want from you is that the minute you open that box of whatever marketing goodness you ordered and PAID FOR that you set the first aside for yourself and then get those pieces out as quickly as possible.
Put them out so many places, and in so many hands, people wonder what is motivating you. After all of your hard work of getting them out the first time you hear “Oh…I saw that [insert location]” I assure you that you will feel proud. Then I fully expect you to take that opportunity and get closer to the sale.
Don’t get me wrong, these pieces are just the gatekeepers for you. They are your little PR machines at work. It will be up to you to leverage their awareness into the next sale, but please, for the love of Pete don’t let these little gems of your marketing budget go to waste in a closet left to be forgotten.
So, dear reader, take stock of your marketing pieces and ask yourself this… are your marketing pieces collecting dust or momentum?
Until next time, as always, thank you for reading and stay wicked.
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