Expanding Your Marketing Efforts

Our marketing as awards retailers is mostly limited to the local level. It is almost akin to a grass-roots campaign compared to the large consumer companies. We don’t have the budgets, reach, or organizational infrastructure that allows marketing on a national level. Also, our products do not have the “wow” factor necessary to capture the attention of a wide consumer audience. There are many who work inside our industry who confirm this sentiment. They feel as though the consumer public and today’s younger decision-making crowd do not put the importance on awards the way that their predecessors did. As a result, money is spent in other directions and a smaller pool of money is left over for our industry to pull orders from.

Counteracting this is difficult but involves a multi-barreled approach of getting in front of as many customers and potential customers as possible, confidently and consistently. Tout the importance of recognition as a positive motivational tool and use current customers’ orders as case studies when presenting solutions to prospects. Engage technology experts to incorporate social media into your marketing schemes. Persistence is important. Make sure that all potential customers have a clear understanding of exactly what solutions you can offer them, and never lost sight of the fact that existing customers are just as important to woo, as they are consistently exposed to alternative solutions.

-Eric Priceman, Victory