Optimize Your Co-op Marketing Program. We’ll Show You How.

Consistency is important to establishing and maintaining brand integrity. As companies grow and establish new locations or franchises, that brand consistency often becomes increasingly difficult to manage. It’s a struggle that I’ve helped many clients manage.

At Shamrock, we help companies manage their brands—and their marketing budgets—using a smart co-op marketing platform. Whether a company has two locations or 200, this online tool helps protect brand standards while creating efficiencies that reduce administrative time, and ultimately, save money.

Click to read the full story

The genius of this online tool is that it automates everyday co-op marketing program management. Because the platform is modular by design, it allows companies to use only the functions that they need, while implementing and managing those brand-driven touches (think product brochures, email campaigns, approved display ads, promotional items, etc.) directly from their desktops.

This easy-to-implement co-op marketing platform provided big results for one of our clients—a major international heavy equipment manufacturer—helping them grow the promotional segment of their business by 200%. If you’re interested in learning more about this co-op management tool, click the link to read the full story:

Are you struggling to manage marketing or co-op programs at multiple locations? If you’re interested in learning more about Shamrock’s co-op tool, I’m happy to provide a quick demo. Connect with me at klawlor@shamrockcompanies.net.

Kathy Lawlor 

10 tips for increasing customer engagement

It used to be that the quality of goods or services is what created a happy customer. But that was then. And this is the age of customer engagement: Today, customers want to feel appreciated, engaged and connected with their chosen brands. Here’s proof:

• 86% of buyers will pay more for a better customer experience
• By 2020, customer experience will overtake price and product as the key brand differentiator (Walker)   

Research is also finding that, even in today’s digital era, customers are seeking more authentic, human-centered interaction—but without constant interruption. This is the challenge that we face as marketers: To connect with customers in ways that are real and relevant, while providing transparency, in a frequency that keeps them engaged.

If you don’t have a customer engagement program in place to create those connections, it’s time to jump on board: Excited and engaged customers bring in 23 percent more profits. (Gallup)

This article in Entrepreneur magazine offers 10 ideas for boosting customer engagement https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/310656. Here’s a quick-read summary of those tips:

1. Share behind-the-scenes content. Think about sharing employee stories or a tour of your facilities/properties.
2. Launch a user conference. Bring people together to meet and share their experience with your brand—these trigger emotional connections and lead to better brand attitudes. 
3. Survey customer to better understand them. And then use that data to align your service or product offerings.
4. Use personalization. Eighty percent of people say that brands are not tailored to their needs—stand out by making a personal connection with your customers.
5. Package products in unique ways. Make it memorable.
6. Create a purposeful brand. Generation X and millennials want to believe companies care about the same causes they do.
7. Launch a contest. Contests on social media increase online audiences by as much as 34 percent and boost email sign-ups by a similar amount (Hubspot).
8. Develop a product for an underserved niche. This offers the opportunity to quickly build brand loyalty.
9. Focus on creating added value. Give customers what they want and need—that’s true value. Be deliberate about communicating that value statement.
10. Try something new. Don’t be afraid to think outside the box and implement a new campaign element or try a new media channel—changing up your game could be what your brand needs to make breakthrough connections.

What tips do you have for creating engaging connections with your customers? I’m interested in hearing from you. emoriarty@shamrockcompanies.net

Ellen Moriarty

7 Steps to Getting Brand Trust Right

At Shamrock, we’re all about sharing the wealth—so we’re reposting this article from Content Marketing Institute that offers valuable tips about how to build trust in your brand. Here’s the article in its entirety:

There’s a crisis in consumer trust. At least that’s the word in the research.

The 2018 Edelman Trust Barometer revealed that only 48% of the U.S. population trusts business as an institution (a 10-point drop from 2017).

Yet, brand trust is one of the biggest factors in consumers’ purchasing decisions.

According to PwC’s Consumer Insights Survey (2018), 14% of respondents put trust as their No. 1 reason for choosing a retailer. “Trust in brand” was the second most frequently cited reason for purchase decision-making.

But while 72% of CMOs feel pressure to secure brand trust, it’s not always clear how to take ownership of it. This guide can help.

Step 1: Know your brand-trust goals (and how to measure them)

Do you want your customers to be raving about your company on review sites? Do you want them to recommend your products or services to friends and family? Do you want loyal customers who patronize your business?

Define what brand trust means to your organization. Detail what success looks like and how you will measure it.

To monitor how your brand is talked about online, set up Google Alerts for your brand keywords. When they appear online, you’ll receive an email from Google.

You can also monitor how well your audience trusts your brand by checking out relevant review sites – Google My Business, Yelp, Trustpilot, or industry-specific destinations. You can track mentions and conversations on social media with social media management tools like Hootsuite.

You can ask your customers directly for their opinions on your brand through online tools such as Survey Monkey, which provides templates you can customize. You can conduct an online survey to find your Net Promoter Score (how likely they would be to recommend your business to a friend or colleague) or assess customer satisfaction.

Step 2: Appoint a brand trust lead

Although this step isn’t mandatory, consider it if you’re keen to get your brand trust right.

Your brand trust lead is responsible for ensuring that your brand’s goals and vision are well detailed – how you want to be perceived and how you go about achieving trust. The lead can develop blueprints and protocols for how to achieve trust in your content, across your marketing activity, and in your customer service.

This person also can be responsible for monitoring and evaluating perceived trust of your brand, and for leading changes to continually improve your brand trust.

Step 3: Be authentic through brand storytelling

Authenticity is proven to be at the heart of trustworthiness. Consumers today are not interested in the sales pitch, the marketing lingo, or the “key benefits.” They want to know who your brand is.

Achieving authenticity comes down to your company’s DNA – your values, your goals unrelated to profit, your culture, etc. Out of this comes your brand’s unique and authentic voice.

Be authentic by being present – respond to negative feedback, address complaints, engage with your customers online (failure to respond to customers on social media can increase churn by 15%). And when you make a mistake, own it.

Be authentic by telling stories, which can better engage your customers and help develop a relationship, and, therefore, build trust.

Getting your storytelling right means developing a brand narrative. Nike tells its brand story not by promoting its products or even its brand. It tells the story of Rory McIlroy as a child looking up to his hero Tiger Woods and then finally meeting him. Only toward the end does the viewer see the trademark swoosh and the slogan “Just Do It.”

TIP: Invite your customers to tell their stories. Share these on your social media platforms and use a relevant hashtag to attract other customers to tell their stories too.

Step 4: Offer consistent customer experience

Customer service, while critical to any business, is somewhat limiting in its ability to develop a trusting relationship. It’s transactional – answering a question, helping pick out the right product, or troubleshooting problems.

Customer experience goes further, looking at the person’s journey through your brand. If done well, it provides your customers with a personalized, unique, and consistently high-quality experience that demonstrates that you understand them and their needs.

The better the experience your customers have, the more likely they are to trust you as a brand. According to PwC, 73% of consumers cite customer experience as an important factor in their purchasing decisions, yet only 49% say companies deliver.

TIP: Review your customer journey and list the touchpoints between your customer and your brand. Identify the opportunities where the relationship can be enhanced through, for example, heightened personalization.

Step 5: Focus more on relationships than conversions

Businesses understandably tend to fixate on conversions, sales, and revenue. However, those that focus on customer relationships first will be paid dividends in the long run.

According to Wunderman Thompson, 56% of consumers feel more loyal to brands that “get them” – that have a deep understanding of their priorities and preference. These brands have taken time to understand their customers and made efforts to build relationships.

TIP: Treat your first-time customers like VIPs, set a high benchmark for your relationship from the beginning.

Step 6: Embrace transparency

Transparency about your business is a crucial factor in eliciting trust. According to research by Reach Solutions, 58% of consumers don’t trust a brand until they’ve seen “real-world proof” that it’s kept its promises.

Transparency is showing your customers the truth about your brand, your products, services, etc., so they can determine for themselves if you’re worth buying from. Don’t expect them to take your word for it.

How you prove your transparency depends on your business. Transparency, for example, could be publishing third-party research about your products, divulging ingredients for your products, or responding openly and honestly to queries on social media.

Step 7: Build social proof

According to a Nielsen study, 92% of global online consumers trust word-of-mouth and recommendations from friends and family above any other form of advertising (up 18% since 2007). While this illustrates consumers’ growing distrust of advertising, it also shows that peer reviews and social proof are more important than ever.

BrightLocal’s research also backs this up. In 2017 and 2018, reading a positive review made survey respondents more likely to use a business. Only a small proportion (15%) said they didn’t let reviews influence their decision.

TIP: Interact regularly on industry-related review sites with customers who are talking positively and negatively about your business. (Sign up through a tool like Mention to alert you of online mentions so you can respond in real time.)

Ready to trust?

Brand trust is a big deal for marketers in 2019. It’s time to be proactive about it.

Your brand trust relies on what you say to your customers, how you say it, and how you prioritize their needs. It is communicated in your transparency – how you own your mistakes and inject your personality – and how you prioritize relationships over sales.

Building trust with your customers isn’t easy, but leaving it to chance won’t cut it anymore. If you take steps to own it, consumers will choose you above your competitors and, if you maintain their trust, stay with you for the long haul.

Build trust by humanizing your brand. Here’s how.

Is your brand trustworthy? While you may be strong in your conviction, your answer might not resonate with today’s consumers: According to the 2018 Edelman Trust Barometer (the industry standard for measuring consumer trust) only 48 percent of Americans trust businesses—and that number is on the decline.

So how do you build trust among leery consumers? One way is to simply get real, making memorable connections with your audience by showing the “human” side of your brand.

A recent article in Entrepreneur magazine reinforces the argument for creating authentic, transparent connections with your customers: “according to PwC’s Global Consumer Insights Survey 2018, more than one in three consumers surveyed ranked “trust in brand” among the top three factors, other than price, influencing their decision to shop at a particular retailer. How do you get consumers to trust your company? You do it by showing them the human side of your brand.”

Read the full article here or continue reading for a summary of Entrepreneur’s tips for making a human connection with your brand:

Make them laugh. It’s ok to show your not-so-serious side. A little levity goes a long way toward breaking down barriers. The article contends that “showing your more playful side will help consumers see that you’re not just a business focused on selling a product; you’re a human who can put aside your seriousness and have some fun.”

Create original funny content or share popular or existing posts that will get people laughing: That carefree feeling is what consumers will then associate with your brand.

Introduce your team. Authentic content that showcases your team and/or your operations is a great way to put a face with your business. Candid photos, videos, meet-the-employee spotlights, a glimpse behind operations—these are simple ways to put your brand out there in a very human way.

Share user-generated content. “This works to humanize your brand in two ways: First, it’s exciting and flattering to the user who gets his or her photo featured on your website or social media feed. Second, it shows other consumers that you have great relationships with their peers and that those people already enjoy your products.”

Tell authentic stories. Don’t spend all your time talking about how great your company is; humanize your brand by sharing authentic stories about your failures, hardships and lessons that you’ve learned—this will help customers better relate to you.

Show appreciation for your customers. “Letting your customers know that you care about and appreciate them is one of the best ways to humanize your brand.” Consider sending your best customers company swag; offering special discounts; or simply connecting with a personal message or hand-written note. That personal touch goes a long way toward creating raving brand fans.

This “human” directive is one we’ve been incorporating on our Shamrock twitter feed—and we’re seeing positive results. What’s been your most successful “human” marketing touch? Chime in our Facebook page.

Ellen Moriarty 

11 Tips For Successful Event Marketing 2018

A successful special event takes more than an engaging program and an open bar, it requires strategic marketing to drive attendance at, and create a buzz surrounding, the event experience.

Following is an essential event marketing checklist to keep the effort on track:

1. Why/Who? Consider these questions first: Why and to whom are you marketing your event? Is this an annual meeting? A women in leadership event? The answers will shape messaging and drive marketing decisions.
2. Invitations. Start with a save-the-date (card or email) 8 weeks out; and 4 weeks prior, follow with an invitation that provides complete event details.
3. Survey. Send out a survey prior to the event—the responses will help shape content and can be used to generate ideas for session topics, speakers, etc.
4. Content. Make it relevant to your audience. If it’s not, leave it out.
5. Email. Take advantage of your regular email campaign schedule and use that as a platform to promote your event.
6. Blog. Beginning four weeks prior to your event, blog weekly. Add videos to engage your audience: If you have footage from the previous year’s event, use that to drive interest and excitement; or create new video highlighting speakers, entertainment, venue, etc.
7. Homepage link. In all communication (email, blog, social channels) provide a link back to your event homepage where people can register.
8. Social media. Take advantage of all social media channels to market your event before, during and after. Facebook is the most popular social media choice leading up to and after an event, while Twitter holds the top spot during events. (Source: FreemanXP, Event Marketing Institute)
9. Track results. Check to see what’s working from the links in different channels (i.e., email, blog, facebook). Redeploy as applicable.
10. Promo items. Consider your audience and put thought into choosing a useful and/or unique gift.

    

    click here to view

11. Branded convenience. In addition to gifts, make added brand impressions with on-site conveniences: Supply pens, notepads and device charging stations (how can they tweet with low battery?). Watch the video below:

Prior to the event, I always meet with my team to help outline individual charges: During the event, who do you want to meet? What are you hoping to glean? What does that conversation look like? 

This is the event marketing framework that I’ve found to be most useful. Are there other items that you would add? Connect with me
@ msmith@shamrockcompanies.net.

Megan Smith

Use Promotional Products to Make Brand Impressions

In this digital age, so much of our everyday business is managed online. But as with any other aspect of our lives, balance is essential to success. Promotional products are the ideal source for equilibrium in your marketing program because they make a brand impression offline. 

Think about it: How many logoed t-shirts do you have in your closet? I’ve got a stack of them—and I’m not alone: Statistics show that, on average, Americans keep t-shirts for 6.3 months, tallying 2,450 impressions. It’s a great example of how a promotional item makes a tangible, lasting brand statement.

These recent statistics from the Promotional Products Association International (PPAI) 2017 Consumer Study speak to the resonating power of promotional products in marketing:

• 89% of consumers received a promotional product in the last six months. Of those consumers,
• 79% researched the brand, and
• 83% are more likely to do business with the brand

Are promotional products part of your current marketing program? Consider that promotional products are the most highly regarded form of advertising (Advertising Specialty Institute 2016). Here’s a few additional statistics to consider as you review and refresh your marketing plan for next quarter:

Which premium items will provide you the best return on your investment? 

• Pens + Impressions = Best Value:
  The cost per impression is less than 1/10th of a cent in the United States

Which items generate the most impressions?

• Bags generate more impressions in the U.S. than any other promotional item;
  50% of U.S. consumers own promotional bags

Looking to influence opinions about your brand? The top 5 influential products on opinion of

advertisers:

1. USB drives
2. Outerwear
3. Drinkware
4. Writing instruments
5. Performance wear

At Shamrock, our value is not merely sourcing highest quality promotional items at the best price—it’s our ability to connect online and offline channels to complement each other and work together to deliver the message in the most powerful and effective way. The result of that integrated marketing effort is a memorable brand impression. 

If you’d like to talk about integrating promotional products as part of your next campaign, email me at tberry@shamrockcompanies.net

Tim Berry

Optimize Your Co-op Marketing Program. We’ll Show You How.

Consistency is important to establishing and maintaining brand integrity. As companies grow and establish new locations or franchises, that brand consistency often becomes increasingly difficult to manage. It’s a struggle that I’ve helped many clients manage.

At Shamrock, we help companies manage their brands—and their marketing budgets—using a smart co-op marketing platform. Whether a company has two locations or 200, this online tool helps protect brand standards while creating efficiencies that reduce administrative time, and ultimately, save money.


Click to View

The genius of this online tool is that it automates everyday co-op marketing program management. Because the platform is modular by design, it allows companies to use only the functions that they need, while implementing and managing those brand-driven touches (think product brochures, email campaigns, approved display ads, promotional items, etc.) directly from their desktops.
 
This easy-to-implement co-op marketing platform provided big results for one of our clients—a major international heavy equipment manufacturer—helping them grow the promotional segment of their business by 200%. If you’re interested in learning more about this co-op management tool, click the link below to read the full story:

Are you struggling to manage marketing or co-op programs at multiple locations? If you’re interested in learning more about Shamrock’s co-op tool, I’m happy to provide a quick demo. Connect with me at klawlor@shamrockcompanies.net

Kathy Lawlor 

Grow Your Business By Marketing To Existing Customers

Do your marketing efforts focus on new customers—or those loyal to your brand?

The answer should be: both. When you consider that acquiring a new customer is “five to 25 times more expensive than retaining an existing one” (Harvard Business Review), it makes sense to focus on keeping the customers you have, happy.

According to an article in Marketing Land, marketing to existing customers drives business growth: In addition to recommending you to others, satisfied customers positively impact your bottom line in many ways:

• They are more open to upsell and cross-sell opportunities, increasing their lifetime customer value.
• They’re less price-sensitive because they know you’re worth it.



source: marketingland.com

• They are more resistant to outreach efforts by competitors.

Given these bottom-line benefits, it’s smart to develop concentrated marketing campaigns that connect with and engage existing customers. But where do you start? Consider these four questions:

Are we delivering on our brand promise?
A brand promise is a contract between you and your customers. It sets the stage for the experience they should expect to have. By evaluating your business objectives and comparing them against the customer experience, you’ll get a clear picture of what your customers are experiencing. Is your internal and external messaging consistent? Are you over-delivering in some areas and lacking in others?

By gathering feedback from these prompts, you can fine-tune your messaging and delivery, bringing what you do and what you say you’ll do into closer alignment, which equates to a better customer experience.

Who are our most satisfied customers?
It’s likely that you have a system in place to gather customer feedback. So, use that to you advantage in strengthening your brand story. Consider using customer testimonials, case studies, guest speakers, etc. to build your brand reputation and help you stand out among competitors.

Do we have a strategy for growing ancillary revenue from happy customers?
Are you meeting your customers’ needs? How can you provide greater value? At Shamrock we use Business Reviews: We crunch the data on orders/products/categories, etc. that provide meaningful views for our clients. Then, we ask for feedback and use the opportunity to share our other products/services to cross sell and upsell. Always, you want those suggestions to be relevant to your customers.

What are our competitors doing?
Understanding the reasons why you win or lose business is an important to keeping customers happy and your company primed for growth.

How does your product or service stack up against the competition? What are they doing that you aren’t? What are your salespeople hearing from customers? Answering these questions will help to shape your view of where you stand in the marketplace and can help identify areas that require greater attention.

To read the entire article, click here.

Focusing creative efforts on customer retention benefits your bottom line. Are there other questions that you use to identify ways to provide a better customer experience? I’d like to hear from you.

All the Best,
Tim Connor
tconnor@shamrockcompanies.net

Make Tangible Brand Connections

Harnessing the power of promotional products

We just got our hands on the Promotional Products Association International (PPAI) 2017 Consumer Study. The results speak to the pervasive power of promotional products: The study found that 89% of consumers had received a promotional product within the past six months—and 8 in 10 of them researched the brand; with 83% of those consumers noting they are more likely to do business with the brand. Those statistics reinforce the messages in this Shamrock blog post from 2015. So, we’re bringing it back in its entirety, with an updated graphic that summarizes the 2017 PPAI study.

In this digital age, so much of our everyday business is managed online. But as with any other aspect of our lives, balance is essential to success. Promotional products are the ideal source for equilibrium in your marketing program because they make a brand impression offline. Think about it: How many logoed t-shirts do you have in your closet? I’ve got a stack of them—and I’m not alone: The latest statistics show that, on average, Americans keep t-shirts for 6.3 months, tallying 2,450 impressions. It’s a great example of how a promotional item makes a tangible, lasting brand statement.

click to view

At Shamrock, we provide the transactional piece (quality product at a good price) as one component of a strategic approach (integrated marketing) to using promotional products to protect and promote your brand: We see the big picture. Our value is that we understand how online and offline channels can complement each other and work together to perpetuate the message in the most powerful and effective way. The result of that integrated and balanced marketing effort is a memorable brand impression.

With so many new, innovative products on the market and the phenomenal reach that we are seeing with brand awareness, it’s an exciting time to be a part of this industry. 

Are you using promotional products as part of your marketing program? Which premium items will provide you the best return on your investment? Chime in on our Facebook page. Check out the graphic below to see some the latest statistics.

All the best,
Tim Connor