Host Gabe Gotay:
Today, we’re going to dive into distributor marketing strategies in 2024. For the first half of today’s show, I’m going to talk about some of the general principles behind B2B marketing strategies that apply directly to many promotional products distributors. Then, I’m going to be bringing on a special guest, Janet McNaughton from Lasting Impressions. She’s going to share some of her business philosophies and discuss how they guide her marketing strategies.
After Janet shares her story with us, I’ll come back on and I’m going to dive a little bit into social media strategies before transitioning to the next month. Hopefully, my broad overview and her specific examples will paint a larger picture that gives you all a fresh perspective on your own marketing strategies.
Let’s talk about growing a brand. Contrary to popular belief, brand-focused marketing is not explicitly reserved for B2C businesses. B2B businesses, such as promotional products distributors, can also reap benefits and see long-term success by adjusting their marketing strategies to focus on making their brand more memorable to existing and potential customers.
Brand equity is the value of your brand based on customer perception. That value is built over time, brick by brick, driving both short-term activation and long-term growth. Building brand awareness creates a familiar face with potential customers. This familiarity breeds trust and makes them more likely to consider your brand when purchasing from or recommending you to others.
Strong brand equity goes beyond just sales. It allows you to charge more. People are willing to pay a premium for trustworthy brands. It helps you attract top talent. Employees are drawn to well-established companies.
Brand equity can be divided into two categories: mental availability and physical availability. Physical availability boils down to how physically accessible it is for your customers, new or existing, to purchase and receive your products. Luckily, if you’re a SAGE customer, you already have all the necessary tools to maximize your physical availability. However, many smaller businesses can struggle from mental availability in the competitive world of promo products. Simply having a large selection of great products isn’t enough. You need to be the brand that pops into potential buyers’ minds when they’re considering branded merchandise. This is where the concept of mental availability comes into play.
It can essentially be defined as your brand’s share of mind in the marketplace, rather than share of revenue. It is something that is garnered over time. Imagine it on a spectrum. On one end, potential buyers might not recognize your brand name at all. At the other end, your company is the automatic go-to choice for promotional products. This spectrum can be helpfully broken down into three distinct tiers:
Tier one is awareness. At this very beginning stage, potential buyers might recognize your brand name if someone mentions it. It might not sound like a lot, but it is still a crucial first step. If you’re just getting started, you should use a mix of engaging social media, informative blog articles, and online advertising, all with the goal of just getting your name out there.
The next tier is salience. The mid-tier represents a significant leap forward. Here, potential buyers are more likely to think of your brand completely independently when considering a promotional product purchase. This is where content marketing can really shine. By creating valuable and informative content that addresses the challenges and needs of the businesses you’re targeting, you position yourself as a trusted resource. Blog posts offering tips on choosing the right promotional product for specific marketing goals or informative webinars discussing industry trends all contribute to building salience for your company.
The third tier, at the pinnacle of mental availability, is fame. In the context of promo products, this would be you being the number one brand that comes to mind when people think about branded merchandise. This level requires a sustained and multifaceted marketing approach. No matter what industry you’re in, building strong partnerships with industry influencers, sponsoring relevant events, and consistently delivering exceptional customer service are all key ingredients in achieving fame.
So let’s talk about the true value of mental availability. Practically, let’s say that there are two companies, Brand A and Brand B, both selling promotional products. If a potential buyer falls into tier one awareness for both brands, they might need to spend time researching each brand further. However, if Brand A has already achieved tier two salience in the buyer’s mind, it’s a straightforward decision. Brand A is the default choice. It saves the buyer time and effort, and ultimately, that leads to a sale.
Ultimately, investing in building brand awareness for your promotional products company provides you with a significant competitive advantage. It allows you to capture a larger share of the market and it positions you for long-term success. Remember that building a brand takes time and consistent effort. The content you create and your overall brand experience should resonate with people, even if they aren’t actively shopping for promotional products just yet. By consistently demonstrating your expertise and building trust, you’ll climb the ladder of mental availability and become the go-to choice for promotional products in the out-of-market buyers.
Now let’s talk about this whole out-of-market buyers idea and talk about some of the science surrounding marketing. So imagine a market where only 5% of the people seeing your marketing efforts are actually looking to purchase right now. That’s kind of the core insight behind the 95/5 rule, introduced by Professor John Du from the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute for Marketing Science. It’s a seemingly counterintuitive idea that challenges traditional marketing approaches and underscores the critical role of brand building in achieving long-term success.
The rule proposes that a staggering 95% of buyers are actually out of market at any given time. These are future buyers who will eventually enter the market for your products, but not necessarily today. Professor Du sheds light on the true power of advertising in this context. He says advertising works by building and refreshing memory structures in the minds of buyers who may not purchase for several years. In simpler terms, advertising is not just about triggering immediate sales. It’s about planting a seed in the minds of customers, even those who aren’t actively considering a purchase. This seed takes the form of brand awareness and positive associations. By consistently staying visible and delivering targeted, engaging messages, you build a foundation of familiarity and trust. And that’s where the magic happens. Because when those out-of-market buyers eventually enter the market, your brand is already the known entity. It’s the familiar name that they recognize, the brand that they have positive associations with because of your marketing and advertising they encountered in the past. The pre-existing brand awareness gives you a significant advantage over your competitors who have not taken the time to prioritize building mental availability.
And the benefits of brand building extend far beyond immediate sales figures. It’s about creating lasting customer awareness, ensuring your brand is top of mind when the future buying needs continue to arise. The key, as Professor Du emphasizes, is delivering targeted and engaging advertising that resonates with potential buyers and creates a positive first impression that lingers in their memory. So that when the buying moment arrives, you can leverage this foundation and then you switch to a more sales-focused messaging to maximize results. By embracing the 95/5 rule, you’re investing in brand building and you’re not just competing for today’s sales. You’re securing a place in the minds of future buyers, paving the way for long-term success in a loyal customer base.
Now I want to talk about these numbers, about 95/5. It is a powerful perspective on marketing, but it’s crucial to avoid misinterpreting it. The principle just suggests the amount of customers that are in or out of market. It doesn’t suggest neglecting short-term sales activations and focusing 95% of your budget and efforts on just brand building. That’s not viable. The true power lies in recognizing the vital roles that both brand and demand play in achieving sustainable success.
Think of it as a dynamic feedback loop. Strong brand building builds awareness and positive associations with your products and service. This in turn fuels demand by attracting potential customers more receptive to your offerings. Conversely, successful demand generation activities like promotions, special offers, and targeting campaigns drive sales and create positive customer experiences. These experiences, when consistently positive, further reinforce your brand image and build long-term loyalty.
The optimal balance between brand and demand marketing has been a topic of much discussion. But a study by The Institute of Practitioners in Advertising suggests a 60/40 split: 60% dedicated to branding and 40% focused on direct response efforts. This framework provides a helpful starting point, but it’s helpful to consider the specific industries you’re targeting, your product’s life cycle, and your target audience as you balance out your ideal allocation. And that balance is crucial. Short-term demand-driven strategies like targeted ads and special offers can generate immediate sales and provide you with a much-needed cash flow. But their impact can be fleeting. Once your promotion ends, the sales surge typically recedes.
On the other hand, solely relying on long-term brand building strategies could leave your business with a strong brand identity, but an empty bank account. Customers might recognize and admire your brand, but if they lack a compelling reason to purchase from you in the moment, they might turn to a competitor offering those immediate sales incentives. The magic lies in creating a symbiotic relationship between brand and demand. By consistently investing in brand building through engaging content and strategic partnerships, you cultivate the fertile ground for future sales opportunities. When you then launch a demand-driven campaign, such as a limited-time offer or targeted social media promotion, you’re doing so to a pre-warmed audience. They already recognize and trust your brand, making them more receptive to your sales message. This in turn leads to higher quality responses and conversions that translate into sustainable sales growth.
The brand-demand feedback loop is a powerful concept that encourages a holistic marketing approach. By nurturing brand awareness and trust alongside strategic demand generation tactics, you create a win-win scenario, generating immediate sales while laying a groundwork for long-term success and a loyal customer base.
So far, I’ve been giving you a high-level overview of the science behind marketing strategies. But now it’s time for us to pivot the discussion to the practical execution of marketing strategies. To kick that off, I am thrilled to introduce our special guest today, Janet McNaughton.
Janet isn’t just a promotional product provider. She is a full-service marketing strategist. As the founder and president of Lasting Impressions, Janet has over 20 years of experience helping businesses across various industries achieve their goals. But her philosophy truly sets Janet apart: work smart, be creative, live inspired.
From high-level strategy to flawless execution, she has a proven track record of helping businesses succeed. Janet, welcome to the show. We are so glad to have you. I’m going to let you take it.
Special Guest Janet McNaughton:
Well, Gabe, thank you so much. I really appreciate the opportunity to be here. It’s wonderful to be with you and to each of you who are participating as an attendee of today’s Promo Perspective.
A warm welcome. My name is Janet McNaughton. I’m the president of Lasting Impressions, and we’re located in Kirkland, Washington. Let’s start with a trip down memory lane to a magical place that I trust you’ve been to called Disneyland or Disney World.
I invite you to think back to a time that you visited the park and think about what it was like when you approached the park entrance. Can you remember the music? Can you hear it playing? Do you remember what you saw as you were going through the turnstiles and you actually get into the park and you’re finally there? What do you see? Is it beautiful? Is it magical? Is it practically perfect in every way?
You know, those of us who are on this video conference call or podcast later, we’re all in the business of branded apparel. And I would be remiss if I didn’t mention to you, what do you think the people at the Disney park are wearing? Are they wearing t-shirts or hoodies with a one-color PMS match of the Disney logo? No, they’re wearing costumes, and they’re called cast members.
You know, as marketers and sales professionals, you and I, we engage with our clients in the experience economy. And it’s every step of engagement that we interact with our clients that matters, even more than the business plan. Disney has been in the experience business since forever, and their magic pixie dust is the experiences that they create for their clients. But it hasn’t always been that way.
You know, in corporate marketing back in the day when I went to college, it was about the four principles of product, place, price, and promotion. And it was when Starbucks came on the scene in the middle of the 1980s, late 1980s, early 1990s, that they just completely transformed the marketplace. And they told everybody, “You know what? No, it’s about the experience. And we’re going to create a third place where people can, you know, experience their friends and their family and their clients. And we want to be that third place between home and business.”
With that knowledge of this extra area that I needed to hit as a marketer, I opened my business in 1996. And I started with the concept that I wanted to call of creating the whole package or delivering the whole package. And if you go to my website, you’ll know that I have, as part of my logo, this is on tone on tone, so it’s a little bit hard to see, but part of my logo is a package. It’s a gift. And I really took that brand to heart. And so my desire was to deliver the whole package to the clients that they served, an end-to-end solution where they received more than what they paid for. I wanted them to receive the invisible gift.
The invisible gift is the intangible emotion that people experience when they buy from you, and it’s what you’re known for. I believe it begins with hello and it never ends. And the reason why I say that is because I’m in the business of creating clients for life. I want you to think back to Disney for a moment and think about what their invisible gift is. What are they handing out? I would submit to you, it’s happiness. That’s what they give out.
At Lasting Impressions, we’re committed to lifting our clients higher, and our invisible gift is inspiration. What are you giving out? What are you known for? While you’re thinking about that, I’m going to give you some ideas about how I’ve come to become known for the invisible gift of inspiration. And it really boils down to very thoughtful personal communication with the clients that I serve, spectacular marketing campaigns, and an unwavering commitment to excellence.
Our net promoter rating is 9.8 out of 10, and that is a monster number. But it wasn’t always that way. We worked really hard to become exceptional and treasured in the hearts and minds of the people that we serve. I want to dig a little bit into each one of those categories and give you some ideas on how you might want to consider raising your own bar. And I want to start with phone calls. And I’m really going to focus on sales and marketing for us because I know that those of us on this call are in sales and marketing, although our plan does go end-to-end from invoicing to operations and everything else. But let’s get into sales and marketing, and I want to talk about those special moments, the moments that matter. And it’s all these little things that add up to a huge relationship, a life relationship with our clients. And they start with phone calls.
I don’t know about you, but I make a lot of them. And SAGE CRM history is my best friend. I track everything in SAGE CRM history, and I document what I talk to my clients about so that the next time I dial them up, I look at SAGE CRM history and I say, “Okay, this is what we talked about last. Let’s start our conversation where we left off.”
If for any reason I can’t get a hold of somebody, I leave them a message that is both personal and professional. And I really like to reference back to the last time that we talked, so that they know that I’m thinking about them. And I know that I’ve given them an inspiring message. So phone calls are so important. And if they’re not there, leave an inspiring voicemail message.
The next thing I want to talk about is handwritten notes. I’ve written a bunch of notes in my business career, and I do all kinds of note cards. Sometimes they’re store-bought, sometimes they’re themed for my own business. This is based on my workshop called The Greatest Show. And it’s not the note so much that matters. It’s the enclosure card that I create. It’s a quote card. I do all these inspirational quote cards. And this one I’m going to read off to you. It’s by Helen Keller, and it says, “Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.”
You know, we’re in a magical business. We’re in promotional products. How cool is that? We have amazing products at our disposal at a self-promo price. And so I do marketing kits, and those are designed to delight my customers, inspire them, and let them know how much I treasure the business that we do together.
These are done quarterly. Sometimes I only get them out twice a year, but the goal is to really impact these people in a magical way. I want to share with you a campaign that, um, that Gabe talked about a little bit. It’s called Work Smart, Be Creative, Live Inspired. And this is a campaign that I created for my customers that I wanted them to know that they are the spark that flames the passion that we have to get up every day and work our tails off to serve them. And this was a t-shirt campaign where we created a t-shirt for each of our customers in the size they wanted to wear, and we mailed it out to them with this letter. And I also included a trifold from our apparel business partner so that they would learn more about t-shirts. So this was inspiring and educational and a thank you all at the same time.
I love to do campaigns that have runway and longevity. So when I do a campaign, I will also create often a card. And these are used for handwritten notes. And the reason why I do this is I print enough so that we can hammer this message home about how they’re the spark that lights our flame over and over and over again. So I usually print enough to write notes for six to nine months. And then I also tie in our tagline, our tagline is Advance Your Brand, Activate Your Employees, and Add Customers for Life. So that’s a wonderful campaign that I really enjoyed. And I loved it when people sent me selfies of themselves wearing their t-shirts. So that was really fun.
I want to share another campaign with you that I hope you’ll like. I love it. It’s called, um, it’s a Dream Box. And I love this image of these hot air balloons going over this beautiful, beautiful valley at sunrise. And this was mailed out flat, and then people had the opportunity to turn it into a box. And it was designed to hold their dreams. I included in this marketing kit this envelope full of Yes Again quote cards. And I gave them a whole bunch of different inspirational quote cards to inspire them to think about what their dreams were. And they were to write their dreams on the back and then place it in the Box as their dreams came to fruition.
I have a quote here that I’m going to read for you. It says, ‘Try not to become a person of success, but rather try to become a person of value.’ That was from Albert Einstein.
This campaign was also integrated with social media. I kind of feel like I’m building a cake. I’ve got the five layers of the four pillars of profit, the four pillars of marketing: product, price, place, and promotion. Then we have experience, and now we’ve got the digital economy. So keep building marketing!
I included this letter, which doesn’t look digital, but I’ll show you how it was. I explained to my customers that I wanted them to live their dreams. The whole purpose of the gift was that for every quote card they wrote in their box, if they had the passion and desire to post it on my LinkedIn site, then I would enter them into a contest. A winner would be drawn at random, and they could select one of these three gifts for themselves.
This was a beautiful campaign that I really enjoyed doing. I loved hearing what people were up to, what their dreams were, what their goals were. I could talk to them about that because what’s important to them is important to me.
Getting back to you, I want to ask you: What are you handing out? What do you want to be known for? I know you’re special and one of a kind, and the message you have for others is unique. You just need to figure out what that is, what you bring to the table that can be of value to others. I encourage you to think about that and create an invisible message that you become known by.
I don’t feel that making or doing these marketing kits needs to be expensive. What I think it needs to be is timely, consistent, and authentic. So I want to encourage you to think about how you’re going to make an impact with the people you serve. Today, I really want to encourage our team as a whole and our industry as a whole to think about how we can lift the industry higher, how we can raise the bar of the professional service we offer.
I hope that today’s information I shared with you about the marketing kits I do and the way I do business are tips and tricks that you can incorporate in your business. I hope you found things that will really work for you. I want to thank you so much for the opportunity to share what I’ve learned over the years. I want to thank the SAGE team, especially Gabe, and wish all of you an excellent afternoon. If anyone would like to engage with me, I’ll put my contact information in the chat. You’re welcome to reach out, and I’d be happy to talk to you about your goals and dreams.
Host Gabe Gotay:
Thank you so much, Janet. That was amazing, and we’re so glad you were able to join us today. I highly encourage everyone to stick around. I have a little more to talk about, and Janet is going to stick around in the chat to answer any questions you might have.
Thank you again, Janet. I’m going to move on to talk a little bit about social media. There are endless vehicles for your marketing campaign, and any good marketing strategy is going to use a mix of different vehicles, from phone calls and email strategies to social media. But I’m just going to focus a little on social media with the little time I have left today.
Let’s talk about organic posting on social media first. Let’s use high-attention formats like stories, videos, and articles. Making dynamic use of these different formats allows you to create a neurologically rich link between your customer and your brand. By looking at all of these different formats, you’re going to be forced to share your message in different ways and therefore force yourself to create higher-quality content overall.
Speaking of high quality, no matter what format your content is published in, it’s important to ensure it’s of the highest visual fidelity possible. It doesn’t take a skilled graphic designer to spot low-resolution imagery on social media. Even non-expert users are going to register that something is of lower quality than its surroundings, and you will consciously and unconsciously push customers away from your brand. When you’re posting, make sure your images are at least 1080 by 1080 and that your videos are at least 1920 by 1080.
Next, engagement with users is really important. Make sure you’re going beyond just the content you share. Post something, engage with the comments, ask something that provokes people to leave comments, ask open-ended questions, and then go in and interact with those people’s responses. Create a two-way dialogue on what is typically seen as a one-way street.
Next, constantly be tracking your page insights. Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram—all of these have very powerful backend tools that allow you to set different kinds of KPIs and track different things depending on what your current goals are. Set those KPIs, stick to a marketing plan, and then see what you need to do to adjust to hit the data you’re looking for.
Now, as far as the actual content you’re posting, let’s talk about the creation first. You want to create and share valuable and relevant content. Become a thought leader. Create things that people in your industry are looking for, especially if you’re posting on B2B like many LinkedIn businesses. These are customers who are on this platform because they’re looking for professional development. Be the source of that professional development. Post steadily and consistently. Don’t become a one-hit wonder on social media. Create a plan that allows you to post at least two to four times a week, but not so much that you’re posting multiple times a day. If you’re going that far, you might oversaturate your clients’ social media feeds and kind of numb their brains. It can be a little bit of a balance, but it’s important to pick something and stick with it.
Finally, post a mix of content. A good tool to make sure you’re posting a useful mix of content is to take a look at the 4-1-1 rule: four pieces of shared content. This is actually the easiest one because you don’t have to create this content. You should be engaging with other peers and thought leaders on social media that are in your industry. Go through and look for the most relevant pieces you can find to share and then put them on your page. Create one piece of marketing content in that mix that’s going to be something that is more demand-driven, like we talked about earlier, something actively trying to sell your value proposition and leading to a conversion in the moment. And finally, one piece of original content. These can be things like blogs or cool behind-the-scenes videos of your company or links to webinars that you’re going to host. Creating this mix of content makes you a valuable thought leader in your industry.
If it seems like I kind of rushed through the social media, it’s because I would like to make sure that you tune in next month on May 22ndwhen we are joined by PPAI to discuss social media strategies and talk about PPAi’s online 18, their top-ranked social media platforms. We’re also going to be joined by Colette Williams from PPAI and Anne-Marie Lugo, SAGE’s very own Senior Social Media Coordinator. Thank you again, Janet, for sharing all of your valuable insights with us today, and thank you all for joining us today.