Marketing Advice
...ere is no guarantee about a return on investment, and even whether we are reaching the right people. That would mean buying a mailing list, which could drive up the total cost of a Direct Mail campaign. The other option is to canvass various retailers in our city to carry and display the cards. While this takes a selling effort- person-to-person, the upside is that this company is a hometown company, not some cared company in Cleveland or North Carolina or some major metropolitan area. This “hometown” approach will also be featured in a local newspaper and flyer campaign to stress the company is here in town, and the success will (perhaps)_ mean more jobs, more tax revenue for the city, and even national recognition for superior and innovative card designs. To gain access to retailers, we need to plan to be selective. There has top be a meeting of the minds among top executives of the company to decide where, the type, and even how many retailers should carry the cards. If it is decided to mass-merchandise, so be it. But, some retailers may prefer to feel that, within their shopping area, they have some sort of exclusivity. There also needs to be an initial incentive for our local retailers to carry this line of cards: special wholesale pricing, a certain number FREE or half price, with a large initial order. Providing display stands or cases, even helping pay for local advertising by one, or a number of stores, to feature the cards. Both these options have merit. Direct Mail can bring in customers who may buy other goods at the store. But, there is no guarantee about response. The money might therefore be better spent on setting up displays in select retailers. It is probably more effective and economical to reach retailers directly, even offering them higher profit potential for our line of personalized cards may find wider acceptance and, therefore, distribution. We need to be careful, however, not to spread out distribution too thin. We need to do some research to determine the “Promotion of (our) product or service and development of a promotion strategy…. It is important to analyze what are the best methods of making your customer aware and what message will motivate them to buy.” (Canada Bus Centers 2004 3). Specifically, the option to reach, and convince local retailers to carry our line of cards is the suggested way to grow the b...