Have you ever had a full plate and reaching out to a print and promo vendor was the last thing you wanted to deal with?
Or maybe you didn’t realize everything your vendor is able to contribute towards your marketing projects?
We’ve put together a few ways to fully utilize a print and promotional product vendor and make the process as easy as possible.
- Idea Generation – This is likely the obvious one of the bunch but still quite often underutilized. There are thousands of promotional options and navigating them can be overwhelming. Lean on the vendor for as little or as much help as you’d like in choosing the right promotional pieces for you project.
Here are a couple example inquiries to get things started:
“Our Christmas party is coming up, what can we provide our team to
show appreciation?”
“We’re rolling out new branding and need to launch. Colors are XXX and XXX – what should we use to promote our brand best in 2018?” - Price and Information Requests – Budgets are often a necessary part of most marketing projects. Print and promo vendors will always work to provide the most effective and cost efficient products available. Having the following key details ready when making a request for pricing or general information will help make the process quick and easy: the nature of your project, preferred quantities, and per-piece or overall budget.
Some sample requests with budget in mind could be stated as follows:
“Thanksgiving is coming up and we always send out a letter wishing
happy holidays to Alumni. Will you please provide me a price to
produce it the same as this sample from last year?”
“The holidays are upcoming and we want to give our employees
Bluetooth speakers as a Thank you. Can you send me a few ideas in the
$20-$25 range?” - Fulfillment & E-Stores – In addition to sourcing the promotional items themselves, print and promotional vendors may provide warehousing and fulfillment services. Maybe you put together a welcome kit for new employees. Instead of storing everything on site, once a new hire comes aboard, the package can be put together off site and sent to your office ready to go.
Additionally, many vendors can develop and manage a company e-store. One example of use is providing easy access for employees to purchase promotional items as needed, such as for their next sales call. It could also be used as a rewards portal, where employees can choose from a selection of items as recognition for good performance. - Help Beyond Promo – Print and promotional vendors often have some insight in to the marketing landscape as a whole. Their time is spent selecting the right products to help meet their clients marketing goals, and an understanding of the rest of the marketing process comes along with that. Never be afraid to reach out for thoughts on marketing and promotion outside of the products themselves. It’s very possible that the vendor has dealt with a similar situation with other clients and can share any successes or challenges they’ve experienced.
Hopefully these ideas help alleviate some of the stresses of managing your promotional marketing materials. We’re here to help in anyway we can and want your marketing efforts to be as successful as possible. If you have any further questions on best utilizing a print or promo vendor, or would like to discuss your next project, please send us a message through our contact form or via email at sales@everythinginkllc.com.
Happy Promoting!