Austin, TX:  Do you put more thought into your promotional items than you do determining your marketing objective?

Do you even have a marketing objective?

I hear a lot of customers come to me with with such questions:

How much is 1,000 of your biodegradable pens?

What’s your least expensive tote bag?

What green promotional items do you have for under $1?

What’s a good promo item for a trade show?

The problem with these questions is that it doesn’t solve your marketing need because the objective hasn’t been stated.

What is your marketing objective?

Are you trying to attract people into your booth?

Are you trying to create brand awareness?

Are you looking to remind customers of your brand or company when it comes time for them to make a buying decision?

Are you trying to increase referrals?

Are you looking to up-sell your customers?

Are you looking to say “thank you” to customers?

Are you looking for ways to increase market share?

Promotional items can certainly be one part of your marketing mix, but they cannot help you until you know your objective.

4 Steps to Creating Your Marketing Objective

1) First, the objective should be clear and concise.

Increase average purchase amount form $15.00 to $16.50

Attract 120 customers to my booth

Sign up 2 new subscribers from this event

Increase same-store sales this quarter by 6%

2) Make sure your goal is measurable

If you noted above, all three examples had definitive and measurable results.

Don’t say:
Break even at the trade show

Increase sales over last year

Get more referral business this year.

None of those have metrics that you can track.

3) Set a time frame for this objective

Whether it be over the next quarter, 6 weeks from the end of a trade show, end of the month, 60 days- make it a firm time period so you can analyze the results.

Have a clear beginning and a clear ending.

4) Set a realistic goal

If your sales have been flat, don’t state that your objective is to double sales in the next 60 days.  Probably unrealistic.

So is saying that yo want to talk to 500 people at a two-day trade show and sign up 200 of them for your new product.

Dreams and marketing objectives are not the same.

Start with short, incremental and realistic goals and then move on from there.

Once you set your marketing objective, it is much easier to determine your course of action.

That is where your marketing strategy comes in. That will be covered in another post.

Happy promoting!

If you want to learn more about how we can help promote your brand or marketing message, contact Eco Marketing Solutions at 512-507-4709.

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Robert Piller, President of Eco Marketing Solutions, has over 25 years of experience in running and implementing green marketing campaigns and is a leader in the recycled promotional products industry, including offering one of the largest selections of reusable and organic tote bags, recycled and biodegradable water bottles, recycled pens and pencils in the country.

His company’s website, EcoMarketingSolutions.com, features over 25,000 eco-friendly promotional items in all price ranges, for any business or organization interested in going green. The site’s handy search tool helps you easily find biodegradable, organic and recycled imprinted promotional items in your price range and time frame.

You can also reach him by email (robert (at) ecomarketingsolutions.com) or comment on his blog postings at GreenSpotBlog.com or below at his Twitter link.

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Here is an example of a case study.

OBJECTIVE: Amtrak wanted to aggressively market their Northeast corridor line (Washington DC, Philadelphia, Boston and New York City) with its ultra-modern, energy efficient Acela line. They wanted to promote the service as a green alternative to short-distance air travel.

ITEM: Amtrak selected the Save-a-Bottle reusable sports bottle.  It look like a single use bottle, but the top portion unscrews for cleaning and for adding ice cubes.  It is made of heavy-duty Eastman Tritan BPA-Free plastic.

DISTRIBUTION: A color folder was inserted and these were mailed to 1500 corporate prospects, in hopes of enticing their business.

RESULTS: Amtrak was so impressed with the results that they have re-ordered three more times.  They also noticed the high number of riders that are using these eco-friendly sports bottles.

Reusable sports bottles are the ideal way to promote your message, as it is seen by many people and gets used over and over again–delivering a very high ROI and a very lot cost per impression.

Click on the link to see many styles of custom printed water bottles in all price ranges that we can put your logo on.

If you want to learn more about how we can help promote your brand or marketing message, contact Eco Marketing Solutions at 512-507-4709.

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Robert Piller, President of Eco Marketing Solutions, has over 25 years of experience in running and implementing green marketing campaigns and is a leader in the recycled promotional products industry, including offering one of the largest selections of reusable and organic tote bags, recycled and biodegradable water bottles, recycled pens and pencils in the country.

His company’s website, EcoMarketingSolutions.com, features over 25,000 eco-friendly promotional items in all price ranges, for any business or organization interested in going green. The site’s handy search tool helps you easily find biodegradable, organic and recycled imprinted promotional items in your price range and time frame.

You can also reach him by email (robert (at) ecomarketingsolutions.com) or comment on his blog postings at GreenSpotBlog.com or below at his Twitter link.

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Bring the tropics alive with these exotic sandals featuring an earth-friendly bamboo sole. The straps are all-fabric, made of satin polyester sewn to a nylon webbing base, available in a variety of colors.

These come in a variety of strap colors to best highlight your logo : Black, White, Red, Blue, Yellow, Pink, Maroon Red, Navy Blue, Teal Green

Available from Eco Marketing Solutions, the largest source for eco-friendly promotional products.

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Hang it on doors or on a wall, it will save and organize plastic bags with sophistication and convenience.

Made from heavy-duty 7-8 oz. natural cotton canvas.

Top handle slides over most door knobs for use. Saves and organizes plastic shopping bags. Remove bags from bottom slit. 6″ W x 17 1/2″ H

These recycler bags come with your custom imprint and logo for Earth Day events, trade shows, gift with purchases, etc.  It is an extremely eco-friendly promotional bag for any event.

Available online from Eco Marketing Solutions.

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Eco Marketing Solutions has over 150 different imprinted reusable tote bags for Earth Day--with Quick Ship turnaround time.

Austin, Texas: Earth Day is only a month away … so I am getting frantic calls for last minute eco-friendly promotional items that can still be produced and shipped in time.

So many calls each day that we created this link for my Quick Ship green promo items and swag that are perfect for your outreach and marketing efforts.

We have selected a large assortment of reusable tote bags, recycled pens and pencils, biodegradable and recycled water bottles and othe rpopular Earth Day promotional items.

So….calm down.  April 22 is Earth Day.  There is still some time.

Check out the link and let us know how we can be of service for Earth Day 2012.

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Robert Piller, President of Eco Marketing Solutions, has over 25 years of experience in running and implementing green marketing campaigns and is a leader in the recycled promotional products industry, including offering one of the largest selections of reusable and organic tote bags, recycled and biodegradable water bottles, recycled pens and pencils in the country.

His company’s website, EcoMarketingSolutions.com, features over 25,000 eco-friendly promotional items in all price ranges, for any business or organization interested in going green. The site’s handy search tool helps you easily find biodegradable, organic and recycled imprinted promotional items in your price range and time frame.

You can also reach him by email (robert (at) ecomarketingsolutions.com) or comment on his blog postings at GreenSpotBlog.com or below at his Twitter link.

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Pantone Names Top Color Of 2012

Businesses are taking note of the choice and see its potential appeal to clients who might want to incorporate the color’s pop of vivacious energy into their products. “For an industry like promotional products, you’re thinking pragmatically about what is going to capture attention in the marketplace, where are people’s eyes going to land, and a color in the orange family has a high visibility factor going for it,” says Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute.

Warmer colors in general and orange in particular have grown increasingly popular with designers and consumers over the last eight years, according to Eiseman, and look to only get more so. Last year, the hot pink color “Honeysuckle” was selected as 2011′s representative hue.

Robert Piller, President of eco wearables provider Eco Marketing Solutions, says he often looks at deeper shades of red and orange when looking for an attention-grabbing color and to help stay on the cusp of the fashion edge.  He adds, “The days of just ordering white promotional T-shirt for a promotion are limited.  for only a small amount more, you can offer fashion-forward colors that will increase the life of your branded shirt, creating greater exposure for your marketing dollar and better ROI.”

If a promotional T-shirt gets thrown at the bottom of the drawer or just worn when doing yard work, it reduces the impact of your marketing message.  A well-worn T-shirt can cost pennies a day, creating maximum ROI.  According to the ASI Institute, an imprinted T-shirt can have as many as 365 impression per day, making the cost of the shirt a nominal advertising expense.

The Wall Street Journal Fashion section did a recent interactive post on the hottest color trends in fashion.  Here is a link.

If you want to learn more about the hottest fashion trends in promotional shirts, hats and jackets, contact Eco Marketing Solutions at 512-507-4709.

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Robert Piller, President of Eco Marketing Solutions, has over 25 years of experience in running and implementing green marketing campaigns and is a leader in the recycled promotional products industry, including offering one of the largest selections of reusable and organic tote bags, recycled and biodegradable water bottles, recycled pens and pencils in the country.

His company’s website, EcoMarketingSolutions.com, features over 25,000 eco-friendly promotional items in all price ranges, for any business or organization interested in going green. The site’s handy search tool helps you easily find biodegradable, organic and recycled imprinted promotional items in your price range and time frame.

You can also reach him by email (robert (at) ecomarketingsolutions.com) or comment on his blog postings at GreenSpotBlog.com or below at his Twitter link.

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Trendy accent piping. Zippered main compartment. Front zippered pocket. Side pockets. Adjustable shoulder straps and top grab handles.

It comes in four colors and measures 18″ L x 10″ H x 12″ W.

What is old is new again!

Available from Eco Marketing Solutions.com

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The custom embroidered patches will be inserted between inner and outer wall and ultrasonically sealed to create double wall insulation.

Works for both hot and cold beverages.

Click here for more information on these patch tumblers–available from EcoMarketingSolutions.com

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1) Price is King

2) Need it Yesterday

3) Gimme the Newest, Latest & Greatest

4) Image is Everything

Up until recently, those four groups were sufficient.  Sure, there were splinter groups–insisting only on eco-friendly promotional products or only products Made in the USA.

But, with CPSIA and other health and safety related requirements and lawsuit threats, product safety and quality needs to become number one for any company that fears potential negative feedback or legal issues.

Eco Marketing Solutions has committed itself to working only with leading factories and suppliers that hold compliance issues at the forefront and build it into their business culture.

In fact, many of our top suppliers are active or founding members of the Quality Certification Alliance, an independent, accreditation organization whose mission is to elevate the standards by which industry firms that import and/or manufacture promotional products provide consistently safe, high-quality, socially compliant and environmentally conscientious merchandise.

QCA Accreditation is granted to companies who complete multiple independent third-party audit and comply with stringent standards, which are based upon a combination of state and national laws, international standards and industry-accepted best practices that are recognized for their strength and effectiveness by QCA Accredited companies, the promotional products industry and end-user clients.

According to the QCA website, in order to provide the accountability necessary to assure buyers and end users that products meet applicable measures of compliance, QCA Accreditation tests not only for the presence of and completeness of compliance programs but also the effectiveness of these programs in detecting and deterring noncompliance. This comprehensive program assess five key areas:

Product Safety

A QCA Certified Supplier has policies and procedures that are robust and able to detect and deter non-compliant product from shipping to customers. Corporate brand equity is also protected by reducing the need for product recalls, thus keeping news of any unsafe product out of the headlines. The processes include:

• A commitment to assuring consumer safety and brand security
• Design guidelines that cover legal and product performance requirements as well as raw material specifications
• A product approval protocol that assures only product meeting specified design guidelines is approved for manufacture
• Testing guidelines for internal evaluations and third-party assessments
• Mechanisms for assuring traceability
• Recall protocols

Product Quality

A QCA Certified Supplier has procedures in place governing product quality from design through manufacturing that provide a means to monitor and verify quality standards are maintained throughout the process. An expectation of quality is established with:

• A formally documented Quality Manual
• A process that assures only product for which an approved standard exists are manufactured
• Inspections for both pre- and post-shipments
• A process for evaluating root cause and assigning corrective actions
• Supplier qualification programs

Supply Chain Security

A QCA Certified Supplier’s policies and procedures meet the security criteria established by U.S. Customs’ C-TPAT (Customs Trade Partnership Against Terrorism) program that protects our borders. A supply chain security program should encompass both domestic and offshore process and facility review. It should include:

• Container security
• Facility physical security
• Procedural security
• Access control
• Supply chain visibility

Social Accountability

A QCA Certified Supplier’s policies and procedures ensure that those facilities that are part of its supply chain adhere to legal and ethical standards that are based on internationally agreed upon protocols of the UN Global Compact. These include:

• Worker’s rights
• Legal compensation requirements
• Physical working and living conditions
• Worker safety

Environmental Stewardship

A QCA Certified Supplier’s policies and procedures promote an ongoing stewardship of the environment, which includes:

• Compliance with local environmental regulations
• Recycling
• Restriction and monitoring for banned substances
• Resource management

Does it cost a little bit extra to go with factories that test and re-test for the highest quality standards?  Yes, but only minimally.

When we checked prices between QCA products and similar non-accredited products, there was a price discrepancy of between 1.4% and 5.7% on 100 randomly selected items, with an average of 2.33% difference.

Is it worth it to your organization to pay an extra 2.33% to ensure the highest standards in quality and product safety?

If you are looking for the absolute cheapest promotional products without concern for safety or social responsibility, we are not going to be your best bet.

If you are looking to get promotional products that portrays your brand and image in the most positive light, we aim to be your client and partner in your marketing efforts.

Give us a call and let’s discuss how we can help you promote an environmental message in a socially responsible way.

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Robert Piller, President of Eco Marketing Solutions, has over 25 years of experience in running and implementing green marketing campaigns and is a leader in the recycled promotional products industry, including offering one of the largest selections of reusable and organic tote bags, recycled and biodegradable water bottles, recycled pens and pencils in the country.

His company’s website, EcoMarketingSolutions.com, features over 25,000 eco-friendly promotional items in all price ranges, for any business or organization interested in going green. The site’s handy search tool helps you easily find biodegradable, organic and recycled imprinted promotional items in your price range and time frame.

You can also reach him by email (robert (at) ecomarketingsolutions.com) or comment on his blog postings at GreenSpotBlog.com or below at his Twitter link.

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This fashionable tote is laminated to provide maximum durability. Reusable shopping bag is perfect for all your grocery essentials. Large main compartment and generous gusset for maximum capacity. 23.5″ shoulder straps. This product is made from 100% recycled PET fabric.

Laminated 100% Recycled PET Fabric. Kid friendly. Complies with CPSIA, Prop 65. 13″ L x 8″ W x 15″ H.

Comes in seven color combinations to fit any trade show, Earth Day or marketing program.

Avaialble from Eco Marketing Solutions and online at www.EcoMarketingSolutions.com

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