Ah, my very favorite promotional product of all, the
refrigerator magnet. They are my favorite, because they are so
extremely inexpensive, and extremely effective in getting your
company name seen in countless locations. They don?t make the
greatest commission for a salesman of advertising specialties,
but I can?t stop myself from recommending these little beauties
first and foremost to my new customers and prospects. And the
reason is so simple. They WORK! I?ve yet to approach anyone in
any kind of business where I don?t feel that a refrigerator
magnet will be effective advertising. Granted, some are more
suited than others, but I still maintain that they?d be of use
to any business. Domino's Pizza is notorious for giving out a
magnet with deliveries that includes their logo and the phone
number of the local store. I worked for Domino?s when I was a
young guy, as a delivery driver. Often, whenever sales would dip
a little, or the manager was bucking for a prize, we would go
?door hanging?. Boy did these door hangers produce strong
results. Inexpensive marketing that had proven itself time and
time again. My fellow employees and I would spend time in a
?slow? neighborhood, hanging these on the door knobs of as many
homes and apartments as we could, and the results would be
immediate. Sales would shoot through the roof! If a crew went
out ?door hanging? you could count on a lot of calls coming in
that evening from the area you?d just targeted, for the next 3
days. The problem with these door hangers is, they?re paper, and
they wind up in the trash, rather quickly. A refrigerator
magnet, almost always ? always winds up on the refrigerator. And
there it stays, for a long, long time. What other conventional
advertising stays in a home that long? A commercial, printed
advertisement, a radio address, nothing ? stays as long as the
magnet. And no matter what is put on the fridge, be it your
child?s neatest drawing of a hairy fire truck, or their lunch
menu at school, what?s on the very top? The beautiful, blessed
magnet sporting YOUR company logo! Let?s say you own a heating
and a/c company. You get a call from a referral, or yellow page
ad. You show up, fix the problem the customer is happy with the
work you?ve done, the price you charged, and then you or one of
your service technicians leaves. Three, or four years go by, and
this same customer?s a/c breaks down. He says to his wife,
?honey, what was the name of that company we used last time??
Who can remember that long ago? Had the customer been left with
a refrigerator magnet, had the service tech actually physically
went and put it on this customer?s fridge the last time he was
over, the number would be right there waiting for him. What if
this time, he?s going to need his complete a/c unit replaced?
That?s one heck of a sale to miss out on. Now most men will
probably gripe at me for this one, but c?est la vie. Let?s say
you?re a florist. A young teen boy calls to get a mum for his
girlfriend for homecoming or a corsage for prom or roses for
Valentines-. You deliver the item(s) with a refrigerator magnet.
Months roll by, and the teen girl?s father wakes up and realizes
TODAY is his anniversary, and he didn?t buy his wife a gift!
Trust me; his immediate thought goes to flowers. The old
faithful, the default at any time, flowers. He?s going to have
them delivered to her work. He remembers the ?free delivery?
comment on the magnet of your shop, and goes right to it. He
calls the number and places his order. Without the magnet, he
would have called AAAAmanda?s Flowers in the yellow pages.
Online businesses can benefit too. Now if promoting a web site,
one would immediately think to sell a promotional item that
would sit by a computer, but I disagree. If you sent a magnet to
an existing customer, it?d wind up on his or her fridge. A
friend, family member, or delivery person could see it, and
inquire about the site. In addition, magnets will adhere to most
automobiles. You can carry them around with you, and put them on
cars, for focused advertising. I have one client that does this,
he?s in real estate. Often he?ll stop by a prospect?s home, and
if no one answers the door, yet a car is in the driveway, he
puts a magnet on the car as he leaves. It?s produced positive
results for him, he says. And he?s gotten word of mouth
advertising from those people as well. I?d be willing to bet
that it came from friends and family seeing the magnet on the
former customer?s refrigerator, or toolbox, beer keg cooler,
etc. In my opinion, no business is unable to benefit from this
item. So if you own a company and you?re looking to advertise,
consider the refrigerator magnet. They?re inexpensive, and last
a long, long time. Plus the Dominos one on your fridge is
lonely, I?m sure. Need content? You may use this article at your
website, or in your newsletter. The only requirement is
inclusion of the following sentence - Article by Kirk Otto of
www.MakeYourCompanyVisible.com - a premiere source for
promotional advertising products.
About the author:
Authorized dealer of Kaeser & Blair promotional product
advertising, Kirk Otto is an energetic marketer. He is currently
living in San Antonio, TX and is a father of 2 wonderful
children.
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