Increasing your business using Appreciation Marketing and Promotion Gifts

Everyone likes to feel valued – our customers even more so.  As a business owner (online or offline), do you let your customers know how much you appreciate them doing business with you?

There are a number of ways we can show our appreciation to our customers – starting with that simple follow up email that says ‘thank you’. Unfortunately, that’s where many businesses finish too and customers can often feel like ‘just another number’ which is often worse than doing nothing.

Now, I’m not saying don’t send that automated email, I am saying that you should consider how you can personalize your thank you further, so that you strengthen the relationship with your customer and be sincere at the same time.

Two wonderful and effective ways of personalizing your thank you to your customer is to send a card or gift, through the mail.

Consider sending a card, or greeting card, with a personal message to your new customer – how would you feel if you have just purchased something and then receive a personalized thank you in the mail? A greeting card may also be sent to existing customers, thanking them again for their patronage, perhaps inviting them to view a new product range or special that is being offered.

Another effective way is to send a gift.  This strategy is more popularly known as as ‘gifting’.  Gifts can be used to express gratitude to your customers and a well thought out gift not only expresses deep gratitude, but may also market your business in a gracious and unassuming manner.

Sending promotional gifts can also be a means of rewarding clients to appreciate their custom through out the years; such simple recognition will ensure that your customers feel that they are valued. Promotional flyers are often discarded the moment they are received, and are seldom read but when a person is gifted with something that they can use, they will not only enjoy it, they will also keep it for sometime – ensuring that your business is remembered.  Of course, to ensure that your business is remembered, you should have the name of the company on the gift – for online businesses, it is also advisable to include your website address.

When considering what type of gift to send, considering something that lasts longer like pens, key chain, coffee mug, calendar, refrigerator magnets, etc. These types of gifts not only last longer, they are also used regularly by your customer which keeps your business top of mind.

Calendars are very popular gifts provided by small companies as they aren’t expensive and are used year round. The drawback of a calendar is that many other small companies use them as gifts as well, and your customer may receive several!  Other popular gifts include office supplies like Stationary tubs, pens, sticky pads and diaries containing the logo of the company.

With the development of print on demand type services, businesses can not only gift Promotional items, they can also gift home gifts like fridge magnets, coffee mugs, thermo-flasks and tote bags which also get noticed many times a day.

Of course, you can also provide T-shirts, caps and other pieces of clothing.  You may find that these are more expensive than other items – but often they are worth the investment as they are usually worn outside and literally function as a walking advertisement for your business.

Some great uses that I found and used myself include:

• Business Greeting Cards – send personalized greeting cards via mail to your customers and prospects.
• Cafepress – print on demand gifts, not only can you send branded promotional items to your customer, you can operate your own gift shop.
• Vistaprint – amazing value print of demand stationary and gifts

As a business, have you added sending business greeting cards or gifts to your marketing mix? You will be amazed at the effectiveness of such a strategy – why not share your experiences below….