Article from Michael Crooks from Crooks Advertisng Alliance in the USA
Effective Goody Bag Marketing
Goody Bags may be one of the most powerful promotional marketing opportunities available to you. It’s certainly one of the most overlooked and under-utilized. The “Goody Bag” is that bag-full of “goodys” that is handed out to participants at golf outings, conferences, seminars and events to add value to participation.
Most companies mistakenly donate some “cheap” do-dad such as a pen, pencil or refrigerator magnet imprinted with their corporate info. The practice is long on “feel good” for the donators. But, because little or no actual thought usually goes into the donation, the practice has little or no real promotional value. Key Point: More important than the item you donate, is the idea behind what you imprint on the donated item. That’s worth repeating, because it’s the cornerstone of my theory on promotional marketing, “More important than the item you donate is the idea behind what you imprint on the donated item.” Because with a little more thought you can turn a giveaway into a powerful promotion.
Here’s a couple of examples:
Two health-related companies. Both want to drive traffic to their website. Company 1 imprints their website address on an pen and donates it to the goody bag. Company 2 donates a pen. But their imprint says, “Visit www.fakewebsite.com for 10 secrets to keeping your family healthy.” Company 2 promises a benefit for visiting their website. The sad truth of the matter is, most companies do what company 1 did. Company 2 could have printed their message on a sponge a band-aid dispenser, or an antimicrobial light switch cover it doesn’t really matter. What matters most is WHAT is imprinted on the product.
Remember, anytime you can tell people what’s in it for them — before they even ask — you’re a step a head of the game.
Main Benefits of Goody Bag Marketing It’s Free!
One of the biggest benefits of Goody Bag marketing is that most events allow you to donate items to the bag for free. Because most organizations view the Goody Bag as a benefit to the event participants, they will gladly accept just about any item you want to donate. That makes the Goody Bag a great free way to impact a target audience.
Extremely Targeted
The ability to specifically target your audience is another huge benefit of Goody Bag marketing. Whether your target is senior citizens, stock brokers, chamber of commerce members, business-owners or employees of a specific corporation, there is a golf outing, seminar, conference or other event that will give you access to your target.
The key to making Goody Bag marketing as effective as possible, is to think in terms of how the item you donate can generate phone calls, drive people to your website, your retail location or other wise secure actionable data that you can follow up on later.If you are a local retailer your goal may be to drive traffic to your store. If you are a B2B supplier or a non-profit, your goal may be to drive traffic to your website. Whatever your goal, it usually takes more than simply slapping your logo and contact information on a pencil, pen or note pad. It takes thought and planning.
Here are a few things to consider when planning a Goody Bag marketing strategy.
1) Determine Your Target: Make a physical list of targets either on a legal pad or in your computer. When creating your list, think in terms of industries, occupations as well as individual interest. For example, if you sell flooring, perhaps you’ll write down REALTORS, builders, interior designers and plumbers. If you sell computers, consider Chamber of Commerce, IT professionals and manufacturers, computer users. If you sell athletic shoes your list may include school athletic directors, gym teachers, fitness centers and marathon runners and podiatrists or chiropodists.
2) Research The Possibilities: Once you have a list of possible targets, research how to reach the target. Google “associations list” or “list of associations” and you’ll find resources for locating an association that represents exactly who you want to target. You can also do the same for “clubs”, “service clubs” or whatever other type of group, club, association, individual or business group you are interested in targeting.
3) Contact: Contact them and find out what upcoming golf outings, seminars, conferences or other events they have planned. Once you learn of an event that interests you, find out if they plan to offer Goody Bags and if they are accepting donations.
4) Get Details: Get the details regarding event date, when items need to be delivered, if they have any rules regarding donations and if they have anything in particular they’re looking for. Note: be sure and find out specifically what’s NOT welcome for the goody bag. No sense investing in a promotional item you can’t use.
All of this information will impact the promotional marketing concept you’ll develop to effectively impact your target. Because the variables are simply too broad to address in a single article, specific tactics for using Goody Bag marketing and how to develop a meaningful promotion will be covered in future articles.
You can contact Michael Crooks visit www.CrooksAdvertising .com