All posts tagged customer loyalty

Everyone Loves A Free Lunch

By | February 11, 2013 | Marketing, Micro Business Issues, Offline Marketing, Tips | 2 Comments
Everyone Loves A Free Lunch

This post is by Jeff Esposito, Vistaprint’s Social Media Manager.

Have you ever noticed a fishbowl sitting out in a local restaurant or store offering a free lunch or giveaway with the addition of your business card? Chances are, you’ve probably dropped in your business card once or twice, but have you ever read the fine print of the offer? It’s OK if you haven’t, as we all love getting something for free, so we won’t hold it against you. Most times companies offering you a chance to win something for free will give that in exchange for a short business pitch or add you to their marketing list (either email or direct mail).

With that in mind, take a look at the next fishbowl you see, and make sure to take note of the number of cards in there. Ask yourself if you can do that for your business. If you answered yes, consider what you could offer as a value add from potential customers (a demo, free lunch/service or deep discount). Once you have that set, pick up a fishbowl and consider setting it up in one of the following places:

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Seven Simple Steps For A Super Call To Action

By | February 7, 2013 | Digital Marketing, Marketing, Micro Business Issues, Offline Marketing, Retaining Customers | No comments
Seven Simple Steps For A Super Call To Action

This blog post was written by Rob Zodda, who works in creative services at Vistaprint and also has digital marketing experience.

A call to action (CTA) is the message on your website or marketing materials that tells customers what to do next. It usually precedes a phone number, URL or takes the form of a clickable button. CTAs are one of the most effective ways to move customers through your flow, all the way to check out.

Here are a few quick tips about creating authentic and effective CTAs. Read more…

How Do You Communicate With Customers?

By | January 15, 2013 | Acquiring New Customers, Marketing, Micro Business Issues | 1 Comment
comminucate-with-customers

This is a post from Sara Nash; Sara earned her degree in Public Relations from Penn State University. From there, she worked a PR agency in Boston before joining the PR and Social Media team at Vistaprint.

Running a business allows for a variety of opportunities to interact with your customers. It’s important to take advantage of these opportunities to create repeat–and hopefully life-long–customer relationships. Here are a few ways to talk to your customers…which do you use? Read more…

The Art Of The Testimonial Part One: Your Customers’ Stories

By | October 24, 2012 | How To, Marketing, Micro Business Issues, Offline Marketing, Retaining Customers, Tips | No comments
The Art of the Testimonial: Part One

This post is written by Kaitlin Ambrogio, who manages Public Relations for Vistaprint. She focuses on communication strategy, working with the media and telling the Vistaprint story.

You have an excellent customer base and you know they have great stories to share about using your product or service. Getting those first hand accounts of how a customer uses your products, or learning about how a customer benefits from the service you provide, are powerful statements that can be used in your marketing strategy to tell your story.

A third party endorsement from a customer can have a huge impact; other customers can relate more directly with someone who is similar to them, who uses and likes your product. Plus it is always better to have someone else say something nice about you rather than saying something nice about yourself. Read more…

6 Tips to Boost The Effectiveness Of Your Facebook Page

By | October 11, 2012 | Digital Marketing, Facebook, Marketing, Micro Business Tips, Online Marketing, Small Business Tips, Social Media, Tips | No comments
6 Tips to Boost The Effectiveness Of Your Facebook Page

This guest post is by Jeff Esposito, Vistaprint’s Social Media Manager.

If Facebook were a color, it would be this season’s black. It has over 900 million users with the oldest Facebook user being 101-years young. This large user base makes it a no-brainer for businesses of all sizes to build up a presence to connect with their customers (if you don’t have a Facebook page yet, don’t worry click here for a quick how to on that). Read more…

5 Ways to Use Tote Bags to Promote Your Small Business

By | September 17, 2012 | Marketing, Micro Business Tips, Offline Marketing, Small Business Tips, Tips | No comments
5 Ways to Use Tote Bags to Promote Your Small Business

This post was written by Emma Shannon, a member of Vistaprint’s Social Media team.

Using branded tote bags with your business’s info provides free advertising wherever that tote ends up. Here are five (easy!) ways to use tote bags for your small business that will have your company info on the shoulder of every one of your customers!

  1. Sport Your Own Company Tote Bag – It may seem obvious, but have you gotten yourself a company tote yet? By switching out your normal bag for a branded tote, you’ve immediately become a walking advertisement! Try it and see how many inquiries you get about your customized carrier. These also make great gifts to family members and friends – they’ll love to use the bag and support you at the same time! Read more…

Job Well Done? Get More Than Money In Return.

By | August 29, 2012 | Facebook, Marketing, Micro Business Tips, Offline Marketing, Online Marketing, Retaining Customers, Small Business Tips | 1 Comment
Job Well Done? Get More Than Money In Return.

This story was originally published on Boston.com’s Small Business Blog.

Most small businesses will go above and beyond to do a great job for their clients. You won’t have too look far for a small business owner who’s going the extra mile – be it ensuring that the meal you had was up to par, the work that was done on the house was done to specifications, or that your taxes were done correctly and you got the refund you deserve. Read more…

The Power of Promotional Products

By | August 6, 2012 | Micro Business Issues | 2 Comments
The Power of Promotional Products

This guest post is by Jeremy Cantarow, a Senior Associate in Product Marketing at Vistaprint. He is also a current MBA student at Boston College, specializing in Product and Brand Management.

What are Promotional Products?
When it comes to marketing, anything that can set you and your small business apart from the competition is usually a good thing. Tools such as business cards, postcards and banners are just a few examples of offline marketing mechanisms that can help you do just that…and promotional products are yet another. These items are branded, customized takeaway or leave-behind products that are given to customers, and used in their everyday lives. For instance, at Vistaprint, you can choose to customize and brand items such as USB Drives, Stress Balls, Rulers, Koozies and more! Traditionally, promotional products like this have been out of reach for small businesses due to hurdles such as high order minimums and steep prices. Now, at Vistaprint, they’re easy to design and order in small quantities — and for a great, affordable price. Read more…

Three Things Your Small Business Can Learn from a Petting Zoo

By | July 31, 2012 | Marketing | 1 Comment
Three Things Your Small Business Can Learn from a Petting Zoo

This guest post is by Jeff Esposito, Vistaprint’s Social Media Manager.

You never know when inspiration will strike, and you might often be shocked when it does. Over the past few months, my young son has started to focus a lot more on the world around him, and with that, his love of animals has grown. So when thinking of things for him to do, I often think back to the fun things I did as a kid, and one image that keeps popping up is a petting zoo. So, when we took him to the petting zoo a couple of weeks back, the biggest thing that I noticed was that beyond the guise of a “happy place for kids with animals” were some simple but ingenious business tactics worth borrowing as we look to improve our businesses. Read more…

5 Non-Traditional Ways Your Small Business Can Use Brochures

By | July 23, 2012 | Marketing, Offline Marketing, Small Business Tips | 1 Comment
5 Non-Traditional Ways Your Small Business Can Use Brochures

When building out marketing materials for your small business, it is often easy to resist changing things up. You know what works, so altering the marketing mix might be a bit scary. But before you write off a product or service, take a step back and think outside the box about the product. With some creative thought, an item that you’re unsure of might actually wind up becoming a new pillar of your marketing mix. For instance, when you think about brochures, one of the first things that probably pops into your mind is an informational take-away you can find in a doctor’s office. And while this is a perfectly valid use of the marketing tool, it’s not the only use for brochures. Don’t believe us? Read on to learn five creative uses that you might be able to tap into to leverage brochures as a marketing tool for your business.
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