Get Smart About Your Mobile Marketing

Look up! Take a look around you and you’ll see everyone doing it. Americans are nose down in their BlackBerrys, Androids and iPhones texting, checking in on Foursquare or Googling for an answer. You’re probably reading this on your smart phone right now. With the holidays coming and smart phones becoming more accessible, this trend will only grow in 2011. This means it’s time to think about mobile marketing. Here are a few ways mobile marketing can help your business.

Make your website mobile friendly.
If you look at your phone bill, you’ll notice that you’ve probably spent more minutes online or texting than actually on the phone. Smart phones can double as a computer, so it’s important that you think about how you want your customers to interact with you when they’re on the go. Of course you’ll want those potential customers to be able to find you or call you as they navigate your site. If you have an online ordering component for instance, you should consider an application that allows users to work with you online.

Text message your customers when they’re nearby.
Rather than just e-mail marketing, consider text message marketing in your mix. Mobile Marketing Watch claims the reaction rate for text message marketing is 70 percent compared to 30 percent for e-mail marketing. You can send special coupons at the exact times of day that your potential customers would want to hear from you. Of course, like e-mail marketing, make sure your customers have opted-in to receive these messages.

Apply some creativity.
If you have a smart phone you know that there are hundreds of applications that you can download to do just about anything. Think about what your business can offer in the form of a useful application that will get people to install it on their phones. It’s a great way for them to interact with your brand and to increase sales.

The Executive

http://www.executivepress.com/resources/news_archive.html/article/2010/11/08/get-smart-about-your-mobile-marketing

Trade Shows Making a Comeback in 2011

In the last two years, trade shows took a hit. But 2011 looks promising as many companies pull themselves out of the recession. If you’re one of those companies that intend to spend some of your marketing budget on displaying at trade shows this year, look for these trends to help you attract more customers to your booth.

Technology is king. These days, technology rules and tradeshow displays are no exception. Incorporate technology into your booth to attract attention. The good news is that technology is more durable than the plasma screens of yore. Touchscreens are one of the hottest trends and they give your visitors an interactive experience.

LED screens can also garner attention. At the Expo 2010 show in China, the State Grid Pavilion hosted a 49 x 46 foot LED display theatre named the “Magic Box.” Once people gathered in the box, the 112 LED panels morphed into one giant screen and attendees appeared to speed across the desert and leap onto Mount Everest. While the “Magic Box” is beyond budget for most, we can learn that creatively integrating technology could make your trade show booth the one everyone needs to see.
Green is here to stay. For anyone who thought that going green was a fleeting fad, it’s still a trend in tradeshow displays. While having plants in your booth is a nice touch, people are expecting more from their companies. Visitors who are concerned for their carbon footprint will be looking for companies that share the same interest. Consider building an entire exhibit out of recycled materials or become a carbon-neutral company and promote your concern for the environment.

Pictures are stronger than words. You have precious few seconds to capture the attention of a tradeshow attendee. Rather than litter your exhibit with all the words from your brochures, just show them through interesting displays. An exhibit designed by Triad Berlin Projektgesellschaft mbH, featured a ceiling-high cylinder swirling with water. On the cylinder were 40 faucets ranging in size to represent how much water a country such as China or America uses. Again, you may not be able to go to those lengths, but you can use interesting imaging to attract attention.

Trade shows are you best way to interact directly with clients and prospects. Use them to your best advantage.

The Executive Pressman

Never Assume Anything

Your new brochure just came back from the printer.

And there is an error!

Hmmmm. What happened? Well, maybe an assumption was made. These can come at different steps in the process or for different reason? Did you assign or assume that someone was going to:

• Approve the bid?
• Sign off the basic design?
• Approve the copy before it was sent to the designer?
• Read the copy?
• Approve the illustrations or photos?
• Be at the press check?
• Inspect the final delivery?

These are basic things, but when there are assumptions made, then ink can be spilled needlessly.

Don't assume anything.

The Executive Pressman

Providing PDFs to Your Print House

Providing a PDF file to your printed didn't used to be an option. Now, with improvements to files, software and output devices, this file type is now useful and available to printing companies for use in the production of finished, high-quality printed products.

The Adobe product is now become the standard file for file exchange and output in the design and printing community. Since the PDF format is compact and platform independent, it is versatile and fairly easy and accurate to use.

By following the simple guidelines in the step-by-step tutorials offered on the Adobe website for your platform (PC or Mac), you will be able to repetitively create usable PDF files for production of your printed materials. The advantages are:

• Speeds the creation and approval of the final product.
• Generates a virtually error-free PostScript file.
• Shows exactly on screen how fonts, graphics and layout will print.
• Speeds the whole process, thereby saving time, money and relationships.

Consider this useful tool for your next design project. For more information, contact Executive Press for step-by-step help.

The Executive