It's SHOWTIME! Trade Show Contest and Games Make Your Booth a “Winner"

The name of the “game” at trade shows is to attract visitors and potential buyers to your booth. Contests and games can really do the trick and attract interested trade show attendees to come over to your booth. Once there for contests or games where they can win a prize, you have the chance to win them over too.

Make sure that your quick elevator pitch is polished and ready to go. Also, if the display and support materials in your booth are descriptive enough, the potential buyers can learn about your company, what you do, and what you are selling just by standing there and looking around.

Here are some trade show booth contest and game ideas:

• Prize Wheel: These can be big and colourful; some are even glitzy or have lights to attract even more attention. They spin the wheel and see where it lands. Make sure that you connect your company’s contact information, business card, or maybe a promotional pen.
  
  You can customize the prizes and some ideas for giveaways are:
  
  
• Promotional Merchandise: You can have different levels of prizes, for example, a lower level prize could be a promotional mug, while a higher end promotional gift prize could be clothing, or electronics accessories.
  
• Free consultation for your services: Giveaway a 15 minute, 30 minute, or 1 hour consultation of your services.
  
• Free Products or Services: If you have something to giveaway and then that is a great way to stir up buzz about your products.
  
• Percentage off Their Order: Encourage them to purchase by offering a discount. It can be a dollar amount off or a percentage off.
  
• Free lunch at the trade show: Who doesn’t love a free lunch?
  
• Snacks or Drinks: Candy, granola bars, colas, or water bottles make easy giveaways that are appreciated.
  
• Local Business Gift Certificates: Hit up a few businesses that are local to your trade show and see if they would be willing to offer a gift certificate in exchange for the exposure they will get being featured as a prize on your prize wheel. You could also organise gift certificates with other trade show exhibitors that do not have competing products.
  
• Fish Bowl Drawing: This is a great way to collect business cards of attendees; and it is also an easy way to hold a contest. They will gladly give you their contact information for a chance to win a great prize.
  
• Trivia Games: To attract more attention and create buzz, you can hold trivia contests daily where attendees can win prizes based on their knowledge of your products or your industry.
  
• Interactive Games or Applications: If you are in a tech industry or tech savvy, having tablets with a game or interactive application on it can be a big draw and also get people talking about your booth.
  
  
  Don't choose just anything for your the event you want to be remembered by! We've been around since 1979 and will take the time to find the perfect product for your next event and save you money while doing it.

Promo Products Are Perfect Partners For IT Firm

Back Bay Networks, an IT consulting firm, regularly employs promotional products in its marketing efforts. “We have been sending fun toys or funny products – along with an info sheet – to companies just to have them pick it up, see our logo and remember us in the future if they have computer problems,” says Jake Lang, business development and marketing coordinator. The giveaways serve as a conversation starter. “They have definitely received interest and helped us build our potential client list,” says Lang. The price point varies depending on the type of client. Since Back Bay is an IT service company, it has a lower volume of clients but a high- and long-term profit margin, as the majority of its customers purchase yearly service contracts. “In our case, we believe the extra expense for customized marketing is worth the money to obtain a multi-year customer,” he says. The company’s biggest success to date came from a local soccer club. “We had worked with them in the past, but when they realized our increased marketing initiatives, they reached out to us and offered us an incredible deal – to become their official IT partner,” Lang says. Back Bay got advertising rights throughout all of the soccer club’s facilities and events, including promotional ceiling banners, indoor soccer wall boards and an entire indoor soccer goal wrap in return for a discounted IT service rate. “This new partnership put us in contact with a number of new clients and thousands of potential clients,” he says. “This one partnership will easily cover the expenses of running the promotional campaign.” Some of Back Bay’s giveaways that have been particularly well received include a Rubix Cube with the company’s logo replacing the white squares, and a note that reads, “If your computer issues are tougher than this Rubix Cube, give us a call.” Back Bay also has sent out “Boogie Bots,” logoed dancing robots. “This usually gets some laughs and a phone call or email saying ‘thanks,’” Lang says. Another popular giveaway was a Magic 8 Ball with the company logo and a note, “Ask the magic IT ball about your IT issues. And if that doesn’t work, give us a call because we have the answer.” The company attends a lot of trade shows and local town events, and brings along promotional materials like pens, key chains, bottle openers, flash drives, water bottles and T-shirts to hand out to potential clients. Make sure to partner with AdVantages Advertising for help procuring promotional items and great ideas for your next event or marketing campaign. Thanks to the Advertising Specialty Institute for the submission.

How does the Canadian slumping dollar effect us?

Content from CBC News. (See link below)


From Acuras to iPhone apps, suits to sweet potatoes, Canadians are going to be paying more for imported goods, thanks to the loonie's fall against the U.S. dollar.

"It's down roughly 10 per cent from a year ago. That's a very deep decline in a relatively short period of time." says Douglas Porter, chief economist and managing director of BMO Financial Group.

"We've seen deeper drops, but historically that would rank right up there with one of the biggest declines in a 12-month period."

And consumers, Porter says, will pay the price.

"The losers, pretty clear cut: It's consumers. Basically, we have to pay more for anything that's imported or priced in U.S. dollars," says Porter.
It's already happening

Food prices have been increasing for months. Clothing, while often made overseas, tends to be priced in U.S. dollars and has also been getting more expensive.

So too a big-ticket item that Canadians are buying in record numbers. Automakers have started to raise sticker prices on Canadian vehicles.

The Automobile Protection Association says Toyota and Honda, among others, raised prices in the first week of January. Several luxury brands, including Lexus, Acura, and BMW have also made changes to their pricing, with Audi reportedly set to follow in mid-January, the association says.

The APA says most of the increases are modest, an extra few hundred dollars per vehicle.

But it says Honda has raised the suggested retail price on its 2015 CRV Touring, all-wheel-drive model by $750.

"Car companies will take every opportunity that they can to maximize transaction prices or minimize their exposure to the exchange rate," says Jason Stein, publisher and editor of Automotive News.

"We do see prices increasing. We've seen prices increasing across North America. Will they increase a little bit more rapidly north of the border, due to the exchange rate? I think that's probably the case."
It doesn't cut both ways

Stein, a Canadian who lives in Windsor, Ont., and works in Detroit, echoes some of the frustration of some Canadians, who feel automakers were much slower to drop prices in this country when the Canadian dollar was high.

"Interestingly, when the Canadian dollar was above the U.S. dollar, a year, year and a half ago, you didn't see prices dropping."

Last week, Apple raised prices in its Canadian App Store. The 99-cent apps will now cost $1.19 Canadian, a 20 per cent increase. Other apps under $10 went up by about 15 per cent. Apple says the increase is linked to the exchange rate.

Other countries feel it too

But it's not all bad news. The loonie isn't the only currency falling against the greenback.

"This is not entirely a weak Canadian dollar story. Some of it is a strong U.S. dollar story," says BMO's Porter.

"The U.S. dollar is rising against a lot of currencies. So some items we might not be paying a lot more for. For instance, some items from Europe or from Japan, might not be going up that much in price because their currencies are also weakening."

But with the U.S. accounting for about half of all Canadian merchandise imports, the dollar's doldrums will hit most Canadian consumers in the pocketbook.







SOURCE: http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/canadian-dollar-slump-hikes-cost-of-u-s-imported-goods-1.2898150

Increase E-Commerce Conversion Rates with Product Badging Best Practices

Product badging is an area that many e-commerce companies may not think about or realise how much emphasis they can add to help sales. However, you should be thinking about product badges for your website! According to Monetate, a cloud-computing based company that provides in-the-moment personalisation software, badging yields their clients between $50 and $100 million in revenue per year. That translates into a 55% improvement in conversion rates for websites that use badges vs. those who do not..

What is product badging?

Product badges are the small “virtual stickers” that you add to your online products to call attention to specials, details, or to quickly and easily convey information about that product. In addition to increasing the conversion rate and calling attention to specific products, the goals of product badging include: 

Making it easier for shoppers to locate relevant merchandise. 

Helping shoppers make purchase decisions. 

Educating the shopper in an effective and creative way.

There are companies that will help automate the process of adding badges to your website and make it easier for you to manually choose and add specific badges as well. Certain badges can be automated such as best sellers, trending products, seasonal products, and 5 star best reviewed products.

Other types of badges can be scheduled for automation in an effort to drive relevance based on search history, past purchases, etc. Shoppers like personalised attention online just the same as they do in stores. “Just for You” badges with recommended products will make past customers feel special that they were recognised. Certain brands can be tagged with badges as well featuring the brand, just be careful not to "over-do" it, because too many badges does not help showcase particular items if they all have badges.

Badges can also point out which products have excellent reviews. When more people buy well reviewed products, chances are they will be happy with their purchase too.

• Take the Broad View. When offering different views or multiple images, badging one of the images to point out detail is a great idea because it mimics an in-store shopping experience.
  
• Add Motion. A badge with the familiar play arrow indicates that video is available. This will help draw attention and engagement.
  
• Get a “Brand Bump”. If you are in an industry driven by brands, using brand badges will increase attention and sales. This is especially great for products where the brand is not visibly noticeable from the picture or image. You might even be able to work out a special discount or arrangement with suppliers for promoting their brands over other competition.
  
• Use Holidays to Your Advantage. Christmas is of course the big sales holiday, but do not count out other holidays and seasons, especially ones that are important to your industry. Badges will help boost sales by pointing out which products go with each holiday or season.
  
• Showcase Your Expertise. This tip is also called “Be a Shopkeeper”. These specialised badges would mimic what a salesperson would say who is catering to a customer in-store. Things like “limited edition” or “great under dress shirt” give helpful tips to shoppers.
  
• Location, Location, Location! The importance of location still applies even on the World Wide Web. If you cater to a local area, this is especially the case, but there are other applications for it such as “Made in Canada”. Some tools can even automate location based products, activities, and create badges based on weather patterns or trends.

If you are looking for/need professionally designed badges, ask us for our stock designs or ask for custom badges specifically for your business and project.

Call us (613) 938-8591 or email sales@AdvantagesAdvertising.com

Email Etiquette for Customer Service

When emailing with customers, the dynamic becomes very different than other types of situations where you email with friends and family, or even colleagues. Delivery great customer service through email can be extremely tricky because the tone or point of the email can be so easily misinterpreted. This blog post will cover 10 email customer service tips and show you how to ensure that your customer service comes through and customers won’t misunderstand your meaning.

• Answer quickly. Customers that send an email expect a quick answer. A 24 hour turnaround time is probably the maximum amount of time it should take you to respond to an email inquiry. If you can reply quicker, that is ideal. If you cannot reply right away, it is a good idea to have an auto-response set up letting your customer know you received their email and outline when they can expect to hear back from a real, live person. An automated response should still link to answers to frequently asked questions, and direct them to popular link destinations that might help them find the information they are looking for.

• Customer service emails must be grammatically correct. It is important to take the time to proof read your email, as you would any other important correspondence. Re-read your email out loud to ensure that it reads the way you intended.

• Your emails should be written in a formal, but friendly tone. Of course, this can depend on your company rules and atmosphere, but being too rigid can often sound cold. Friendly and warm emails will get you much further than cold and matter of fact ones. However, remember this is not chat. Do not take short cuts or use internet abbreviations for words. If you are too friendly and informal, it can be offensive to some customers.

• Ensuring your tone and meaning are interpreted correctly. This is not an easy task because you have no control over how the person reading your email interprets it. Their mood and other circumstances surround their previous interaction with your company might have already skewed their view or impression. Therefore it is important, especially when dealing with a customer who might possibly be upset already, that you are specific with your meaning. Be formal but friendly. Don’t be afraid to take a few extra minutes to explain a policy, or what happened. If you are dealing with an upset customer or a problem, be sure to read the email allowed to a supervisor or co-worker to craft the proper, well thought out response.

• Adding a few extra key sentences can help show your sincerity. Always start out with a greeting and thank them for their email. Repeat their question or concern just as you would over the phone. Explain your answer. Close by thanking them again and then add something like, “I hope this helped answer your question.”

• Include a call to action. Email customer service is likely about selling your products or services. If your customer is asking about a product or service they are interested in buying, be clear with your call to action such as “Buy that product here, with a direct link”. A call to action might be something else in email though; it can be giving them links and directing them to where they can find more information. When you close the email with an example like #5 above, “I hope this helped answer your question.” Also add calls to action for what they can do if you did not answer their question. Another example of a call to action could be asking them to leave a review for your service, the purchase they made, or sign up for your newsletter and social media channels.

• Add links and be thorough. Since email most likely will not illicit an immediate response, try to be as thorough as possible with the information you give. List all of the information you have about what they are asking for. Include links, pricing, details, and your contact information so that they can call if they don’t want to continue emailing. Always include links to frequently asked questions, return or exchange policies, size charts, payment information, etc.

• Interpret the next question. Try to answer what their next question(s) might be. This will prevent a lot of back and forth emails between you and the customer. If you can answer a question about size, for example, also include information on the colour, price, and a link to the item. On the same token, if you need to ask them for information, ask them for all the information you will need from them, not just the first question you need answered.

• Don’t be afraid to call. If email with a particular customer is going back and forth with email exchanges, then it might be best just to pick up the phone and ring them. A quick phone call can often solve a problem that emailing might further complicate.

• Follow up. Keep your emails organised and follow up with customers who asked questions or had a problem. This is one of the best ways to deliver excellent customer service: let them know you did not forget about them.

 Posted in Internet Marketing, Marketing Advice

PROTECTION IN THIS E-WORLD

Protect Your Computer and Electronic Devices

Keep your software and operating system up to date on your computer or electronic device.

Make sure you have anti-spam, anti-virus and firewall protection on your computer and electronic device(s) and keep them up to date.

• Anti-spam software can scan email before it is received and automatically get rid of known spam. Web-based email services from your Email Service Provider (ESP) or Internet Service Provider (ISP) generally filter spam before it reaches your inbox.
• An anti-virus program protects against malicious software such as malware, adware, spyware, viruses, and Trojans.
• Firewall protection helps control traffic to and from your computer or device. Make sure to choose a firewall that provides both incoming and outgoing protection.

This type of security software can be all purchased from a security software company. Look for a reputable company and do not accept offers made through suspicious types of solicitation, such as random phone calls, pop-up advertisements, etc. These could be fraudulent or contain malware.

You may also find firewall protection through the Operating System (OS) of your computer or device.

You can also enable a hardware firewall. This comes through an external device, such as a router that comes with built-in firewall components which you can enable.

When your computer is not being used, another way to protect yourself is to turn it off and disconnect from the Internet. Many spammers are using sophisticated programs which find and exploit unprotected computers that have been left turned on and connected to the Internet.

Using Wi-Fi Networks:

Many public places such as coffee shops, airports and libraries offer access to free Wi-Fi Internet networks for users of electronic devices such as cellphones, smartphones or laptop computers. Connecting to public networks can pose some risks. Here are some easy tips to follow to help protect yourself and reduce your risks while you are connected to Wi-Fi networks:

• Make sure you're on the correct network. Fake or "evil twin" hotspots are sometimes created in the same location as legitimate hotspots, and it can be very difficult to recognize if you are on the wrong network. Therefore, before connecting, check the name of the network with the host (for example, at a coffee shop ask at the counter for the network name and password if there is one).
• Never surf without enabling your firewall.
• Some websites, such as email provider and social network sites give you the option to always use encryption while on those sites to scramble and protect your data. If that option is available, enable the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) or HTTPS setting to increase your security. You will likely find these options under the "privacy" or "account" settings of the site.
• Where they are available, visit the secure HTTPS version of sites and not the unsecure, regular HTTP site—in particular when you are making transactions and exchanging sensitive data. Be mindful of the URL in the address bar while you're exchanging sensitive data—if the 'S' disappears you should log out right away.
• Try to avoid doing things such as online banking or exchanging sensitive information while on public Wi-Fi networks. Remember that once you are on the network, it is much easier for anyone else on the network to see what you are doing.
• If you find yourself using public Wi-Fi a lot, a virtual private network (VPN) could make sense. It will direct all your web activity through a secure, independent network that encrypts and protects all your data. However, if you can simply avoid exchanging sensitive data while on public Wi-Fi networks—for example, waiting until you are on your secure home network—then a VPN is likely not necessary for you.
• If you're using your computer or device in a public Wi-Fi zone, but you're not on the Internet, it doesn't hurt to turn the Wi-Fi function off on your device. Doing so could prevent a spammer from connecting to your device.
• If you have Wi-Fi Internet in your home, make sure you enable, at a minimum, wireless encryption and password protection.

Protect Your Electronic (Email) Addresses

Use a primary email address for your trusted personal and business contacts.

The Differences in Flash Drive quality

Like all types of technology there are products with superior quality, while there are others that are more second-rate. In the case of custom flash drives for promotional use, there is no exception. The USB industry has its own levels of quality, known as tiers or grades, which define just how good and reliable the USB drive is going to be. Tier 1 is top of the line flash memory, while the lower tiers are more likely to cause errors and other problems with the USB drives.

Of course, all USB flash memory starts out the same; on one giant silicon wafer. Once the wafer is created and etched with intricate circuits, a machine then cuts out each chip. Generally speaking, the chips closer to the edges of this wafer are the ones that tend to be of lower quality. Chips that are cut and do not pass quality control inspections are automatically pushed aside by the machine.


Below are the differences in quality among custom USB drive’s flash memory.

Tier 1
The top of the line chips are called Tier 1, or grade A, and are the highest quality chips you can possibly get. These chips are found just about everywhere and are always laser etched with a serial number and manufactures name. Currently Samsung and Hynix are the largest producers of tier 1 quality memory chips. Tier 1 chips are the best quality because they have the lowest error rates, longest life spans, and are faster than all the other tiers. Lastly, these chips almost always come with a lifetime warranty.

Tier 2
Tier 2 chips are only a slight downgrade of tier 1 chips, but are still good chips to have. These chips are just as reliable as tier 1, have the second lowest error rates, and generally live about as long as tier 1 too. These chips may be etched with a serial number and name of the manufacturer, but it is not uncommon to see tier 2 chips without the etchings.

Tier 3 and Below
Remember those discarded wafer parts I mentioned? Well, tier 3 chips and below are made from these discarded pieces. Second-hand aftermarket vendors buy these discarded pieces from reputable manufactures and resell them to end users. These chips have roughly a 30-40% failure rate and have much lower life expectancy . In some severe cases, these chips have been known to cause system instabilities that can adversely affect the device or computer they’re used in.

Buying Guidelines
So what can you do to make sure you only receive tier 1 chips? Well as mentioned above, tier 1 chips almost always come with a warranty. Second choose a vendor that actually has their prices in tune with the current market prices. Some companies advertise tier 1 chips, but offer them at such a low price that they drastically stand out from the market. The reason they’re probably so cheap is because they are tier 2 or 3 chips, not actual tier 1. Lastly you should always talk to the vendor and ask them what the qualities of the chips are. If the salesman is unsure or is hesitant to answer those types of questions, you should probably go someplace else.

And yes, ALL WE CARRY is Tier 1.