Our Town America Logo
Skip to content

Tag: digital

Affordable Marketing Ideas for a New Year

Written by Brittany N. Johnson
Affordable Marketing Ideas Our Town America

To cope with high supply costs and above-average inflation rates, implement affordable marketing ideas designed to add loyal customers and boost profits. Businesses were hit hard in 2022 as inflation reached record rates, gas prices shot up, and supply costs increased. Labor shortages prompted small businesses to raise wages and offer incentives to retain staff. But relief is on the horizon. Research indicates wage increases are starting to level off. Hourly earnings growth over the previous 12 months slowed to 4.95% in December, its weakest level since March 2022. Optimism is rising, but fear of a recession and ongoing high supply costs make it likely you’re still crunching the numbers and searching for ways to cut costs in 2023. Over the last 50 years, we’ve helped small businesses open their doors to new customers in both lean and boom times. Our Town America recommends keeping a robust marketing strategy in place to drive traffic and, thankfully, there are affordable marketing ideas you can implement to save money and grow your business.  Direct Mail. We offer both budget-friendly New Mover Marketing and Postcard Marketing. Our New Mover Marketing program welcomes new residents to your business before they form loyalties with the competition. This Welcome Package filled with proven offers is an incentive to encourage them to visit your business – new movers love this personal touch. With Postcard Marketing, you can blanket a ZIP code with your message. You can target people by neighborhood, median income and age. Our Town Digital. Our Town America’s new “Our Town Digital” program provides an affordable tie-in to your direct mail piece.  The average American spends two hours and 14 minutes on social media each day. Sending a tangible offer delivers a solid impact. Reinforcing the message with a digital component provides seamless, hassle-free results. The digital ads will reach the people who received your direct mail and others who match similar demographics in your targeted area, such as commuters and frequent visitors, to increase foot traffic to your business. Build influencer relationships. Influencers play a significant role in helping small businesses promote their brands. The influencer market was forecast to reach $16.4 billion in 2022, up from $13.8 billion in 2021. By offering a free product or service to an Instagram influencer, you can showcase your brand experience to their cultivated list of followers. Find a podcast. At least 41% of Americans listen to a podcast, according to Pew Research. Being a guest speaker on a local podcast showcases your authority and expertise and generates buzz about your business. Local SEO. Improve your local SEO to ensure your business appears at the top of Google searches. Simply create and optimize a Google My Business page. Google offers tips to improve your ranking. Apply for business awards. Raise awareness about your establishment by applying for local small business awards. Many awards allow customers to vote for their top picks. People are more likely to visit a business if they receive a recommendation. Receiving an award will help introduce your brand to new customers and get some free press in the local media. Vehicle branding. Create a mobile billboard advertising your business by installing a vehicle wrap on your ride. Vehicle branding is a one-time cost with a high potential reward. Press releases. Newsroom staff shortages provide the perfect opportunity for small businesses to get local news coverage. Don’t underestimate the power of a well-written press release or full article to inform the media about exciting events or new products at your location. Build a customer database. Offer discounts to customers who sign up for your customer database. Having access to your loyal customers’ email and text information will allow you to blast out new menu offerings or special deals to help encourage them to pay your business a visit. Learn more affordable marketing ideas and ramp up sales by adding Our Town Digital and/or a Direct Mail Strategy to your lineup. Find your local Our Town America rep to get started. Brittany N. JohnsonBrittany is the head of Our Town America’s corporate marketing department. She specializes in digital and print media, social media, and public relations. […]

Read More…

Unique Ways Restaurants Can Use QR Codes to Drive Sales

Written by Brittany N. Johnson
Restaurants Use QR Codes to Drive Sales Our Town America Marketing

Modern Restaurant Management Magazine — As the impact of the pandemic wanes, restaurant owners should evaluate the contactless service options they implemented to keep customers and staff safe to see how they can help drive sales. When restaurants got the green light to reopen their dining rooms, they implemented a host of safety procedures to prevent the spread of germs. Restaurants across the country shelved their paper menus and turned to digital options to reduce touchpoints. To go contactless, customers scanned a small black and white square called a QR code on their mobile device to see a digital copy of the menu. Although the new tool required many restaurant staffers to serve dual roles as waitstaff and technical consultants, using QR codes was a resounding success. Some restaurants even took safety a step further by eliminating in-person ordering and offering contactless payment. At least 45 percent of Americans preferred reading the menu, ordering, and paying with their phone to reduce touch points during the pandemic, according to an online survey of 2,081 people conducted by Appetize. Contactless options are also helping restaurant owners weather the labor shortage. Nearly three out of four restaurants said automated tools and integrated apps are helping them fill the gaps during the current labor crunch, Square reported. The digital provider recently partnered with Wakefield Research to survey 500 restaurants and 1,000 consumers. QR codes are nothing new. QR codes were invented in 1994 by Denso Wave, a Japanese-based subsidiary of Toyota, to track vehicle parts during manufacturing. They hit the mainstream back in 2002 when technological advancements enabled a QR-code reading feature to be added to mobile phones. While the adoption of QR codes ramped up gradually, they became ubiquitous during the pandemic as people relied on their phones to do business. While QR codes are a great tool for contactless service, they have a wide variety of uses, particularly when it comes to marketing. Restaurants can capitalize on the growing familiarity of QR codes to help drive sales. Here are a few easy ways you can provide better customer service and increase profits by using QR codes. Feedback. One of the best ways to connect with your customers is to listen to their feedback about their dining experience. Having great online reviews can also help drum up business. At least 63.6 percent of consumers are “likely” to read a Google review before visiting a business. Restaurants can use QR codes to solicit feedback by guiding them to Google, Yelp, Facebook, and TripAdvisor, where they can type their opinion on your restaurant’s food and service. QR codes are a great way to collect data on customer experience. Direct customers to an online survey regarding their dining experience by using a QR code. Direct Mail Campaigns. Despite the growth in online marketing through email and social media, direct mail remains one of the best tools for promoting your restaurant. Zoom fatigue and crowded email inboxes make a tangible postcard that arrives in your mailbox stand out. Every Door Direct Mail® (EDDM) postcards and new mover marketing campaigns are great tools for getting the word out about your business. EDDM allows you to send postcards to an entire zip code or filter your options by age, income, or household size. New mover marketing gives your restaurant the chance to capture new customers before they form loyalties to other businesses. Adding a QR code to your mailer can provide customers with more information about your eatery. The landing page for your QR code might be your menu, your location details, or get creative and showcase a video clip of your chef creating a new dish in the kitchen. The opportunities are endless. Boost Social Media. Approximately three out of 10 United States adults are “online almost constantly,” the Pew Research Center reported. Facebook has more than 2.9 billion users worldwide, including nearly 177 million people in the U.S. Clearly, social media allows you to reach potential customers where they spend their time, but growing your following can be an uphill battle. Add a QR code to your marketing materials leading people to your Facebook page. If your restaurant is on multiple social media platforms, you can create a QR code that displays multiple platforms on one mobile-optimized page. Promotions. Drum up traffic to your restaurant by using a QR code to guide people to a new special or BOGO offer. Having the offer on their phone will make redemption a breeze. Book Reservations, Join Waiting List. As new technology advances and customers are able to book reservations and join your waiting list online, make their life easier by providing them with a QR code to point them in the right direction. Housekeeping Details. In addition to digital menus, ordering, and contactless payment, QR codes are a great tool for other housekeeping concerns, such as Wi-Fi login, hours of operation, directions, and dress code suggestions. QR codes are no longer just for menus. The consistent application of QR codes can help you maintain safety standards, streamline operations, fuel marketing efforts, and improve customer service. Brittany N. JohnsonBrittany is the head of Our Town America’s corporate marketing department. She specializes in digital and print media, social media, and public relations. […]

Read More…

Why Direct Mail Still Works In A Digital World

Written by Brittany N. Johnson
Direct Mail in a Digital World - It Still Works

Forbes — As businesses adapt to consumer shopping habits in the post-pandemic world, it’s important to evolve your direct mail marketing strategy to stay relevant and ensure your direct mail list converts. Last year saw the rise of teleconferencing, remote working, binge-watching and grocery delivery across the globe. Even before the pandemic hit, the average American worker spent five hours per day on email, according to an Adobe study. While the rollout of the vaccine and dropping Covid-19 numbers are fueling consumer confidence, many Americans expect to continue to telework, and at least 26.7% of the workforce will be fully remote by the end of 2021, according to an Upwork survey of more than 1,000 hiring managers and chief executives. By 2025, 36.2 million Americans will be working remotely, an increase of 16.8 million people from pre-pandemic rates. As our digital footprint hits overdrive and Zoom fatigue kicks in, Americans are craving experiences outside of their computer screens. Email inboxes are overflowing, and people are growing numb to online ads. Direct mail marketing continues to deliver a personal and tangible alternative for customers suffering from screen overload, which will be more important than ever as the country slowly returns to normal. It allows small businesses to reach customers in their community at home, where they spend their time, providing a physical touchpoint of their message. As technology continues to innovate, direct mail marketing is evolving to provide businesses with real-time marketing analytics to help improve targeting and cut marketing costs. Direct mail can also include unique codes or barcodes to track individual responses to your mailings. Combine Accurate Direct Mail Lists With Technology Enhancements Small businesses can leverage their direct mail lists by taking advantage of digital enhancements. The USPS developed a unique feature for your direct mail postcard. Informed Delivery allows residents to get a copy of their direct mail piece in their email inbox before it arrives in their physical mailbox. Marketers can capitalize on this trend by including unique links in the message or videos about the deal. Voice activation technology allows businesses to use their smart speakers, like Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant, to respond to advertising offers. Focus On Sensory Experience Direct mail marketing allows businesses to focus on the sensory experience of their customers. Sensory marketing plays a major role in buying decisions, as it can help strengthen B2C connections. Both vision and touch are key senses that influence product perception, according to a report by IE University in Spain. Your direct mail marketing message can stand out and engage customers by offering an offline sensory experience in our increasingly digital world. Direct mail messages can further stand out by including increased personalization and physical touches like foiling, embossing and even scent. For example, my company provides an enhanced sensory experience for new residents in the community. We send an upscale, ribbed texture welcome package filled with oversized colorful proven offers from local businesses. Our businesses appreciate the high-quality design, and new movers receive a tangible offer giving them the opportunity to engage with new brands. Stumbling Blocks To Direct Mail Marketing While it’s clear direct mail is an important tool in your marketing arsenal, it’s important to remember that it’s not foolproof. Still, the high return on investment that a direct mail marketing campaign can bring makes these stumbling blocks worth conquering. Here are some of the most common hurdles businesses encounter and how to fix them: • Frequency. Determining the frequency of mailings is difficult to attain. Send out a postcard too often, and customers will cast them aside. Splitting up your list and sending postcards at different frequencies can help ensure you avoid saturation and find that sweet spot. Sending to a new, niche audience each time can also help with this. • Up-to-date lists. It’s also important to keep your mailing lists up to date. USPS can validate the addresses in your database to make sure they’re current. Routinely doing a database validation can help make your campaign more effective and could increase returns. If you’re working with a company that provides a mailing list, check with it to determine list accuracy. • Going over budget. Make sure your direct mail marketing campaign generates results. Overspending your marketing budget isn’t an option. Many providers offer apps to track the success of your campaign while also providing detailed demographic data to help streamline your next mailing. As Americans continue to weather the pandemic, reaching them at home with direct mail marketing can provide a solid return on investment for your business and a welcome respite from the digital overload. Article by Forbes Technology Council Member and President/CEO/CTO of Our Town America, Michael Plummer Jr. Forbes Technology Council is an invitation-only community for world-class CIOs, CTOs and technology executives.    Brittany N. JohnsonBrittany is the head of Our Town America’s corporate marketing department. She specializes in digital and print media, social media, and public relations. […]

Read More…