Promotional Cards

[Mike Jackson]

Hi everyone,
Rick Sacks sent me an email asking about some flyers we used to send out when we owned Jackson Signs. I did an article on them for Signs of the Times sometime in about 1988 or so.

While it wasn't an advanced marketing concept, it did work fairly well for us and might still have some uses.

Generally speaking, we had some 4" x 9" little one color postcards printed. Each one carried a message about either a product we sold, or something to do with the kind of quality work we were trying to offer. One was about gold leaf used on glass and our wooden signs. (We put gold leaf in the coves or on the sign on almost every sign we ever sold). Another talked about Quality. Another one mentioned something about expecting more from our company than the possible lower prices of the competitors. One announced some of the awards we had received during the last year. Each had a quick simple message.

When we printed a card, we purchased the mailing list with labels from our local Chamber of Commerce. We would hand stick the labels and target certain groups such as designers, architects, and all the downtown merchants. We also staggered our mailings over a month or so allowing the cards to work in smaller zones of customers, vs all of them at one time and gettting too busy at one time. We knew the cards were working because people often had one in their hand months later when they came in.

At the time, printing was very expensive around here. We just had a simple image and a quick message. Now you can have four color cards printed for next to nothing, including color examples of your real signs.

Again, there wasn't much novel about the concept other than the fact we took the time and energy to do it.

Mike Jackson

[Rick Sacks]

Mike, I remember you tracking the cards and finding that there was a regular small percentage of customers responding that generated work, and there was a delay of several months before the action started. With this info tracked, you could know how many cards to send out when to fill the gaps at slow times that were anticipated and not send out so many that you'd be overwhelmed. Also, do you still have any of those cards? What is the condition of Jackson Signs now? Do they still use any of these tools that you generated?

[Mike Jackson]

Rick,
About the only way we really tracked them was:

We knew the cards were working because people often had one in their hand months later when they came in.

We sold Jackson Signs over 11 years ago. They are still in business, though it has changed hands several times. If I kept any of the cards, they would be filed in some box of stuff I haven't seen in a long, long time. I doubt they have any of them left, and I couldn't say they are using any of them or the concept of them.

Really though, they weren't that big of a deal to dream up nor make. For example, one of them said something like:

"Value is determined not by what you pay for something, but by what you get for what you pay...Jackson Signs has been in business over 25 years and has the experience and expertise to fill your signage needs. Drop by our showroom at xxxx Highway 50 and see for yourself. Better yet, just look around town. It should be apparent which ones we made."

That's the entire message. I think that one had a fancy V, but otherwise it was all text. We printed up 500, then mailed 75 to 100 out every few weeks, but only to businesses in town and in the surrounding county.

Another one said something like:
"Looking back on 1987: Jackson signs has been busy for the past couple of years. In 1987, we received two first place and two second place awards in a prestigious national sign design contest. In addition, we were selected as a tie for first place in Dolchem's national sign designer of the year contest. Besides the awards, our work has been featured in several national trade magazines and will be in at least one book in the upcoming year. Drop by our show room. Let us make your next signs and we''ll do our best to make them stand out"

Another one said something like:
"YOUR BEST ADVERTISING VALUE. The Better Business Bureau prints statistics showing that the sign you put on your business is the single best advertising value you can make for your business. Spend $200 per month on print ads and watch it go to the dump or the recycle bins a few days later. Spend $200 per month for a year with us and you will have an eyecatching sign right over your door that can attract some of the 2,000,000 tourists per year. Better yet, our signs last more than a year, so your investment can be a huge advertising value for years to come"

I wouldn't expect anyone to jump in their car and zip down to the shop after getting any of the cards, but we knew the messages were important when it came time for someone to purchase a sign or update their identitiy.

Mike Jackson