It’s a New Year and time for a new season of Thirsty Thursday! Thirsty Thursday is the award-winning piece of content from Hasseman Marketing where we take a mystery drink out of a piece of branded drinkware! It’s funny. It’s irreverent. And we show you some really cool merch as well! This week we feature the Under Armour 24 oz. Dominate Bottle. Watch the latest episode below!
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Want to know THE (nearly) universal problem I hear about with businesses we work with today? Regardless of industry, nearly all of our clients struggle with one big issue.
Attracting & Retaining Great Talent
Companies from all over the country, in all kinds of different industries, need to find the best people…and they need to keep them. It’s a struggle. And while people often want to blame the work ethic of our country, math will tell you that there are simply fewer people working right now. With Baby Boomers retiring, there is a gap between the number of jobs, and the number of workers to fill them. So what do we do?
Compensation Is Not Enough
While a competitive compensation plan is important, sometimes money really can’t buy happiness at work. Studies will tell you that once compensation hits a certain level, it fails to motivate behavior. And as more and more employers adjust their pay rates, it becomes harder to be a differentiator. So of course you need to pay your team well. But if that is your entire strategy for attracting and retaining talent…it will probably fall short.
So what can you (as a leader) do to help improve your employee retention? Here are 3 strategies. These are some best practices that we have seen organizations create…so they can create a wonderful place to work.
Create A Tribe
Many new employees walk into a new work environment and feel completely disconnected. They don’t feel a part of the tribe. Sure, they get the “welcome packet” but that’s full of corporate jargon that tells them what they can and can’t do at work. They don’t immediately feel a part of the team.
Create a Welcome Kit: One way to make your new people feel welcome is to provide them with a quality welcome merch kit. This kit might include a t-shirt, a backpack (to use for work), a water bottle, and a notebook. This simple kit not only begins their work experience with “a gift” from the company, it immediately starts to indoctrinate them into the team. They feel good about the organization and they feel like they belong. You start to create a tribe.
Have Fun at Work: When I worked at the Longaberger Company, Dave Longaberger said that 25% of your workday should be fun. It wasn’t about having a foosball table or blowing off the tough stuff. It was about giving people permission to laugh. Dave knew that people who were happy tended to be more creative and productive. Do you allow that?
Create a Culture of Care
Maya Angelou said that people will not care how much you know until they know how much you care. And while there are many ways to show your team that you sincerely care about their well-being, here are a few strategies to consider.
Be more flexible with work time: During the pandemic, everyone had to work from home. So in most organizations, we have proven that it can be done. Now that many organizations are moving back to the office (and we are too), leaders still have the chance to let people work from home when they need to. In addition, we have seen some leaders be a bit more liberal with vacation time. This flexibility gives your team the space to recharge and shows a level of “care” that many organizations don’t.
Create A Wellness Program: The science is real. If your brain is healthy, you are more healthy. Healthy (in all senses of the word) employees are better employees. But most organizations don’t invest in health and wellness programs. Creating a program that encourages your team to get physically and mentally healthy not only shows you care, but it will create outsized results in productivity as well.
Create a Culture of Appreciation
For years, we have said that there is an Appreciation Gap in the world today. We talk about that here. It’s the gap between the leaders (who think they show appreciation) and the employees and customers (who don’t feel appreciated). As a matter of fact, we have repeatedly talked about creating an appreciation program to make sure your top customers know how much they mean to you. It’s a powerful way to keep your customers.
It is also a strategy you can use to make sure your team knows you care.
Create a quarterly appreciation program for your employees. Every quarter, select a nice piece of branded merch and give it out to your team. Not only does it make sure you are saying “thank you” on a more regular basis, but it also helps to continue to build that tribe.
So those are 3 strategies that can help improve employee retention. By creating a culture where people are excited to come to work, you can decrease turnover and improve your overall organization.
Many organizations we work with, go to events to tell their story. Whether it’s community events, job fairs, trade shows, or conferences, events are a great place to market your business. But how do you know you are being effective? In this new webinar, 7 Steps To Great Event Marketing, we will give you a roadmap to make sure you are doing event marketing right.
The webinar will be only 30 minutes and we will cover some tactics you can get started on right away.
So please join us! Just head here to register now. And please feel free to invite other team members that you think might get value from the training!
It’s FREE. It’s ACTIONABLE. And it’s Friday, January 27th at 2 pm. Please register here.
Hasseman Marketing is your one-stop marketing shop. We work hard to “Deliver #MarketingJoy to you. If you want to make sure you never miss an update, now is a great time to become a VIP. Sign up to be “on the list” here.
It’s hard to believe that we are in the final month of 2022…but here we are! So how will you use the time wisely in order to get ready for 2023? We all want to start the year on the right foot. So we at Hasseman Marketing intend to help!
New Webinar: 5 Marketing Tactics to Thrive in 2023
We have created a new FREE webinar called 5 Marketing Tactics to Thrive in 2023 and it will be Friday December 16th at 2pm. There is no cost and no obligation. This is just a new piece of content created to get your wheels turning so you can plan to up your marketing game in 2023.
The webinar will be only 30 minutes and we will cover some tactics you can get started on right away.
So please join us! Just head here to register now. And please feel free to invite other team members that you think might get value from the training!
It’s FREE. It’s ACTIONABLE. And it’s Friday December 16th at 2pm. Please register here.
Hasseman Marketing is your one-stop marketing shop. We work hard to “Deliver #MarketingJoy to you. If you want to make sure you never miss an update, now is a great time to become a VIP. Sign up to be “on the list” here.
The best organizations create experiences “on purpose.” As our parents might have said, they take the time to do it right “the first time.” And in doing so, they seem different than other businesses we run into. We can sense the difference right away. The same is true with how they order branded merchandise. So in this blog, we will give you a step-by-step guide on how to purchase branded merchandise…the right away.
Let’s start with the wrong way.
The call or email we often get goes like this. “Hey! I have an event tomorrow! Can we get some crap to give away?” 🙂
We have all been in that situation where we found out about an event at the last minute. Or maybe you just forgot. I get it. We all do. And we will happily help you when this happens. But we all know this is not the best way to get premium results…right?
So let’s talk about the right way to purchase branded merchandise so you can get premium results.
Identify the Perfect Customer
Spending some time on the front end to identify who you are targeting is powerful. The superpower of branded merchandise is that it can meet your perfect customer right where they are. By investing a bit of mental energy at the beginning of the project, you can select an item that hits the target. Once you have that perfect customer, here are 3 more questions to ask. The deeper you dive on this, the more likely you will find a great piece of branded merch that will pop!
Give Yourself Time
This has always been true, but giving yourself cushion in the timeline has been doubly true over the past couple of years. Supply chain challenges, shipping issues, and labor shortages have made rush orders incredibly challenging. Even if you do make it work, you are going to stress yourself to the point of shortening your life. Add extra time in the project. Trust us.
Set a Budget (and be willing to communicate it)
You might think this goes without saying, but it often doesn’t. Have an idea of what you want to spend. This might mean per item…but I often think you should also include the total budget number. Then be willing to communicate this to your trusted promotional supplier. Why? Because then they (and we) can help you work to stay in that budget. One of the problems with purchasing branded merchandise is all of the “extra” charges. This might mean the setup fees, proof charges or even shipping fees. If you want you want to stay on budget, you need to share what the actual budget is with your partner. When we know it, we can help!
Have Good (Vector) Art
One thing that can really slow down a project is the lack of good art. Vector art translates to any size and allows for your branded merchandise partner to manipulate your logo to meet the project needs. What is vector art? We break that down here. But suffice it to say, good art in…good art out.
Create A Plan A and B
Remember the supply chain thing we talked about earlier? It’s still a thing. So when you are selecting your branded merchandise, you might want to select a plan b as well. The fact is, even suppliers that have inventory listed on their site, can’t control everything. There are more than 25,000 distributors of branded merchandise, many with hundreds of salespeople. Even though, that “perfect” item showed it’s in stock right now, it could be gone soon. One of those other companies could swoop in with a big order and eat up that stock before our order is placed.
This is not a scare tactic. It’s just “an is.” We have seen dozens of projects get derailed over the past couple of years because the item they wanted was out of stock. So when a customer says, “So you are saying that there are not ANY XL black t-shirts in that style anywhere in the US?” We have to say, “That is correct. That is what I am saying.”
So have a plan B. It will save you time and headaches.
Request a Proof (and actually look at it)
Maybe you are thinking, “You just told me to send good art! If I send good art, then I should not need a proof.” I get that line of thinking, but humans make mistakes. Maybe you attached the wrong file. What if we sent the wrong art to the supplier? Maybe the supplier swapped the art for a totally different client. Either way, we believe it’s incredibly important to get a proof. As a matter of fact, we request one even if you don’t. It just saves time and headaches.
Oh, and if you do get a proof, take the time to look at it. Really study it and make sure it’s right. Because once you approve that proof, the imprinted products are going to be yours. I can’t tell you how often we get a frantic email or call saying that the client “didn’t really look at the proof” and now the product is wrong.
But…they approved the proof. And now they don’t want the product.
The challenge, of course, is now the product has their information on it (albeit wrong information). So someone is going to eat that cost. Whether it’s the supplier, the distributor (that’s us) or the customer…someone owns that imprinted merchandise.
So request a proof. Then actually proof it.
Think About Distribution
No branded merchandise campaign is going to be effective if it’s stuck in a closet. I see plenty of cool merch ideas go to die because no one thought about how the items were going to be distributed. Are you going to ship them out? Maybe you want your sales team to go out and visit your customers (you can do that again)! Are you going be at an event handing them out? Either way, consider how you are going to engage your prospects or customers. What are you going to say? How will you get in front of them?
Make sure you think about how this amazing new merch will get in the hands of your target audience!
Have a Theme or Message
One bonus tip is to consider creating “merch with a message.” While you may need to make sure your company logo is prominently displayed on an item (and we get that), consider what kind of merch you wear. More and more, we are seeing companies creating branded merchandise with a message that aligns with their brand values. Then they put their logo (somewhere less conspicuous) along with the message. People are more likely to wear your merch for longer, if they identify with a message.
So there you have it! There is how to purchase branded merchandise…the right way! Let us know if we can help you create a branded merchandise campaign that pops!
Hasseman Marketing is your one-stop marketing shop. We work hard to “Deliver #MarketingJoy to you. If you want to make sure you never miss an update, now is a great time to become a VIP. Sign up to be “on the list” here.
Our goal at Hasseman Marketing is pretty simple. We want to help you market your organization…and we want to do that joyfully. As we have said many times, if we do our jobs right, when you get your branded merchandise, there is a little piece of Christmas morning. We all get excited to open that box of what we call “marketing joy.”
But the last few years have been “different” to say the least. There have been ups and downs…and plenty of challenges. And our goal, through it all, has been to continue to help you market your organization and tell your story. Sometimes that means creating a fantastic video, sometimes it means helping you get sweet t-shirts, and sometimes it means keeping you informed of what is happening in the industry.
Today…we want to give you 3 important facts about the branded merchandise side of the business.
Branded Merch Is More Valuable Than Ever
Okay…you might feel like this is more of an opinion than a fact, but go with us here. Over the course of the last 2 to 3 years, the world of work has changed a lot. Many people have gone from traveling to an office every day, to working from home, and then back. And while the future of work is still up in the air, one thing is clear. Work has changed. Even those who still work at the office or manufacturing plant, have seen it change. Many are being asked to do more with fewer people around them. The work world is just…different.
That is where Branded Merchandise (done well) has come in.
Smart organizations have used quality branded merch to help create team unity, show appreciation, or rally the troops. The change that we have seen is a shift from “cheap” giveaways. While those less expensive pieces still have a place, we have seen a trend of organizations focusing on quality and value. If you want to show your team that you appreciate them, or you want to motivate them to work hard, a quality branded piece of merchandise has become a powerful tool for nearly every organization.
The Supply Chain is not Fixed Yet
I wish this was not true. But it is. The supply chain challenges, though improving, are not fixed. There are still plenty of shortages in stock of popular items. We talked about some things you can do to lessen your own stress here. But in short, it’s important to continue to allow for more time. Last-minute projects happen. But in order to set your organization up for success, make sure you give a bit more time when you can.
Also, be open to alternatives when you can. If you want a black t-shirt…awesome. But if you want “that specific black t-shirt,” you set yourself up for frustration.
Prices Have Risen
We hate to be the bearer of bad news, but this is a fact. Most items have had an increase. We mentioned that it was coming in this article we wrote last year…and it has come true. So just be prepared. In addition, shipping costs have been affected as well. These are just facts of life at this moment. But don’t despair. We can still work with your budget. This is where open communication can be incredibly important. Please let us know when constraints you are working under from the beginning of the project!
With all of that being said, now is NOT too early to think about the 4th quarter. If you know the budget you have, now is a great time to select your gifts for customers and employees. This will decrease the stock concerns, rush charges, and shipping issues.
And if you are thinking “now is too early,” just remember…we have seen this movie before! Let’s be prepared to learn from the past and make this 4th quarter a bit less frantic than the last couple!
These are 3 important facts that we see about branded merchandise. If you have questions or concerns, please reach out and let us know! We would love to deliver some marketing joy to you!
Hasseman Marketing is your one-stop marketing shop. We work hard to “Deliver #MarketingJoy to you. If you want to make sure you never miss an update, now is a great time to become a VIP. Sign up to be “on the list” here.
