If you’re in the healthy foods or living industry, you’ve probably noticed one particular fact that’s hard for most consumers to wrap their heads around: the healthiest option is not always the cheapest.

The healthy option always has the perception of being the pricier option:  just look at Booster Juice vs. the McDouble.

But even if this is true, it doesn’t have to look that way. You can market your health product or service so that your target demographic doesn’t think “I can’t afford that” but “I can’t afford not to afford that.”

Let’s say you’re heading to the Total Health Show and you’re redesigning your brand image. You’re going all out: large backdrop display, handouts, stickers, banner stand — your only problem is that you look at who’s booked next to you, and it’s some cheap thing that couldn’t possibly do what it claims to. It’s not nearly as healthy as your product, but it has an advantage — a much lower price point. You might not be able to beat your competitor on price, but there a few ways you can use design and marketing to show visitors why your product is tops:

• Use an infographic to compare traditional products with yours. Instead of comparing the initial out of pocket expense, focus on how customers only have to purchase one of your products compared to the other guys 4.

• Get the research: your product is proven to increase or decrease levels of x, which can lead to an increase in lifespan of x years — or an average loss of x inches — or an increase in energy — or whatever. Don’t even mention the price on your large displays if you can — you want price to be of secondary concern.

• Use these tools to create your own infographics and use them to change the way your customers think about health products — http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/225095

Want to really make the most of your marketing? Visit Signworld Canada for the latest trade show displays, business marketing products, and custom banner printing opportunities.

The blog over at Technifold knows about this all too well:

“You’re the third printer to stop in this morning…
Sorry, we already have 4 print vendors…
Give me one good reason I should do business with you
instead of the 7 other guys on this street…”

That’s the kind of response I heard in my years on the street. Fortunately we had a specialty (short-run books and manuals) that gave us some unique capabilities.

One way around these objections is to make life as easy as possible for them.

Our suggestion?

Businesses often hold seasonal sales, so why not make it easy for them by providing seasonal templates?

Let’s say you have an old customer who’s gotten some vinyl banners printed from you to promote their business. They might think they don’t need anything else — after all, the old banner still works fine, and their message is getting out there.

But you know better.

Because Winter is Coming — or Valentine’s Day — or Thanksgiving — or Summer Vacation — or, well, you get the idea. And that old banner could always use a more festive-minded touch-up.

Using stock images or your own in-house graphic designer,  you can have a number of templates drawn up , ready for customers to have their logos, text, and messages dropped into.

Clients love it because it saves them from having to hire a graphic designer, and you’ll love it because clients love when you make things as easy as possible. Love love love.

Want to really make the most of your marketing? Visit Signworld Canada

for the latest trade show displays, business marketing products, and custom banner printing opportunities.

It’s become increasingly difficult to become a success — let alone make a living — as a farmer over the past few years. Increases in technological investments, government regulation, and competition have all contributed to the decline of small farms and agricultural companies.

On the other side of that sentiment is the fact that consumers in the western word are becomign icnreasingly mor einterested in the “buy local,” “organic” ethos that has propelled the proliferation of tiny farmers markets and artisan shops.

How can you kee your head above water and snatch up these valuable consumers who want to know the story of their food, from farm to plate?

Hubspot’s Marketing blog has an interesting article about how marketing by and to farmers and agriculture companies :

“Farmer’s Market(ing)”

“…farmers are also conscientious stewards of the land, water and animals in their care. They are the people that volunteer for the fire department, coach t-ball, sit on school boards and church councils, send their kids into the military and remember to take off their hats when the national anthem plays. They know their neighbors and support each other when times are tough.”

If you’re going to sell to farmers, or be a farmer, you have to know the mindset of what being a farmer is all about. And I think that snippet up there sums it up pretty nicely.

Want to really make the most of your marketing? Visit Signworld Canada for the latest trade show displays, business marketing products, and custom banner printing opportunities.

It can difficult to merge the two minds of marketer or public relations expert and being invested in a non-profit organization. For, a non-profit is considered with exactly that — using all resources effectively toward a cause, while keeping nothing — or very little — available for growth. Most, if not all, of your revenue comes from charitable donations, which rely on the whims of those who already have money.

This is where the dichotomy sets in. To get the money, a non-profit needs to wade into the water of the for-profit, and representatives should not be afraid of getting their feet wet. To get the money, you need people to know about you and your cause, and that means you need to get ready to do some marketing.

Hubspot’s marketing blog has an extremely informative article about this, “How to Stretch Your Nonprofit’s Marketing Resources.” Here’s a snippet:

“At face value, it may seem like nonprofits have an uphill battle to fight. In a world where big CPG brands have infinite dollars to spend on marketing, how can the smaller players keep up and compete for attention spans that are already spread thin? How can nonprofits afford marketing when their organizations are, by definition, not structured around ROI?”

And here’s one of their ideas:

Repurpose Your Assets

If you do decide to create an ebook or series of blog posts, make sure to make the most out of your investment. Turn an ebook into 5 blog posts and 5 blog posts into an ebook. Use templates wherever possible (i.e. if you’re hiring a designer, create layouts that you can reuse for multiple assets).

Read more here.

Want to really make the most of your marketing? Visit Signworld Canada for the latest trade show displays, business marketing products, and custom banner printing opportunities.

Are you a restaurant or food company planning another foray into the wide world of marketing, but feel that your trade show displays and other promotional material just aren’t cutting it anymore?

Maybe that’s because your competitors know something you don’t: story sells.

We’ve been hearing it for years that to sell more, you need to grab people’s attention and connect with using people-oriented stories. Well, there’s a really specific way to do this in the restaurant and food industry, and the iMedia Connection blog clues us in with their piece on “4 New Rules of Food Marketing:”

“It’s not enough for a food product to taste good or be healthy. For a restaurant, it’s not enough to have a great menu and attractive setup. For any food brand, origin stories are becoming increasingly important. Consumers are interested in where their food comes from, whether it’s the origins of the recipes or the origins of the actual ingredients used in the dish they are eating.”

People want to feel conencted to their food. It’s not enough now to feature a mouth-watetering image fo a plate of spaghetti — or even mention great grandma-ma’s secret blend of herbs and spices. Your customers want to know where their SPECIFIC food is coming from: who’s making it, where the ingredients are coming from, who’s farming those ingredients.

“The farm-to-table trend … has shown that consumers are interested in talking about where things originate.”

Even companies like McDonald’s have taken advantage of this, featuring smiling beef and egg farmers to assure restaurant visitors that their burgers are made with “100% Canadian Beef.”

Next time you’re planning out those trade show banners, stop and ask yourself how you can show the people behind the product.

You can find more advice on how to do this over on the Hubspot Marketing blog: “The Psychology of Stories: The Storytelling Formula Our Brains Crave”

Want to really make the most of your marketing? Visit Signworld Canada for the latest trade show displays, business marketing products, and custom banner printing opportunities.

While the marketing world may seem like it’s shifting inexorably into the cloud, becoming more and more focused on Skype meetings and organic Google searches instead of sales calls and lead prospecting, there’s still one place where everyone knows they can get the sales leads that they need: the trade show.

The Hubspot Marketing Blog offers up “75 Tips to Generate Sales Leads From a Trade Show” in a free presentation via Slideshare that are invaluable tips for any company, from start-ups to mid-fielders to established brands.

Here’s a snippet:

“In the internet age, trade shows shouldn’t be your sole source of leads….

But most every industry has one event that is the event. Everyone who’s anyone attends, and that includes your customers, competitors, and a heaping helping of potential buyers. Your company simply must be represented on the vendor floor — no ifs, ands, or buts about it.”

The Trade Show is still one of the fastest, easiest ways to find prospects, because everyone is guaranteed to be there for one purpose: to find that company that can help them do great things. To find you, basically.

Here are a few choice tips:

5) Email coupons to current customers ahead of the event, telling them to turn them in at your booth for a special gift.

10) Look into becoming a speaker for a panel or roundtable discussion. – See more at: https://www.qualitylogoproducts.com/blog/75-tips-land-prospects-trade-show/#sthash.3tfCLdkd.dpuf

34) Attend panels and presentations, and network with prospects or potential business partners who may be able to work out a reciprocal referral program with you. – See more at: https://www.qualitylogoproducts.com/blog/75-tips-land-prospects-trade-show/#sthash.3tfCLdkd.dpuf

Follow the link for more, and, of course, help set yourself up for success by visitng Signworld Canada for all the nitty-gritty physical booth stuff: http://canadiandisplay.ca