PPB November 2021

Performance Indicators (KPIs) to measure my success, clients began to ask questions. Who created this campaign for you? What made you decide to have this created? Are they successful? What type of success rate have you had? Can I get the name of the company that created this? With every question, the answer was the same: “My company created this and, yes, we have great statistics and measurable KPIs.” When they recognized that my team and I created these marketing tools, the next question was usually, “Can you create marketing tools like this for us?” or “Can we use this same campaign?” I answered in the affirmative and a whole new segment of my company was launched. Let me share a few examples of how creative marketing campaigns, introduced as self- promotions, can potentially translate into campaigns your customers will want you to run for them. The Jury Is Out With a former client, I was responsible for designing creative marketing door- openers, such as one called “The Jury Is Out … Now You Be The Judge” (see image at top left). As you can expect just by the name, this piece was specifically targeted to law firms and legal-related companies and it garnered some amazing responses. One of the companies using the piece sent it to a large law firm and, on the follow-up call, my client was immediately put through to the marketing director who proceeded to smother him with accolades about this promotion. He said, “… I have never seen anything like this from your competition. Is it possible for our company to use it?” With some modifications to the verbiage, etc., the obvious answer was “Yes!” The craziest part of this whole story, as it related to me, is that the prospect told my client that the law firm had a $500,000 budget for this type of marketing. The main takeaway to remember is that clients and prospects want a promotion that sets them apart from others. Swiss Army Campaign When I was working as a distributor salesperson, one of my first campaigns came from reading a book by the brilliant writer Roger VonOech, titled A Whack on the Side of the Head . It’s focused on helping the reader understand, more granularly, the creative process. One of the chapters speaks about unlocking mental blocks by comparing two unlike objects, such as a cat and a refrigerator. If you have ever been to one of my creative workshops, I discuss this in detail. Armed with this idea, I created a self-promotion that compared me to a Swiss Army Knife. It explained the functions of the knife compared to the functions I performed as a salesperson. Here are two examples (see image at left): • The Key Ring: Always “accessible” when you need me. The Jury Is Out Swiss Army Campaign | NOVEMBER 2021 | 13 INNOVATE