Marketing and Sales

After we all got done telling them Cactus Jack sent us for the Travis Scott meal (and subsequent insane merchandise drop), McDonald’s teamed up with J Balvin for another branded meal and merchandise tie-in. And it’s not like this was an item or two. There’s an entire merchandise shop that includes, like, a zillion items...

Blogging has proven to be one of the most effective digital marketing methods. Done right, it helps you get found, generate leads and convert potential clients to the next stage of your sales funnel. However, plenty of distributor blogs struggle to get any traffic. Or, they earn plenty of traffic, but lackluster conversion numbers. There are a number of reasons this can be happening. Let's fix them!...

It’s getting cold out there. Now is the time for any of our supplier friends to send us some promotional socks and slippers. Maybe a robe, too, for lounging on mornings where it’s chilly but not cold enough to turn the heat on. That’d be great. While you assemble those kits, we’ll just be looking at some of our favorite promo products that might not keep us warm, but are pretty cool...

Just because we have the technology to pop into everyone’s home workspace via Zoom doesn’t mean that privilege needs to be abused. So, as your friendly guide, here are a few tips and thoughts as you think about asking your coworkers or clients to have a video meeting instead of using the phone (or an email)...

Stan W. A. Dohan, MASI, president and chief operating officer of Blanchester, Ohio-based supplier Allen/Colorcraft, announced the addition of the following sales reps and sales territories. John Bates is the president of the multi-line agency Bates Group, and represents several of the top suppliers in the industry. Bates has been...

Since the advent of the COVID pandemic, we have seen a huge shift in buying patterns. Our sales YTD through September are up 70 percent. Sales in July were five times our normal July sales. Who was buying all those gifts? What were they buying? And, where were these gifts going? Let’s start with where…

Bankers Advertising Company, Iowa City, “welcomed” more than 40 sales partners last month for its 2020 National Sales Meeting, which was held, well, at desks or perhaps dining room tables across the country. Attendees could have been in any room of their homes, actually, as our meeting was held virtually this year. The meeting was…

The nationwide tour Dave's Killer Bread planned around National Grilling Day on July 22 didn’t happen, but the company went online to encourage people to sign up for its “Toaster Talk” newsletter. From there, the company sent a call-to-action to register to receive a free hamburger bun kit packaged in a printed box. The results were pretty spectacular...

Stran Promotional Solutions and Wildman Business Group announced the sale of Wildman Imprints, the promotional products distributor division of Wildman Business Group, to Stran Promotional Solutions. While details of the financial deal are not being disclosed, the transaction was finalized and closed with an effective date of Sept. 26, 2020. As part of the asset…

Rob Alley has been hired to lead marketing for ZOOMcatalog, Boulder, Colo. Alley will play a key role in all branding, product and digital marketing, growth initiatives, sales enablement, customer experience, internal and external communications, and more. “We couldn’t be more thrilled to announce Rob has joined our team.…