How to Rivet your Customers' Attention

“Coffee News” is a weekly publication here in Phoenix that is filled with good news: trivia, interesting news items, and events around town. It’s a one-page 11” x 17” “newspaper” that’s an easy read while having a cup of your favorite beverage. The good news is in the center column of the paper and the two outer columns contain ads.

Marketing Genius:
Coffee News is a brilliant piece of marketing because it incorporates a clever idea that compels people to read the ads. Every issue of Coffee News has a contest in which readers are encouraged to “find the hidden coffee cup” within one of the ads (see the picture below). If the reader finds the coffee cup, they can enter a contest by mailing (or entering online) their contact information and where the cup was found. Prize: $20, plus an additional gift.

Here’s what’s great about it: the hidden coffee cup is really small. There’s no telling where it might be hidden within a particular ad, and it can’t be found with a quick glance. What this means is…you have to read each ad really carefully to find the hidden coffee cup. You have to read everything: the headline, the bullet points, the phone number – everything. (See below…the coffee cup is hidden within the contractor’s license number). Coffee News can tell their advertisers "Your ad WILL get read. Look at all these cards we get every week from people who read them."


Do they get results? You bet they do! I talked with Coffee News and they get hundreds of entries every week. Not bad for a simple little contest.

How This Applies to You:
First we answer this question: What is Coffee News collecting with this technique? Answer: the contact information of their readers. Through a simple contest, they’re getting information about their readers that they can use to contact them later.

So, what are YOU doing to collect the contact information of your clients or prospects? A large mailing list is the most valuable marketing tool you can have. When you have a list of people that you can contact regularly, you have the ability to stimulate increased sales repeatedly.

Do you have a contest or prize giveaway of some form that will compel people to give you their contact information? If not, why not start one? People LOVE contests! They enjoy getting involved, and if they think they’ll win a prize, they’ll jump right in!

Anything in your business can be used to create a contest that will get your customers involved.

• Are you creating a new wine blend? Why not ask your customers to come up with a name for it?
• If you’re ready to announce your summer wines, ask your customers to send a photo of themselves enjoying your wine in an exotic location and the best photo wins a prize.
• Do you own a restaurant? How about if you hold monthly taste-testings of your newest creations, and ask your customers to attend and/or make suggestions as to the ingredients to use?
  

This works. Fez Restaurant on Central Ave in Phoenix has a monthly “You be the judge of our newest dishes” day (last Sunday of the month) where people can sign up to be evaluators. They always get an overflow crowd.

So give contests a try. The prize doesn’t have to be big…what’s important is that it involves the prospect/customer in such a way that they try your product. When you do that you’ll find that you’re getting a lot more customers who will keep coming back.