KC-OctoberNewsletter

T H E O F F I C I A L K E S S L E R C R E AT I V E N E W S L E T T E R

years of innovation

@kesslercreative

OCTOBER 2022

VOLUME 12

5 6 8

Business Tricks for the Spooky Season

Winning Your Holiday Marketing Season

Ronald Mcdonald House’s Deck

The Doors 3

Thoughts From The Intern

in this issue

AN INSIDE SCOOP by Dina Kessler

Wow, what an incredible month it’s been so far, team! A big thank you to each and every one of our wonderful clients and staff members for making our 15th Anniversary Block Party one for the books. Without you all, the last 15 years could not have been possible! We hope that you enjoy the 12th edition of Hot off the Press! This month, we dive into preparing for the holidays. From wide-format signage for Holiday parties, to custom boxes for fundraisers, this edition of Hot off the Press covers it all. Enjoy!

A Message from The President

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HOT OFF THE PRESS

RonaldMcDonald House Charities®of Jacksonville supports the health and well-being of children by providing lodging, meals, transportation, and a community of care to critically ill children and their families who need to be near a hospital for treatment. To learn more about how Ronald McDonald House supports children and families seeking medical treatment in Jacksonville, Fl, please visit www.rmhcjax.org.

campaign spotlight: RMH deck the doors Kessler Creative had the pleasure of constructing marketing materials for Ronald McDonald House’s annual Deck the Doors Campaign. We are incredibly proud to support this initiative for the 4th year in a row, with record-setting donations to date! What is deck the doors? Deck the Doors supporters purchase a holiday paper light icon for $5. On the back of each icon is a special, handwritten message of hope and encouragement to a family, which is placed around the perimeter of each family’s room door. Fun Fact: It takes 150 holiday paper light icons to “Deck a Door” and 500 paper icons to deck a common space, such as the kitchen, dining room and playroom! Check out these photos of the Kessler Krew decking the doors!

The Kessler team constructed these boxes that are delivered to Deck the Door supporters. Each box showcases a story of a child in need and includes the materials needed to deck a door.

Presented By:

Add Your Light Today!

Help ‘Deck theDoors’ofourHouseandbecomeaBeacon ofHope forcritically illchildrenand their familiesstayingat RonaldMcDonaldHouseof Jacksonville! Forevery$10donated tosupportourmission,wewilladd apaper lightbulbwithyourpersonalmessageon the room doorsofour families!

Signupyourgroupbycontacting Marinaatdevelopment@rmhcjax.org.

Visit www.rmhcjacksonville.org

We also designed and printed these engaging flyers to promote the campaign and inform supporters about how to get involved.

OCTOBER 2022

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cover story

Celebrating 15 Years of Innovation

Clients, colleagues, and friends came together to celebrate a very special milestone this month - Kessler Creative’s 15th Anniversary! The group enjoyed games, prizes, food trucks, an open bar, and a very special appearance from the band Good Time Charlie, featuring our very own Mark Dietrich! These last 15 years have been an incredible journey, and we could not have done it without incredible clients and the “Kessler Krew” by our side.

To our clients, thank you for partnering with us for many years. We are honored to have your trust and will work tirelessly to continue to earn it. It is truly an honor to deliver strategic marketing solutions to our extraordinary clients nationwide. To our Kessler team, your commitment to putting our customers first and upholding our values has been integral to our progress and success. Without you all, the last 15 years could not have been possible! Cheers to the next 15 years!

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It's Spooky Season Treat Your Business with These Tricks

This Halloween officially kicks off the 2022 holiday season and there’s nothing spookier than going into the holiday season without positive customer reviews surrounding your business. Through face-to-face conversations, online reviews, blogs, and forums, customers have the chance to share what they think about you and your products. 90% of people said that positive reviews influenced buying decisions. With the right approach, gathering positive reviews to showcase is easier than you might think. Trick #1: Expand Customer Options Don’t limit your opportunities to get a review by only using one or two channels for review purposes. You should have links to review pages for your products on all social media platforms, in each email you send, across industry-specific sites such as Trip Advisor if applicable, and on review sites such as Yelp and Angie’s List to maximize your potential reviews. Aside from the digital world, you can place QR codes linked to review sites on postcards and other printed marketing materials sent out to your customer base that we specialize in! With a personalized mailer and a QR code from Kessler Creative, your audience will be interested and engage with your brand. A link to a review would be perfect to immediately boost your brand. Trick #2: Identify Moments to Ask for Reviews Simply asking customers directly for reviews is effective, but timing is everything in many instances, and when asking for a review, the same is true. Here are the best times during the buyer journey to ask for reviews: • Immediately after the product/service experience • After a re-purchase of a product/service • When a customer tags you in a social media post • When a customer refers you to someone • If a customer returns to your site browsing other products after a purchase Sticking to the above guidelines will align your request with a recent positive experience. These recent positive memories will encourage customers to leave thoughtful reviews.

Trick #3: Ask for Reviews with Open-Ended Questions We’ve identified appropriate moments in the buyer journey to ask customers for reviews, but how do you go about asking customers? You shouldn’t always directly ask customers for reviews, instead, try to start a conversation with an open-ended question to begin a smooth transition. Starting a conversation can ease your customer into the process of writing a review while letting you know what experience they had before they do so. This allows you to correct a bad experience before the customer writes a nasty review. Start by asking customers “Are you enjoying your new product?” or “How was your customer service experience with us?” Conversation-starting questions feel genuine to customers and allow you to sneakily ensure a customer is happy before asking for a review. Even if they aren’t, you now can bring a solution to the table. This one might seem obvious but saying “thank you” to customers that leave a review can have multiple benefits for your brand. You probably know those words are essential for good customer service, which alone can increase revenue, but applying this concept to reviews improves SEO and the satisfaction customers have with your brand. Reviews left on your website give you a chance to include more keywords for google algorithms to pick up. Say Todd leaves a good review of your newest release. You could respond with “Hey Todd, thanks for your feedback on (company/product name). Our goal has always been to be the best (industry of business) in (location).” Overall, thanking customers for reviews establishes a deeper personal connection between your customers and your brand. Trick #4: Tell Your Customers Thank You

OCTOBER 2022

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Winning Holiday Marketing The holiday season is here! It’s a big time of year for family, friends, and businesses alike. No matter the size of your business, your audience, or your industry, taking advantage of effective holiday marketing can make all the difference in meeting your yearly sales goals. Many companies rely upon the holiday season for a majority of sales, meaning winning holiday marketing should be a priority. What Makes Holiday Marketing Important? American spending dramatically increases during the holidays. Last year, holiday spending in America totaled $886.7 billion according to MoneyTransfers. Average per-person spending is projected around $1,000 for the 2022 holiday season with 55% of consumers expected to begin their holiday shopping before Thanksgiving. Now is the time to launch your holiday marketing strategy, but how do you go about it to maximize success? We’ll walk you through the steps you need to take to get the results you want!

Best Marketing Practices During the Holidays 1. Offer a Special Holiday Sale or Giveaway Who doesn’t love an irresistible sale, especially during the holidays when everyone is in a gifting and spending mood? Offering a holiday promotion including discounts on your products is a great way to generate cheer in the form of revenue and product sales during the season. Even if your business generates sales mostly in the summer months, you can still run a sale, so consumers buy your products as gifts for others to use down the road. Free giveaways also generate buzz during the holiday season. You can add a giveaway that acts as a lead magnet to generate sales. For example, running a giveaway where whoever purchases $100 or more worth of merchandise receives a free item entices customers to spend even more at your business. People are all about buying gifts for others during the holidays, but don’t forget they still like to treat themselves. If you aren’t too sure about giving away free items, make the free item shipping. If your company has already invested time and money into paid ads on Google or social media platforms, this strategy will fit right into what you’re already doing. For the holidays, focus on a themed ad campaign with a holiday touch to add warmth to your offers. You can accomplish this either through simple wording like, “Grab the perfect gift for holiday cheer this season,” or by creating visuals surrounding the holidays. A combination of both should be the goal to execute a sold holiday ad campaign. Aside from ads, you could take an organic route by writing blog posts and social media content centered around the holidays. A retailer may highlight how a combination of furnishings and fragrances perfectly exhibits the holiday spirit or a supermarket could create content around holiday recipes. Both examples lead customers to buy from you and once they are shopping, they may buy additional items which generate more sales for your brand. 2. Create Festive Ads and Content

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HOT OFF THE PRESS

3. Prioritize Retargeting This Season Did you know only about 4% of customers who visit a webpage to buy purchase something without leaving? That number may seem scary, but with effective retargeting, you can lure those who left back to finish a purchase. If you can capture their email address with implemented software, you can send a follow-up email reminding them of your awesome deals and that their cart still has their items in it. You can also retarget visitors with an ad campaign that focuses on all previous visitors to your website for example. This type of ad retargeting will pull from a much larger funnel, making it an opportune time to direct visitor attention to a particular page or product focused on your holiday promotions. Any retargeting campaign works best with some kind of sale, even just 10% off to lure potential buyers back. The greater the discount, however, the greater the return rate of past visitors. Offer these “flash” sales on items that make sense as you are of course still trying to make money on all sales. 4. Send Thank You Cards to Your Customers One of the best ways to attract and make customers loyal to your brand is by showing gratitude. This is easily shown using a holiday thank you card you send to all your customers. You can even throw in gifts such as tickets to events, gift baskets, or company swag for your bigger accounts showing how much you value their business. US consumers spend a lot of money and time thinking about where they will buy products, so don’t take your current customers for granted. They may easily switch if they see a better deal elsewhere. Don’t stress, you’ll stay top of mind by sending holiday cards and gifts of your own this season! The holidays are a busy time for many businesses and shoppers alike. In 2022, the average American consumer is projected to spend $997 on holiday items and gifts according to the National Retail Federation. That’s a heck of a lot of cash people are willing to spend and you don’t want to miss out on the potential revenue your company could see during the holidays. The best way to take advantage of the holiday season from a business standpoint is to send holiday cards containing cheer and special offers to entice consumers to buy from you! Check out some examples of past holiday projects we’ve executed for clients. Inspiration from the Experts

E-GIFTCARDS& FREESHIPPING AVAILABLE Orderonlinetoday throughDecember24th!

OCTOBER 2022

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Employee spotlight This month’s Employee Spotlight features Brandon Taveras , a valuable member of our production floor team! Brandon primarily works on our Horizon Booklet Maker, seamlessly producing client projects each day. Brandon is never afraid to step up to the plate when it comes to learning something new or conquering a large job. He recently stitched a variable job of over 100,000 pieces!

12276 San Jose Blvd, Ste 111 Jacksonville, FL 32223

Fun Fact: On his off time, Brandon enjoys playing and watching basketball!

THOUGHTS FROM THE INTERN

Kessler Creative’s internship program provides college students with the opportunity to learn about direct marketing through hands-on experience. This semester, Isaac Manning, a senior at Clemson University, has stepped into our Production Intern role. In this Hot of the Press issue, he shares his thoughts around his experience at Kessler Creative thus far! Since I have started working at Kessler, I have had the chance to learn so much about the print industry. I have worked through the whole process from start to finish and had a chance to learn how each facet of a job works. I have mostly worked on the customer service side handling orders and seeing them through to completion. Working with customers is interesting because every customer is different. Some jobs can take more time than others based on a variety of things. Some jobs are special orders where we may have to order material specifically for the job, and others can be very large quantities which take more time to process on the production floor. Getting to work with each department has been very beneficial in helping me understand what each job needs, as well as being able to communicate with the customer and help them understand as well. Having this knowledge makes sure our customer feels safe trusting us with their needs and building a great relationship!