The Baer Facts Issue 81: Don't forget the benefits of Tactile Marketing

Don't Forget the Benefits of Tactile Marketing

I'm a big proponent of tactile marketing.?

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Give customers something they can look at, feel, and keep. Every "touch point" gives your brand another impression, sinking the memorability hook deeper.?

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Especially now that we have digital helpers to remember everything, we're not wired for recall.?

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I used to know the phone number of every friend and relative, by heart. Now, I know my number, and my wife's number. Period.?

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In this environment, then, if you can give your customers and prospects a little helping hand by putting something IN their hand, your chances of winning revenue down the line go up considerably.

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I remembered the effectiveness of this approach the other day, while at a local steak house.?

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We ordered a bottle of Molly Dooker Shiraz. The brand - like many Australian winemakers - has excellent packaging and a dollop of irreverence. My style!

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As I enjoyed my glass, I thought "I do like this shiraz. I should buy some of this for home."?

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Maybe you've had a similar experience?

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And of course you can take a picture of the label. And I have done such a thing many times...and then promptly forgot all about it.?

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According to my iPhone, I have 19,043 photos in my "Recents" folder. Seriously. So the chances I'm going to remember and act upon a lone wine label photo amidst that tsunami of circumstance are....limited.

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Realizing this folly, Molly does something about it, and has a perforated stamp with the name of the wine built in to the label. So you just tear it off and put it in your pocket!

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Genius! Found it in my pocket when I took out my wallet, and am now the proud owner of some Molly Dooker Shiraz at home.?

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I like this idea of tactile marketing so much, I stole it for my book, Talk Triggers: The Complete Guide to Creating Customers with Word of Mouth

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Daniel Lemin and I knew that if we were going to produce the definitive framework for word of mouth marketing, we had to build some word of mouth into the book itself.?

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In every printed copy there are a set of perforated cards that reads rip out to give to friends and colleagues to spread the word about Talk Triggers.?

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(If you don't have a copy of the book, that's a problem you could solve right now!)?

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The idea of tactile marketing has been around forever. My family's furniture store gave out calendars as early as 1862.?

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Matchbook collections used to be a real thing!

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In this vaping era, not much point to matchbooks per se, but the benefits of giving customers something to remember you by that exists in three dimensions remains valid.?

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Even if you only transact online, in many cases your customers still receive something from you, right?

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One of my favorite examples is e-commerce furniture company Big Joe Beanbags. The giant cardboard box that the beanbags are shipped in? It becomes a play castle for the kids!

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What could you give your customers that allows them to keep remembering you, long after the first impression fades?