Small Business Marketing Ideas – Using Inserts To Sell Your Existing Customers Again

[Cindy Clemens]

One of the most overlooked small business marketing ideas is the use of package inserts to upsell and continue selling your existing customers. They have already bought from you before and as long as you are providing a great service already, they are likely to buy from you again.

I see it a lot with the big catalog type of companies but most small businesses don't think to use this in their own marketing. Think about the last time you bought something from Amazon or a catalog company. Usually when you get your package in the mail you also get a few inserts or flyers talking about other products that you might be interested in. This is an upsell. They might even promote it at a special discounted price on the insert.

Any business can do this. Are you a service business that provides the clients with their invoice after they job it done? You could give the client an additional insert on a discount on their next job or a special price on another service you offer.

Do you mail customers invoices? You could also do an insert here. If you've looked at your cell phone invoice at all lately they usually stick a couple inserts in with the bill promoting their new phones and service plans.

Let's say you're a printer. You could insert a flyer in your invoices that reminds customers to check their business card stack and order new cards before they run out. Or you could promote a new product you just added to your line.

When designing your inserts, you also want to be creative. Here's a few things to think about before you start.

1. Focus on only one product.
Don't try to fit everything you do on one insert. Keep it simple and focuses on just one service or product.

2. Make it stand out.
Use bright colors and large bold fonts. You want this to catch their attention as soon as they open the package. It doesn't do any good if they don't even look at it.

3. Make sure it's on the top of your package.
Don't let your insert get buried in the bottom of the package. You want them to see the insert BEFORE they see the product they ordered. You want them to open and read it first.

4. What product or service compliments what they ordered?
Depending on the volume and type of business you do, it's best to find complimentary products that might go with the products they ordered. If someone ordered a table, they usually want matching chairs, right? Depending on your product line, they might not even have noticed that this second product would go great with what they ordered. You want to offer it to them as soon as possible so they can complete the collection.

Remember that your existing clients at always ten times more likely to buy from you again than a new client. Don't pass up the opportunity to sell them more of your services and products at every opportunity. If you provide great service, most will be likely to buy additional products from you. Especially right after the first sale. Too many small businesses focus on the new clients and not enough on selling more to existing clients. This is a simple and cost effective way to increase sales with very little work on your part and is a great addition to your small business marketing plan.