An important part of growing your small business's clients is through getting your name out there. Blanks/USA is an industry-leading supplier of security paper and die-cut paper products, offering a collection of products that can be used to help landscapers and lawn care companies. A popular method is designing door hangers. Blanks/USA offers a series of resources as well as support information, they fill custom orders, and offer DigitalBlanks and even free downloadable templates.
Jessica Gleason of Blanks/USA says that the company addresses the needs of small businesses with their DigitalBlanks line. It features the company’s most popular products and is designed for easy use in copiers, inkjet printers and laser printers.
Design
“Certain stocks like a Bristol door hanger or 80-pound smooth cover, so those two stocks will run through inkjet and it’s very important to make sure that you choose a stock that your printer is compatible with,” says Gleason. “Another format is the pre-perforated door hanger, so that instead of needing a paper cutter you can actually just fold it back and forth along the perforations to break the door hangers apart. We have some popular other formats including perforated business card door hangers, so you can put a coupon or contact information on the bottom of the door hanger and it’s actually got a horizontal perf., around three inches from the bottom, so that the recipient can break it off and put it on their fridge.”
While the idea of designing the perfect door hanger can seem like an ominous task, Gleason stresses the importance of making sure to highlight something notable about your company. Whether that be a new promotion for the start of the season, a great coupon deal your company is offering, or to announce an award or when you’ve just purchased excellent new equipment.
“Typically with any small business, there’s the whole Chinese menu syndrome, where there’s just way too much information. You’re spending a lot of money and putting time and effort to getting the design correct and printing the product, but the biggest thing is to keep it simple and straightforward. Always keep in mind what your promotion is and make that the largest focus of the door hanger.”
Distribution
Another problem that can arise is restrictions that have been set in place by the neighborhoods or even entire counties that limit the type of marketing that you can do in an area.
“Landscaper who’s servicing one house can make a three-house radius and knock on the door and hand off some information or leave a door hanger on their door,” says Gleason. “So it sort of gets around that issue, and if you’re doing landscaping and lawn work in one house, those surrounding neighbors can definitely see your work. So we find that very beneficial.”
Releasing your first promotions in March or April raises the chance that you’ll be front and center in customers' minds when they’re selecting a lawn care company to recover winter-damaged lawns and landscapes. It’s important to consider when and how would be the best ways to distribute door hangers as you go through the season.
“As far as soft canvasing, that is more of a procedural sort of plan, so as long as you equip your team with a stack of the latest door hanger that has a promotion, and they’re in different neighborhoods, you want to make it part of the clean-up process. Put everything away and then head out to the three-house radius.”
Gleason also says that, if possible, attract as many different demographics as possible. Millennials and baby boomers might have a very different response to the types of door hangers. For companies that have a clear idea of who’s living in the neighborhoods they service, stocking two different types of door hangers would be beneficial.
“I would think that baby boomers would gravitate more towards a better deal or a packaged discount, and I think a millennial would be more considerate of eco-friendly. So if it is possible, breaking down your demographic is always a good idea.”
For more information visit their website at blanksusa.com.
