Forget giving loyalty points – gifting is the new customer retention strategy. As remote EVERYTHING continues to rise, keeping connected to clients and loved ones will be key.

Gifting companies had record breaking years in 2020 and 2021. 1-800-FLOWERS had record growth, along with startups like &Open and Gracia.

Many of our marketing portal customers have added gifts and merchandise to their sites.

Why Gifting MattersEmployees can order wearables that they want with gifted dollars as a reward for length of employment or going that extra mile.

It’s always a good idea to send “care packages” to employees that are stuck at home and feeling unappreciated. We mailed succulents, candles, Christopher Elbow chocolates and warm fuzzy blankets with personalized cards.

Our latest project is working with a local company to personalize cards that our clients want to send with their gifts that we warehouse here. They have many design templates for birthdays, holidays, Thank You for the Order or Welcome to Your New Home, that we can match up with an appropriate gift that they specify.

Some of our larger companies are adding the feature to their portal so that their salespeople, through their CRM like Salesforce, can send gifts or cards to their clients for special occasions or just because!

If you want to talk more about gifting options through a marketing portal, please give us a call!

us·er ex·pe·ri·ence

The overall experience of a person using a product such as a website or computer application, especially in terms of how easy or pleasing it is to use.

“if a website degrades the user experience too much, people will simply stay away.”

User Experience

This week, I talked with a client that is building a very large portal for a high-profile customer. After I gave my introduction, she told me that I was the only salesperson that talked about the user experience for her customer. All of the salespeople had talked about equipment, features and how robust the back end was.

Years ago, after we started building portals for customers, they told us that their previous sites were so “clunky” that their customers or employees hated using them and so they didn’t. The original intent of solving the problem with a solution was not working.

We learned to build products with the end user in mind.

It’s our goal to make it easy – on and off in 3 or 4 steps and make them pretty like your website.

Single-sign on, only seeing what you need, pre-determined approval processes, PDF proofs that are legible (not those tiny jpgs) and a great checkout (where you can still make changes), all add up to the EASY button.

We have also helped customers who have too many platforms – no one wants to log into different sites for print, merchandise, wearables, signage and digital. Even if we don’t produce the products – we can build a central, one-stop-shop with multiple vendors.

Marketing Portals Built from Scratch

MEDiAHEAD Marketing PortalsMEDiAHEAD builds all our portals from scratch with software that is constantly updated. Unfortunately, most “out of the box” solutions that are used cannot be modified for a pleasant/user friendly experience.

After 17 years of doing this, there is a lot of competition, but I still think we build the best portals. And our clients enjoy working with us while we figure out the best solution for them.

People always wonder how a small company like ours has such huge clients – I think it’s because we make our clients and their users happy.

Would you like to see how we can make you happy with a marketing portal? Let’s talk.

MEDiAHEAD Marketing Portals60% of marketers have indicated they are set to increase their marketing technology spending in the next 12 months.

Investments in marketing platforms or portals are directly related to our working from anywhere.

Online portals help marketers streamline their processes and take a systematic approach to their day-to-day activities. Giving employees access to a portal that allows them to produce their own business cards, download a logo, a presentation or any repetitive task can be a huge timesaver for marketing departments.

As remote work becomes more commonplace, access to this technology makes it easier for teams to share marketing assets, regardless of physical location.

Without question, our marketing portal offers notable benefits to companies and their sales team.

MEDiAHEAD Marketing PortalsWhen your sales team is distributed, synchronized communication becomes more difficult. With a customized portal, team members that are geographically distributed and even in other time zones have access to all the marketing materials that have been updated by your marketing team. It’s an immediate response for them if they need to download a presentation or a PDF of the product they’re pitching.

The tightening of budgets is also a direct result of COVID-19. Marketers need to manage their budgets closely, adapt to reductions in staff and make strategic cuts. In an environment where efficiency is paramount, the right platform can help provide insights into what the sales team wants, and can help illuminate the best path forward.

Building a marketing asset portal can help your sales team create a loyal and profitable customer base with the tools they need… all in one place.

Let us buy you a cup of coffee. We’ll show you examples of how we’ve helped marketing teams save time and money, and most importantly, stay on brand!

MEDiAHEAD Marketing Portals

Most employees decide within 10 days whether they’ll stay, and 33% of new employees quit within their first six months.

What are you doing to make your new employees feel welcome?

New Team Member AppreciationWe recently completed a project for a large company here in Kansas City. They wanted to congratulate their new hires who were graduating from college and make them feel excited prior to their first day at work.

We mailed kits in a branded box with their new business cards, personalized notepads, a customized pen and a yeti water bottle. There was also a customized Happy Graduation card personalized with their name and department signatures.

We’ve done welcome kits with candles, baby succulents (so cute), company t-shirts and gear. This is also something that can be added to one of our marketing portals, so HR or the department head can execute in minutes.

Communication is so important!

Communication helps ensure that new team members feel excited about starting their new career with your company.

New Team Member AppreciationYou should have the new hire paperwork completed prior to their first day. Be considerate and send important information for them to review in advance. Reading the company handbook, knowing their benefits and having information on their other team members is important. Even now more than ever, because so many of us are working from home and our only interaction is through Zoom.

You could even send out an email with their picture and a short bio to team members, so they can be welcomed with a smile during Zoom meetings. And you could ask the new employee to help you with their bio by including some fun, personal facts about them.

Retention is the new acquisition.

Make sure new employees know how much you appreciate them joining your company. And if you need any help, you know where to find us. 🙂

New Team Member Appreciation

Michele StillwellBy Michele Stillwell, Director of Marketing and Accounting at MEDiAHEAD

You need that RFP ASAP! Let us help you with that. We are your partner who can meet your critical needs and have the tools and the equipment to get it done.

RFP = Request for Proposal

Several of our large clients already have an RFP builder on their Web-to-Print Marketing and Distribution portals. With its build on demand functionality, you are the driver.

Imagine you are sitting in your next meeting with your client. Your RFP is personalized with the portfolios of the pictures of the team that’s going to work on their project. It’s specific to their needs and it’s been printed with their personal pricing page. All the company information is included, and you look like a rock star in your presentation. You might even make them think, “If you can execute your proposal this well, I am sure you can execute our project.”

MEDiAHEAD: On Demand RFP PrintingThe great thing about all this content being on your Web-to-Print portal is efficient customization. When your company data information changes, you (or your marketing team) can make those changes in your portal and BOOM! It’s done. The next time you generate an RFP, your company data sections will be up-to-date. The options are limitless!

Demo?

Unique cover pages, adding your company business information, case studies, company information, cover letter, maps, product data sheets and so much more. With our new digital printing press, we can make that cover page thicker, add spot clear, and many other options that no other press in Kansas City can offer.

WOW. You just made a huge impression on your client!

Many people learn more quickly by seeing something instead of reading about it. Let’s do a demo together! We’ll show you what a Web-to-Print portal is all about and how it can help you win more business. Give us a call at 816-931-7900 or email help@mymediahead.com to see what’s possible.

MEDiAHEAD: On Demand RFP Printing

Michele StillwellBy Michele Stillwell, Director of Marketing and Accounting at MEDiAHEAD

When doing a huge amount of research way back in my Corporate Marketing days, one of my tasks was to take on revamping a sales tool. I accepted that challenge with open arms. The current tool the sales team was using wasn’t working for them. We were splitting as a company and we needed to come up with a tool that would work for the new company. The tool would need to support the sales team with collateral and all the other tangible things they needed during the sales cycle.

The first step was to interview the sales team. I needed to understand the pros and cons of the current tool. I needed to know what they liked… and what they were missing. After that process, I had a great list of features a new system would need to provide.

Features Needed in the New Sales System

• Google search functionality
• Ability to customize the sales brochure/collateral/personalize
• Expiration dates for collateral pieces so the sales team wouldn’t be using outdated materials
• Photo library for vertical market segmentation
• Request for Proposal brochure build functionality
• Merchandise ordering
• Sales Kits
• Quick turn time
• Ability to add cost center codes for billing to various departments

Request For Proposal

The second step was to send out a Request for Proposal (RFP) to several companies around the country. This RFP contained all the requirements for the creation of the new sales tool. The companies were provided due dates to respond to the RFP. And then we started the interview process based on the proposals.

My team and I had a lot of work to do. We interviewed several companies and had them show us their web portals, sales tools and collateral asset management systems. (Several names for the same type of tool.) And then we chose a news sales tool that was perfect! They built the tool for us just the way we wanted it. It had lots of customization and many bells and whistles. This new system also came with a hefty price tag and a huge monthly fee.

Our team went out and trained the sales team in each of our locations. The sales tool housed more than 300 templates, 600 collateral items and supported the Welcome Kits for all our new and existing customers. Plus, we set up an integration with SalesForce. Even better.

So why all this information?

Marketing & Distribution PortalsWhen I went to work for Colormarketing Inc. about 10 years ago, I started out doing some marketing for them, then went into sales, and now I’m doing Marketing and Accounting. As I have evolved, I’ve grown very passionate for this company… not only because of the owner, Kat, whom I truly admire, but for the products we’re selling.

The portal that MEDiAHEAD builds for our clients is fantastic. I know this from my experience in marketing for over 25 years. If you want to purchase a tool off the shelf, then that is what you will get (and pay for.)

Our Marketing collateral web solution is much more than that. It takes everything that the sales team needed from my previous job and double the features. It’s all included in our Marketing Portal system. I’m proud that we’ve developed the best of the best, and I love backing that up during our demos. (Want a demo? Let me know!)

The MEDiAHEAD Marketing Portal

Our tool can do so many things to support your sales team in an efficient and timely way. How? Because we’ve built it from two different tool sets, and we have talented web developers. They’ll never say “no” when asked if something can be done. They always look for a solution. Which is good because that’s what we’re all about.

Does it have Google search functionality? Yes
Can you customize it? Yes
Does it let you put in expiration dates? Yes

All of the above plus so much more.

MEDiAHEAD: Marketing and Distribution PortalsI was amazed when I started working here and started reviewing our Marketing Portal. I found all the features I’d created from scratch in the previous sales support tool. It was right there in front of me in the MEDiAHEAD Marketing Portal. At a fraction of the cost.

It Just Needs to Work

Sales teams need to have access to a tool that they can get in, get the supporting assets they need and go make a darn sale. They can customize, download or print what they need and do it fast. Marketing needs to have the ability to change collateral on the fly. They need to be able to find what they need fast. Nobody has time to waste looking for stuff in a sea of documents, day in day out. I’ve been there, I’ve lived it. Personalization is also key in your marketing approach, let us help you with that. One touch of a button and it’s done.

As the world of sales and marketing continues to evolve, let us help. Everyone has had to learn new methods and processes to conduct sales and marketing efforts, and our Marketing Portal is built to support that effort. Want to know more? Let’s do a virtual coffee or lunch. We would love a chance to make your life easier and earn your business!

By Michele Stillwell, Director of Marketing and Accounting at MEDiAHEAD

Have you ever been looking for that one file and it took you forever to find it? I recently experienced this problem. Picture this: You get art files from someone and rename them. Then you save the files somewhere… A month or two goes by, and guess what? You need that file again.

Searching and searching, you forgot the name of the file. And you forgot where you saved the file. After looking for an hour or so… you finally find it! Whew.

It’s especially frustrating now working from home. Using a remote connection to your company files can be frustrating in itself, let alone trying to find a file.

This is where a marketing collateral asset management tool comes to the rescue.

MEDiAHEAD: Marketing and Distribution PortalsWith an asset management tool, all your collateral is online in a central repository. You can log into your portal site and see your collateral in real-time. Even better, you have the ability to customize the collateral, edit content and download. All at your fingertips.

You can upload anything to the asset management tool: documents, videos, graphics, working files, photo libraries and even physical merchandise. You have the control; it makes finding things super easy.

With a collateral asset management tool, you can:

  • Upload documents quickly and easily
  • Manage version control
  • Archive files that are out of date
  • Allow individual users to edit & customize content while still controlling your branded elements
  • Easily search and find any documents or file by campaign, product targeted audience or any other attribute you choose
  • Order materials digitally or to be printed on-demand and shipped globally
  • Control security access each user receives – what they can view, edit and order, and payment options as well
  • Choose your payment options – including credit card payment, point programs, internal cost center allocations or purchase orders

Brand Control

One thing I learned when working for a large corporation is that brand control is extremely important. When you have an asset management tool, you have control of the continuity of your brand.

There are several other reasons to have such a tool for your sales and marketing team. One stop shopping for your team for client handouts, client gifts and more.

  • You can store your trade show booth and giveaways on your management tool, manage orders for multiple shows in your portal, print customized collateral on-demand for that specific show and ship directly to the location… all from your own desk.
  • Provide turn-key campaigns to channel partners, allowing them to co-brand materials, upload prospect lists and execute marketing or print campaigns all from your asset management tool.
  • Allow your Sales team to easily search and download marketing assets for prospects, and order materials to be shipped out to the field or directly to the client.

Michele StillwellThink about all the time you can save with the organization and efficiency you get in an online marketing portal! Give me a call. I will walk you through one of our portals and show you where you can save time and stay on brand.

For more information, check us out at www.mymediahead.com.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By LeRay Warrior, Principal at MEDiAHEAD

As we prepare for operations to ramp up again after the coronavirus lockdown is lifted, we thought we should kick the month of May off with some more positive news. We would like to officially welcome the Tepa companies to the MEDiAHEAD family of clients. For those of you unfamiliar, it’s worth giving you a touch of background on this wonderful group of companies.

Who Are the Tepa Companies?

Tepa Companies LogoThe Tepa companies are wholly-owned independent subsidiaries of the Paskenta Band of Nomlaki Indians. They have companies that are based across the country in California, Colorado, Georgia, Missouri, and Texas. The companies operate across a wide variety of business sectors, including construction, environmental services, technology, industrial services, and engineering. They serve federal, state, local, and private-sector clients.

How Are the Tepa Companies Using Their MEDiHEAD Marketing Portal?

The team at MEDiAHEAD had to design a portal solution to ensure that the needs and requirements of the company were met. While the logo is the same, there are several different companies contained with the group, so each company requires its own set of marketing materials.

As a result of them implementing a custom MEDiAHEAD solution, each company can now order their respective business cards, note pads, and much more through one centralized portal. Not only does this make their turnaround time a fraction of what they once were, they can also reduce the costs involved with replenishing marketing supplies.

Tepa Director of Corporate Marketing Thanks MEDiAHEAD

After onboarding with MEDiAHEAD, Kerry Patterson said,

“Tepa came to MEDiAHEAD from an underperforming vendor and WOW have they exceeded our expectations. They went into direct drive to get our Business Portal setup not only offering better service for our staff, but faster turnaround times. Not to mention amazing staff that we love working with.”

How MEDiAHEAD Can Help Your Business with a Customized Marketing Portal

The example of the Tepa companies perfectly illustrates the benefits that can be gained from moving your company over to a centralized online marketing portal.

Firstly, your company will save perhaps the most significant asset you have; time.

By streamlining all marketing assets into one online repository, undertakings such as customizations or updating of information can all be handled in a matter of a few clicks. What’s more, they will instantaneously take effect across the whole organization. Allocated print runs can be turned around in a matter of hours with an order taking a mere matter of seconds to place.

Secondly, you can cut costs by an enormous margin by only printing what you need, when you need it. There’s no need to authorize colossal print runs of marketing materials that are going to be obsolete a few weeks later.

Finally, our browser-based marketing portals allow employees to log in from anywhere in the world to access company marketing materials. Sales reps who’ve secured a last-minute meeting, or a heavily-discounted short-notice spot at a trade show, can log in, view, and download up-to-date marketing materials within minutes.

These are just a few of the benefits the Tepa companies are now able to take advantage of, and it could be the same for your company. If you would like to learn more about how a bespoke MEDiAHEAD online marketing portal could help your business, then don’t hesitate to contact us today.

By LeRay Warrior, Principal at MEDiAHEAD.

Sales teams are critical to the success of any organization. But how a sales team is supported by their marketing department (particularly for those businesses with reps on the road) can make all the difference in securing leads and closing deals.

By centrally locating marketing materials in one portal, sales professionals can gain access to flyers, business cards, brochures, PowerPoint presentations, thank you notes and trade show materials with just a few clicks. While this all sounds great (which it most definitely is!), what does it mean in practice for sales professionals?

Let’s take a look at how our marketing portals transform the effectiveness of sales teams across the country.

MEDiAHEAD: Marketing and Distribution Portals

Our Marketing Portals Give Sales Teams the Ability to Orchestrate Drip Campaigns

Companies who use our portals store all of their sales materials in one location, which is useful for a number of reasons. But an online portal can become transformative when a sales rep is trying to build familiarity with prospects.

 Let’s say one of your sales people is in Indianapolis, trying to secure new opportunities. There’s nothing worse than trying to convince cold leads to meet with you. So they decide to send out a mailer to drum up interest and provide a talking point for when the sales rep shows up.

By utilizing one of our marketing portals, a sales lead can select the existing sales materials that he or she wants, update the contents to reflect his or her contact information (within the portal), attach a list of prospect addresses, and click send. Within seconds we receive the request. We will print the material and we mail it. We also send a copy of the material to the sales rep’s office or home address, so that they know that it’s gone out.

MEDiAHEAD: Marketing and Distribution Portals

Sales Reps Use Our Portals to Add the Personal Touch

 Sometimes it’s the small things that count the most. When leaving a sales meeting, many reps realize the value of sending a little something to tip a potential client over the edge.

We’ve found that sales professionals like to achieve this by using our portal to create personalized thank you notes. Reps can use the portal to recap what was discussed in the meeting: What the prospect stated were pain points, remind how we can remedy those pain points, illustrate next steps etc.

Once completed, that message can be sent immediately by downloading and emailing or downloading and printing at his other desk.

MEDiAHEAD: Marketing and Distribution Portals

Our Marketing Portals Provide Sales Professionals with the Tools for The Job

MEDiAHEAD: Our Speed Kills the CompetitionIf you’re a company that has franchises or sales professionals in locations spread out across the country, then the process of relaying information can be slow. Even a simple request to print more business cards for “Marie in Wisconsin” can go through several steps before being executed. 

This couldn’t be further from the truth with our portals. All sales materials are located in one place 24/7, and can be printed on demand. “Marie” could have her business cards refilled within a few days by utilizing one of our portals. How often do you order business cards and wait weeks to get them in hand?

But the speed of transformation isn’t limited to sales cards. For example, how many times does corporate make a change and find that staff is still using the outdated material because they downloaded it to their desktops? 

Rather than calling and emailing all of the reps to tell them to update their sales presentations, the changes can be made through the portal, and everything would reflect the most up to date changes. When the sales rep sits down with their laptop, their new, updated material is there ready to go in an easy to find place.

It also does away with the need for sales reps to continue carrying around boxes of outdated marketing materials with them. They have access to short print runs and only print what they need when they need them, reducing the amount spent on redundant marketing materials. Whether it’s business cards, pitch books, PowerPoint presentations, flyers, brochures, or posters, those sales materials are always online and ready to react to fast-moving situations thanks to our marketing and distribution portals.

Our Marketing and Distribution Take the Hassle Out of Trade Shows

MEDiAHEAD Trade Show BoothSome companies rely on trade shows to secure new business, particularly within the business to business (B2B) realm. But organizing stands for shows on a regular basis can be tough. First of all, there’s the promo items, business cards, flyers, and banners. Then there are the logistical issues surrounding picking it all up and lugging it to each venue or shipping to each venue. With the help of one of our marketing portals, these issues can become a thing of the past.

Sales reps just need to log in, order what they need in terms of materials, cards, banners etc., and we will send it directly to the venue with a return shipping label. All they have to do is show up. Once the trade event has finished, they simply package up the materials and attach the return label. Once we receive it back into our warehouse, we update the inventory in real-time, so all sales reps know what’s available to them.

Streamline Your Sales with a Marketing and Distribution Portal

As demonstrated, our marketing and distribution portals make the lives of your sales professionals easier. They provide your company with a faster and more cost-effective solution to securing new business.

Whether that’s in the form of implementing real-time updates to sales materials nationwide or delegating decisions such as refreshing business cards. By having all materials in one convenient-to-access location 24 hours a day, seven days a week, you can eliminate waste, decrease turnaround times, and achieve a much higher return on investment. 

If you feel that your sales professionals would benefit from access to a streamlined, centralized, and fully-functional online portal, then don’t hesitate to contact us today.

By Michele Stilwell, Director of Marketing and Accounting at MEDiAHEAD.

Networking - Relationship First. Business Second.I have some thoughts about networking the right way. My goal has always been to focus on the relationship first and business second.

When you’re at a networking event, I wouldn’t recommend handing someone your business card without actually engaging with them first. Your business card is not the important part of the interaction… it’s simply a tool. Face-to-face conversation means everything. Getting to know someone by putting time and effort into the relationship means so much for everyone involved. Find things you have in common, and then make the effort to reach out and set up a time for lunch or coffee.

It’s so worth keeping in touch with people you truly care about! This is a story about how a networking connection turned into a friendship that turned into a business opportunity. And the order matters.

Never underestimate the power of networking and maintaining relationships.

Attending networking events isn’t really my favorite thing to do; however I do attend them. Often, when I get there, I realize “wow, this isn’t so bad.”

My story starts with a networking event about seven years ago. I was sitting at a table and a gentleman came and sat next to me. He leaned over and said, “I really don’t like attending networking events.” I agreed with him and ever since we’ve stayed in touch.

We agreed to have lunch monthly to talk about our careers, dogs and families while sharing social connections.

The goal was to get to know each other without the pressure of ulterior motives. To build that strong professional connection. And it didn’t hurt that we were both in sales, had similar professional contacts and could share war stories.

As this relationship has evolved over the years, he’s moved up in the world.

My friend has an important role with a fantastic company in the Kansas City area. When we met for our next regularly scheduled lunch, he said, “We need a portal!” I thought that was a fantastic idea, and I knew the perfect company that could help. <wink wink> As a result, MEDiAHEAD is in the process of creating a portal for his company, and I still get to have lunch and talk about all the great things going on with his career, dog and family.

Never underestimate the power of a relationships or networking events because they can always develop into something more. And it takes time to do it properly.

At MEDiAHEAD, we want to be part of your trusted network. If you’ve worked with us in the past, you know that we genuinely care about our customers. The relationship is the glue that makes things last. If you don’t have that kind of trusted relationship in the world of printing, let’s talk!