sizzle cards

[ahop23]

Have any of you heard of the term sizzle cards? I guess this is just a card or flier with a good teaser if you will on the card that you can leave around in hopes that others will see them and it will picque their interest. Do you find this method of marketing effective or just another waste of time and money?

 

[nothing does]

Yeah, they are basically a business card size flyer/advert. I've never used them for any of my clients but this is because they really don't fit in with their brand prosition. I guess if you were advertising the right product/service and handed them out in the right spot you may get some return.

It's like all advertising and marketing you have to find the target audience and then target them properly and in-line with your brand and service/product.

No good for selling high end cars but it might work for selling cheap tyres.

 

[Brian McIntosh]

I must admit i'd never heard of sizzle cards. Are they only used at the lower end of the market David?

 

[nothing does]

They tend to be more student/youth focussed. Ring tones, clothes that kind of thing.

 

[Scottish Business Owner]

Isn't there a marketing saying that says "Dont sell the sausage, sell the sizzle" ? or have I just made that up on my own

David makes a great point different media will work for different markets. I can see how they work for the student market but would question what other uses they would have. You have to match the media to the market.

 

[Former Member 1]

Isn't there a marketing saying that says "Dont sell the sausage, sell the sizzle" ? or have I just made that up on my own

David makes a great point different media will work for different markets. I can see how they work for the student market but would question what other uses they would have. You have to match the media to the market.

Jings ; haven't heard that one since doing business studies just after leaving school! (and that was nearly 30 years ago!)

Just after new year I left most of the remaining calendar cards I'd had made up lying around in pubs, a few in the Livingston business centre and a few in a Chinese restaurant... There must have been maybe 150 in all.... So far half a dozen people have contacted me on the back of them. Which statistically isn't a bad return!

 

[nothing does]

There must have been maybe 150 in all.... So far half a dozen people have contacted me on the back of them. Which statistically isn't a bad return!

I think that's an excellent return. I would be happy with anything above 2%

 

[Former Member 1]

I think that's an excellent return. I would be happy with anything above 2%

As would I under normal circumstances... It's been a case of right time right place.

Everyone wants a calendar just after new year. These are credit card sized on plastic. People have obviously kept them and eventually looked at the website... The pubs I put them in were city centre (Glasgow) as was the restaurant... My cousin owns the latter; he got rid of a bundle one weekday lunchtime....

I may put out a few thousand next year

 

[Scottish Business Owner]

Really interesting that that type of media had worked for you Matt, it's certainly not something I would have considered. Like you said though a big part of this may have been right time and right place. It's probably also because it was on plastic and had a calendar on it which would be of some use and as a result I think people would be likely to keep it.

 

[Former Member 1]

Well the credit-card sized calendar idea WAS quite deliberately designed to be kept. The reverse simply has 'with the compliments of' and the website address/logo... certainly I think if you hope a promotional item will be retained it surely MUST help to try and build some value or use into it.... So yes; absolutely time of year, material, use etc etc...

What's interesting is that the 'strays' that were casually placed seem to have produced a far higher return than those that were posted out to a fairly carefully targeted mailing list. Ok; it's not quite as random as handing leaflets out in the street. The restaurant is owned by my cousin; and he was savvy enough to hand them out to the 'business lunch' crowd. And the pubs were I suppose the haunts of the 'suited and booted' ...but still.

 

[Pixels Ink]

Have never heard the term 'sizzle' cards but like it!!

As a graphic designer, a lot of my day to day work is stationery and business cards. More and more clients are utilising their business cards in an advertising way, with things on the back like 'visit our website for current offers' etc

I have just been using the term 'mini cards' when discussing this with clients.

I did a set of mini cards for myself recently. They didn't have an offer but rather a stand out image and strap line. They have worked really really well for me and I've had a fair bit of business from them.

I have also followed up the mini cards with some direct marketing involving cards with jelly babies stapled to them (in small plastic bags). You'll probably understand why when you see my mini card below:

SIZZLE cards are a great idea and cheap to do, you can get 1000 cards printed for around

 

[Scottish Business Owner]

Colin,

Love the idea of having the jelly babies on the front , very apt. I think it's a great way of differentiating yourself from everyone else. You can pretty much bet most people will remember you (even if they dont like jelly babies ).

Certainly got the cogs moving. I'd love to find an idea from your example above that I could apply to Scottish Business Forums.

 

[Pixels Ink]

I don't know why, but the Jelly Babies seem to have hit a chord with people. I'll get my thinking cap on and see what ideas I can come up with for SBF cards.

 

[stressmom]

so I guess that with advertising strategies such as this there still must be some sort of method behind the madness- in other words they must still be placed in strategic places around town in order to find and interest your target audience.

 

[Former Member 1]

I don't know why, but the Jelly Babies seem to have hit a chord with people.

They're bright, colourful and funny... They're a wee bit daft; which shows you're not 'tied down' to convention' yet packaged in a businesslike way that shows you're not so out of the box that you wouldn't respect business conventions...

IF say you were to do the jelly babies as beer mats... Well they'll get used almost anywhere. But they'd probably work best in the 'creative quarter' of town. Or at railway stations where you have business traffic. And ideally you want them used between 5:30 and 8pm when folk are having their after-work 'destresser' and not later when the couples and kids are rolling in for a night out....