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Email Marketing Takes a Twist in Nashville Tennessee
One surprise email fought 64 others that day for my attention – and won, hands down. The subject line: “Free Community Shred Day”.
I thought, “Hmm, “FREE” – really?” and clicked on it. Sure enough, it looked like they meant it.
WOW. No limit? Don’t remove clips. That got me excited – so much so that I forwarded the email to TEN friends. One of them was storing fifteen years’ worth of very old business files. I couldn’t wait for him to open this email.
And since I help companies market themselves online and offline, I knew that these smart business managers had a viral marketing success story here. I wanted to hear more about it.
We Head to the Shred
So I packed my truck, and we headed to Civic Bank & Trust, where they set up an amazingly efficient and secure operation. Since we had so very many boxes (they said we were their biggest load yet), they directed us to the Richards & Richards secure straight truck trailer, which they unlocked – and formed a brigade to unload us, smiling the entire time.
A Marketing Success?
After they relieved us of our doc boxes, sipping on their lemonade, I offered my business card and asked Sheila Gilliland, Marketing Consultant for Civic Bank, to fill me in. How did this event get started? What were their marketing objectives? How was it going?
Sheila’s answers were a marketer’s dream. Richards & Richards, an office records management firm, is a client of Civic Bank, and they just started talking about it. The bank is always on the lookout for a great way to help the community. They are a community-based bank, and so their marketing is really all about community outreach. If the community wins, they do too.
Positive Word-of-Mouth
The bank relies on positive word-of-mouth and places only one solitary paid ad in its entire marketing plan. Way to go.
This very successful shred event was a first for the bank, but not for Richards & Richards. Andy Moon, Richards’ Security Consultant, informed me that they hold free shred days at least twice a year. Their last event yielded 337 vehicles and unloaded over 53,000 pounds of documents. They saved a bunch of trees, I might add.
Richards and Richards, also a locally-owned company, smartly uses Facebook, Twitter, and email blasts to attract shred day participants.
New Client Acquisition
According to Andy, the shred days yield new customers, typically anything from a small florist to a huge hospital.
Sheila reported a few days later that the event was fruitful for them, too, with at least one new client and seven inquiries – in just two days after the event – likely more now.
See the full story and details on how to get a Free Safe Box from Civic Bank in Nashville TN.
What innovative marketing campaigns have touched your community?
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For more resources, see our Library topics Marketing and Social Networking.
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ABOUT Lisa M. Chapman: With offices in Nashville Tennessee, but working virtually with international clients, Lisa M. Chapman serves her clients as a business and marketing coach, business planning consultant, and social media consultant. As a Founder of iBrand Masters, a social media consulting firm, Lisa Chapman helps clients to establish and enhance their online brand, attract their target market, engage them in meaningful social media conversations, and convert online traffic into revenues. Email: Lisa @ LisaChapman.com
