Cliff Quicksell wants to boost the creativity and effectiveness of distributors’ self-promotional campaigns, but he also wants the promo professionals to get motivated.

“Are you willing to take the challenge?” Quicksell asked. “Are you willing to do something unique, different and creative for yourself and to grow your business?”

Consultant and longtime ASI Show speaker Cliff Quicksell shared case studies of successful self-promos and a bevy of tips to increase creativity and sales.

Quicksell posed those questions, intended to inspire action, during his packed post-lunch session on Education Day at the ASI Show Chicago, taking place July 23-25. The veteran ASI speaker and consultant, who boasts over four decades of industry experience, shared examples of self-promo campaigns that generated massive engagement and yielded big margins, sometimes of over 60%.

For example, Quicksell helped produce a baseball-themed kit for a distributor that was targeting human resources departments. It featured a baseball card and a signed baseball by the rep, as well as the sound of an umpire saying “Play ball,” the crack of the bat and then the umpire saying “That’s a home run.” The promotion generated 87% engagement.

Among the other self-promo campaigns Quicksell discussed, the headliner was a “sales star” influencer box that featured an illuminated personalized star, embossed gold print, Maui Jim sunglasses, a custom video and popcorn scent. It cost $400 a piece, yet yielded 98% engagement.

“The price seems like a lot,” Quicksell told attendees, “but if I close the deal with someone who’s going to spend close to a quarter of a million dollars, then it’s a drop in the bucket.”

This self-promo created by Cliff Quicksell in conjunction with Keepsake Products USA (asi/64180) generated 98% engagement.

Quicksell acknowledged that people may want to criticize such promotions as “stupid” or cheesy. But they work, he said, and that’s what matters most. “Ninety-eight percent engagement rate? I’ll take ‘stupid’ all day long,” he remarked. “My rule of thumb is, ‘When it comes to doing marketing, as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone spiritually, holistically or mentally, the gloves are off.’”

When clients see these self-promos, said Quicksell, they invariably want to know, “‘Can we do that?’ I can tell you that happens to me every single time.”

Additionally, Quicksell touched on various ways to elevate self-promos and drive further engagement, including digital tools such as NFC chips and QR codes, as well as creating a sensory experience through scents and light-activated sound. He also discussed the wide variety of packaging available (such as tubes, polybags, boxes and cans), and the numerous high-quality printing methods that are now available.

Quicksell promoted various methods of sparking creativity and generating processes to create consistent results, such as a “Periodic Table of Creative Marketing Elements” that he gave to attendees. He urged distributors to journalize their ideas so they can go back and refer to them, and to assiduously track the results of their campaigns to measure what worked and if they can be produced again. Most companies in the room didn’t have a marketing budget, and Quicksell suggested devoting 3%-4% of gross sales to marketing their companies.

He also encouraged attendees to consciously categorize clients to determine who should receive these self-promos and how aggressively to court them. Organize clients based on your own criteria on a grading scale of A-F, and then devote the vast majority of your spend and efforts on keeping the A- and B-level customers, Quicksell advised. “I don’t want to market to somebody,” he said, “who’s only going to net me $100 or $500.”