Direct mail, digital marketing and Olympics-inspired patriotism balanced perfectly in a clever campaign that raised Boss Promotions’ social media profile with key clients, while directly generating sales.

The Toronto-based distributor was keen to build its Instagram following and spark better engagement with clients on the platform. To achieve these goals, the creative minds at Boss came up with the #CheerWithBoss initiative.

Timed to the start of the 2018 Winter Olympics, the outreach centered on shipping apparel and “selfie-kits” to 20 top clients. Sent in packages and branded Boss Promotions boxes, the promo featured products that would help clients’ employees cheer on Team Canada. The selfie-kits consisted of small Canadian flags and quote bubbles with printed cheers like “Go For Gold” and “I Love Canada.” Done in Canadian red, the apparel was soft SanMar Canada (asi/84864) T-shirts (ATC8000 and ATC8000L) that were printed with “Go Canada Go” on the front. The sleeves bore the #CheerWithBoss hashtag. Boss shipped varied quantities based on company size.

Members of the Boss Promotions team with the self-promo gear they sent clients.

Eager for social media interaction, Boss asked clients to post to Instagram using the #CheerWithBoss hashtag, with pictures of employees wearing the shirts and holding the quote bubbles and flags. “We offered a random drawing prize of cupcakes for all the clients that participated in the promotion,” says Boss Marketing Manager Jennifer Carmichael. Wooed by sweets and compelled by Team Canada pride, 13 of the 20 clients participated – a high 65% response rate. Boss sparked further interest by live-drawing the cupcake winner on social media. Boss salespeople later delivered the cupcakes, gaining valuable in-person time with the winning client.

Of course, the results of the campaign went beyond one face-to-face chat. Boss received 161 visits to its Instagram in two days – more than four times the norm. The distributor also gained more than 30 new followers, including two company vice presidents and one firm’s president. More followers, of course, means a wider network with which to engage and cultivate relationships that could lead to sales.

And speaking of sales: Three clients liked the SanMar T-shirts so much they promptly ordered them. One order was for the “Go Canada Go” tees in particular to outfit more employees, while the other two supported different customer promotions. “This was one of our first real self-promotion activities, and definitely our first one using social media,” says Carmichael. “We had no idea what to expect, but we were thrilled to get a good response and spread some good feeling.”