The surprising reason why it pays to be discreet in scrap plastic marketing

Have you seen this situation before in your scrap plastic trading business? You get an e-mail from a scrap plastic trader – maybe it’s someone you’ve done business with before, maybe you’ve heard of them or gotten an inquiry from them but haven’t done any trades. The e-mail is full of updated material lists and pricing information and special offers. The e-mail is written in a style of urgency, as if pleading with you to “Buy now!!!”

The person who sent you this e-mail probably thought they were doing “smart marketing” by building a big e-mail list and sharing their material list and latest updates with everyone. But the truth is, this kind of “mass blast e-mail” marketing, in the world of scrap plastic trading, is a big mistake. In our scrap plastic trading industry, it’s better to be discreet.

Here are a few reasons why it helps to be discreet in your scrap plastic trading marketing communications:

Build credibility: When a scrap plastic trader is blasting out their material list to thousands of prospects, it makes them look like a scam artist who does not have steady buyers. We all know that unfortunately, there are sometimes some bad actors that get into the scrap plastic trading industry who are not reliable, who don’t keep their promises and who cannot fulfill the requirements they have promised to uphold. If your prospects are seeing “too much information” on your e-mails or website or other marketing materials, they might be asking themselves, “how many other people can see this offer” and “is this broker for real, or are they just spamming us?”

Build relationships: We’ve seen time and time again that in the scrap plastic trading business, our industry is based on personal relationships. The best way to market your material is one on one with reliable buyers. Especially when deals are time sensitive and price sensitive, you don’t want your best buyers thinking that you’re offering the same deals to just anyone who might happen to be in your e-mail database. Sometimes one of the best ways to strengthen a business relationship is to offer a special deal to one of your best customers – whether it’s a discount, favorable terms, or special access to a really unique and time-sensitive offer that none of your other customers know about (or need to know about). Creating a sense of exclusivity with your best customers is a time-tested marketing strategy – and it also builds more trust and a stronger relationship for the long-term.

Use online and offline marketing: You can use online marketing and social media for branding and lead generation, but it’s best to build trust with your buyers offline. This is one of the reasons why our Director of Business Operations, Vincent Fabrico, spends so much time traveling to meet in person with our buyers, vendors and prospective buyers and vendors – we know that it’s important to show people that you’re real and that there is a real, legitimate business behind the website or e-mail or special offer that they’re seeing.

What is the best (or worst) scrap plastic trading marketing offer or e-mail that you’ve seen recently? What do you do to help create a sense of exclusivity and personal trust with your best buyers? Let us know in the Comments section.