Four Important Tips for Car Magnet Fundraising

Tip #1: Bigger is not Better! Sure, it seems like a bigger magnet might lead to a better fundraiser, but this is not the case. First of all, bigger magnets are more expensive. A more expensive magnet does not mean you can sell it for more. After all, the bottom line for profits is “selling price minus product cost”. Bigger, more expensive magnets don’t do much more than reduce your profits. Here’s another reason why Bigger is not Better; bigger magnets will fit on the back of fewer cars. Most passenger cars produced today use a lot of plastic. You have plastic bumpers, plastic emblems, plastic spoilers, plastic tail lights, etc. Your magnet will only stick to metal (but not to aluminum). The magnet should be entirely on a metallic surface, and not be partially over a plastic surface. If your magnet is partially on a plastic surface, air can get under that part of your magnet at freeway speeds and can potentially come off. On smaller passenger cars (and cars seem to be getting smaller, not larger) it is often impossible to find more than 6 inches of uninterrupted metal. Our 6 inch oval car magnets and our 5 inch round magnets are the perfect size for today’s cars. They provide plenty of visibility so that they can be read from several car lengths away, but will also fit on most cars.

Tip #2: The design of your magnet is by far the most important element. A well designed magnet will be a source of pride for your students, parents and faculty. A poorly designed magnet will be embarrassing for everyone! Take a look at some of the magnets shown in our Design Gallery. You will see professional designs. Our artists have over 20 years of experience designing promotional items for the NFL, Major League Baseball, the NBA, the NHL and the NCAA. We take that expertise and use it on every magnet we design. Now take a look at some of our competitor’s designs; most look like they were drawn by a first-year art student. Which would you want representing your school or team??? Want some good news? All artwork is free at ARC Marketing!

Tip #3: The construction of your magnet is also important. You see them every day; faded, peeling magnets. Once upon a time (probably the day it was new, and not much longer), that peeling fading magnet had some school’s name on it, and it could be read and admired by all. Within a month, it could not be read because the sun had faded the standard inks, and moisture had begun to lift the clear coating off of the surface allowing the paper based magnetic material to disintegrate. This is what happens when you don’t use the best materials. We use the world’s most vivid and resilient UV resistant inks (no fading) and the best one-piece magnetic substrate (no peeling). If you got your magnets from ARC Marketing, they will look perfect in a year; we guarantee it.

Tip #4: Bad customer service is the same as no customer service. You have better things to do than spend hours a day on your magnet project. You probably have a life, right? After your first contact with ARC Marketing (usually by filling out our Virtual Magnet Request Form), you will work with just one person. All artwork, invoicing and follow-up will be taken care of by the same person. And everything will be done right the first time.

What if I have an aluminum car?

More and more car manufacturers are changing the way they make cars in order to make them lighter. A lighter car means it will use less fuel. We’re seeing more and more cars using lighter weight body panels made from aluminum, fiberglass and carbon fiber composites. Of course, magnets will only stick to  materials made out of iron, nickel, or cobalt. These materials are called ferromagnetic materials. Your new custom magnet also will not stick to stainless steel, so your vintage DeLorean (Back to the Future, anyone?!) can’t use a magnet. Aluminum seems to be most car makers choice for lightweight body panels (primarily cars from Audi and the newer Ford F-150’s are the most common aluminum bodied cars on the road). So what do you do for those who drive aluminum cars? The answer is simply Car Window Decals! We can design and produce a window decal much the same way we design and produce our magnets. There are two main differences; 1) the decal has an adhesive backing, and 2) it is designed to be slightly smaller than a similar custom magnet (so that it does not block too much of your view through your rear windshield). We use the same superior UV resistant inks on our windshield decals, meaning they will last a long, long time exposed to the elements. They are also less expensive than magnets; win-win! Most of our clients buy both custom magnets and custom window decals at the same time so that everyone can participate in the fundraiser.  For more information and pricing for our custom car window decals, just give us a call at 760-743-6340.

Car Door Magnets

Those big rectangular door magnets are a great way to promote your small business. Think about it, slap one of those big magnets on both sides of your car and just drive around as usual. Everywhere you go, people are looking at your advertisement. It’s probably safe to assume that those big door magnets will be seen and get noticed by at least 100 other people every day. And that’s 365 days a year. Pretty good bargain when you consider that you can get a pair of those big car door magnets for about $30 (12” x 18” with 1 colors on a white background). The more cars you can put these on, the better. Suppose you had a fleet of 10 cars. That would be 20 magnets, and would cost you about $600. Each company car will still be seen by about 100 other people every day. Pretty convincing, huh? So obviously, the more cars you can put these magnets on, the better.

Here’s a different approach to using door magnets as a promotional tool for your small business; use our smaller fundraising magnets to promote your business. Why? Suppose you bought 300 of our 6” x 4” oval magnets with your company logo on them. The total cost for 300 custom weather-proof outdoor magnets from ARC Marketing is $549.00 (all in, including shipping). That’s s little less than 20 of those large rectangular 1 color door magnets.

Be creative. We’re not going to limit you on the number of colors, so let’s make sure the magnet represents your company in every way (colors, logo, fonts, mission statement, etc.).We’ll help you design your new promotional magnets for free. Make it yours; we won’t charge you a penny extra. Now, let’s say that you give one of these magnets to each of your customers as a Thank You Gift. Walk them out to their car and put it on the back of the car for them (you want to make sure this gets done!). Ask them to keep the magnet on there forever. Soon, you will have 300 different cars, in 300 different places broadcasting your logo all over your community! So let’s see, 300 cars, being seen by at least 100 people every day, times 365 days a year… ouch, my head hurts just trying to think of a number that big!

Why would someone put a blatant advertising magnet on their car? I wouldn’t; would you? This is where we need to be clever. You need to find a way to design your magnet so that it looks more like “Lifestyle Statement” and less like an advertising tool. We have a very talented design staff (I’m biased). We have helped hundreds of companies with creative “Lifestyle Magnets” that are really advertisements for their services and products. With our help, it’s easy… just give us a call at 760-743-6340 or fill out our Free Virtual Magnet Request Form on our website. Would you like to see a few of these promotional “Lifestyle Magnets”? Just visit our Design Gallery and go to the Advertising & Promotional Car Magnet page.