This morning I downloaded the product, Xobni, an add-on to Outlook. At the end of the installation of the add-on software, the Finish dialog box wasn’t just wasted space. Xobni took advantage of an opportunity to connect with their target market! They filled the wasted space with an friendly picture of the xobin team along with the message “Thanks for installing!”  Kudos to the xobni marketing team!

Where is the wasted space in your business processes? Examine all of your customer communications and look for ways to connect and utilize print or electronic pieces that are usually boring but could be used to make a connection.

Consider these possibilities:

• Invoices
• Receipts
• Auto-responders
• Envelopes
• Email signatures
• Form letters

As you look at your communications, ask these questions:

• Is our mission expressed?
• If not, how can it be incorporated cleanly?
• How memorable are we?
• How can we add valuable info in small spaces that are usually wasted?
• How can we build goodwill in what is typically wasted space?
• Are we likeable-as a company?

Any new ideas on making the most of wasted space on standard (dare I say–boring) communications?

Post your thoughts. I’d love to hear from you!