Branding is more important than ever these days thanks to the power of the Internet giving anyone and everyone the ability to increase the visibility of their business. This means that to stand out you have to present your business in a way that is both memorable, and likable. The good news is that by using promotional materials you can do both. Let’s take a look at three powerful reasons you should be using promotional materials for your business, online or off.
1. Turn Customers into Fans
In most cases promotional materials are given away for free. Depending on the circumstances, this can be a great way to make your customers love you and become hardcore fans of your business. This can be done in a variety of ways, from giving away t-shirts at special events, to packaging them with other items to be distributed when customers make a purchase.
The big benefit here is that when a customer becomes a fan of your brand, they’ll purchase your products/services even when there are cheaper alternatives in many cases. They’ll also talk about your business with their friends, family, and coworkers, spreading the word without you having to do anything. This can significantly lower your CPA (cost per acquisition) and help boost your profit margins.
2. Extremely Cheap Marketing
Done correctly, using promotional materials can be the cheapest form of marketing available to you. For example, giving away office supplies with your brand’s logo and message on them can spread the word about your business without you having to do any additional work, or spend any additional capital. This method becomes even more powerful when you begin selling branded merchandise such as t-shirts, hats, and other items. At this point your fans are essentially paying you to do your marketing/branding for you. Just remember that it does take time and effort to get your business and brand to a level in which people are this passionate about it.
3. Build Your Business on Reputation Alone
If you don’t have the best product or service around, it isn’t a problem as long as you have very strong branding and marketing to make up for it. Think about McDonald’s, their food is fairly mediocre as far as fast food goes, but they’re an unstoppable force thanks to their aggressive branding and marketing campaigns. Using promotional merchandise online is a great way to beginning building up that loyalty and trust among your customer base. It also helps to spread the word to others you may never have reached as well. Done right, you can build your entire business on strong branding and marketing tactics.
Powerful Branding without the Price-tag
If you’re not using promotional merchandise to promote your business, you should be. The best thing is that these materials can be bought in bulk and can be customized to feature your company’s logo and message. As far as investments go, you can’t really top this one if you need a boost for your branding.