If you’re after increased brand visibility at your future events but aren’t sure if custom T-shirts or bags are suitable for your brand, it’s time to consider promotional lanyards! These rather smart promos are often seen at trade shows, exhibitions, and even in our day-to-day lives in offices, schools, and hospitals. Even businesses have long been using them to display ID badges, hoping to avoid stickers, which sometimes seem a tad too plain. Now, your company can also get a hold of some great custom lanyards — and here’s how to choose the best ones!
Lanyards 101: Types of Lanyards
Though they may seem rather dull to the uneducated eye, lanyards are super-customisable and can thus fit any company’s circumstances and needs. When it comes to making the first decisions regarding the design, though, you ought to focus on the two primary parts — the material and the attachment.
Common Lanyard Types
The four most common lanyard materials you can choose from include polyester, cotton, nylon, and dye sublimation textile. Depending on the preferred printing methods (e.g., requiring a back-side imprint), these options may have different production lead times.
Polyester lanyards are easily distinguished from the rest due to their flat, visible weave. This feature actually makes it ideal for screen-printing your logo, especially if it’s detailed.
A similar option, nylon lanyards, is a bit thicker but also has that visible weave. Due to its thickness, it is great for sports events as it has a sportier look. Still, it’s not the best option for detailed artwork or logos; they just won’t show up well due to the depression in the weave.
On the other hand, cotton is one of the softest materials you want to feel on your neck, so it’s perfect for lanyards that have to be worn for long stretches of time (e.g., in the office, at conventions, etc.). The downside is that it’s not suitable for super-detailed branding or logos.
Finally, there are dye sublimation textiles, which are polyester materials that have a luxurious silky feel to them. Much like cotton, these textiles also feel soft on the neck, but they are a better option for detailed artwork. The imprint is also dyed into the textile in this case, which gives the finished lanyard a longer lifespan as the artwork is permanent. Better yet, you can make your dye sublimation lanyards as colourful as you desire as the material allows for multi-colour imprinting.
Despite the popularity of these four materials, you’re still spoiled for choice while browsing suppliers. Other materials are also available, either domestically or internationally, including:
- Neoprene
- Flat dye sublimation ribbon
- Tie-dye textiles
- Reflective materials
- Stretchy elastic
- Heathered
- Marled
- Glittery textiles
- Lace
Types of Attachments
When it comes to attachments, you, once again, have a range of options to choose from. Luckily, picking the right attachment mostly boils down to considering what will go on the lanyard later on.
Is the lanyard going to hold a key card, a badge, some keys, or perhaps a lip balm? Knowing the answer to this question makes choosing the proper attachment easy, as you’ll know right away whether you need some sort of a hole as an attachment or an attachment device.
Down below, we’ve selected a few options that are commonly used across many industries. Note that they can be made from plastic or metal; the choice depends on your budget and the level of sturdiness you’re after.
Again, you have to consider your audience and how they’ll use the lanyards when deciding between metal or plastic. For instance, institutions like schools may be better off with metal attachments, as they won’t be so easy to damage. Metal is also a more eco-friendly option, a feature everyone should consider nowadays. Then again, plastic attachments look rather neat, so they may be ideal for more professional settings!
Another consideration is the convenience release. Most of the attachments we’ll list come with this option, which allows you to quickly remove any objects hanging off the lanyard.
In a world where time is of the essence, this could prove rather useful, making your lanyards a bit more appealing. Nonetheless, you still have to choose the best option for you from the following styles of attachments:
Keyrings
Ideal for keeping your keys secure, a keyring attachment is widely popular, both in terms of professional and personal use.
Metal Crimps
Superbly sturdy, this is the attachment to get if you want to prevent the holders from damaging the lanyards fast. You can also go for either a silver or a black finish if you choose this option.
Badge Holders
These are rather convenient for anyone who needs to swipe their badge or key card frequently while at work. Any job that requires a badge should come with a badge holder lanyard that makes it easier to gain access to different rooms, features, etc. There are also retractable options to look into, which might suit your business even more, as well as vinyl pouches for storing the badges.
ID Holders
As they’re more professional-looking than name tags, ID holders are ideal for tight-security events and institutions (schools, office buildings, conferences, etc.). The ID will always be with the holder whenever they’re moving around a facility, thus allowing them to quickly identify themselves completely hands-free.
Other Factors to Consider While Designing Your Ideal Lanyards
Imprint
As you may have noticed, lanyards don’t offer a lot of print space, so you have to be careful when choosing your artwork. Standard lanyards are usually 3/8ʺ or 5/8ʺ wide. The size you go for will depend on the amount of detail you want to print. The more details you want to add, the wider the lanyard should be.
Dye sublimation lanyards are an excellent option for highly detailed artwork, as they can clearly display small details and bold, bright colours. If your design is relatively simple, though, there’s no harm in going for a lovely screen-printed lanyard!
Just remember that all of the parts of the design — even the font — will have to match the material you go for. Fonts like Times New Roman (Serif fonts) will look best on flat, smooth textiles, like cotton or polyester. If you want a more block-like type of font, however, nylon may be the best option.
Budget and Production Time
Sadly, your choice of lanyards will depend on your budget as well. Some options, like dye sublimation, are more expensive than others, so not every business can afford them. The material, attachment style, imprint method and quantity also play huge roles here and could easily ruin your design ideas!
Ideally, you should figure out your budget beforehand and consult with your supplier on the best lanyards for your needs. The lanyards should fit both your brand and budget perfectly, so doing the research before ordering should definitely pay off.
The same features that determine the price will also influence the production time. Your timeframe is crucial here. After all, you don’t want to waste time choosing lanyards only to realise you will never have them in time!
Ideally, you will order your lanyards well before you need them to accommodate for any potential delays or unforeseen circumstances. Still, know that some printing options, like screen printing, have shorter lead times. If you’re in a real rush, you may also want to go for lanyards that don’t require the use of any materials that aren’t available domestically or need to have some parts made overseas.
Where Can You Use Your Custom Lanyards?
The main reason for getting lanyards in the first place is to promote your business at some event or function. Luckily, since lanyards are so customisable, they fit various occasions, thus proving to be worthy companions of any business looking to spread the word about their brand.
For starters, lanyards are more than welcome at exhibitions, expos, conventions, and trade shows where you want your logo to reach as many of your current and potential customers as possible. As you can customise them to fit any setting, you can adjust the design to reflect the expected atmosphere of the event and ensure some positive impressions!
However, we urge our customers to consider whether their lanyards would benefit from a more creative design. Many businesses are afraid of making their lanyards too prominent. Yet, at larger events such as expos — you definitely want them to stand out!
If there’s a theme to follow, your lanyards should match it to blend better into the background and garner more positive impressions. It doesn’t hurt to consider dual-use lanyards as well, such as those that can hold eyewear or bottles. Such models may tempt recipients to continue using them later, thus spreading the word about your brand further.
In the end, your branded lanyards won’t put a huge dent in your budget like clothing or hats would. You can hope for a great return on investment — and even continuous advertising long after your event ends.
Plus, they serve as fantastic mementoes. Whether they’re given away at your booth or included in goody bags, they can be your way of saying thank you to visitors who took note of your brand and allowed you to show them what you’re all about!
Related content:
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Which Industries Would Thrive With Lanyards?
Finally, we should reflect on some industries other than general businesses that would benefit from introducing lanyards into their daily operations. Those include but aren’t limited to IT, healthcare, and education.
IT companies often require their staff to show IDs or badges to go through various access points. We would therefore recommend IT companies to go for comfortable materials, like dye sublimation textiles or cotton. Their employees are likely to wear the lanyards for longer periods of time.
Similarly, the healthcare industry calls for strict security and authentication, so gaining access to floors, wings, and offices usually plays out using badges or IDs. Retractable lanyards would be ideal for this industry. The users wouldn’t have to remove them each time they wanted to swipe them against key card pads.
Finally, schools and universities may also thrive by using lanyards during school days. As mentioned, it’s a good idea to go for more durable materials in this case. We suggest choosing a metal crimp and attachment to avoid having to keep ordering new lanyards every few months.
Keep in mind, though, that function trumps style when it comes to lanyards. Though white models may look better overall, they won’t stay that way. Dirt will collect fast on those lanyards with frequent use, making them seem rather grimy and unprofessional.
Luckily, lanyards come in a huge array of colours, so you won’t have to try hard to find the exact shade that would hide dirt or stains. Black or navy, for instance, do that quite successfully. Better yet, they serve as a fantastic backdrop for emphasising any business’ artwork!
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Looking for something different? Browse our full range of promotional products which includes pens, notebooks, name badges, and bags. If for any reason you still can’t find what you are looking for, then simply give us a call on 0800 0148 970 or simply email us today.
