Digital ads are a bit of a double-edged sword. Sure, they might succeed based purely on the magic of the algorithms. But people know full well what an online ad looks like. In fact, they know it so well they’re eager to skip it altogether. Why else would ad-blocking software be so popular, even in the 2020s?
So, how would we, as entrepreneurs, manage to spread the word about our brand without overreliance on digital marketing? Obviously, we will continue to use it. But if we’re toning it down, we need a different stream of marketing to supplement the potential losses. Luckily, there are ways of doing just that, and they involve promotional items. To be more specific, they involve wearable promo items such as custom badges.
In this article, we will go over why adding a custom badge to our marketing kit is a good idea.
A Creative, Customisable Product That Lasts
Custom badges, or bespoke badges as we like to call them, have a few advantages over other types of products. For instance, a personalised T-shirt may have interesting and unique designs, but it’s ultimately still a shirt. In other words, it retains the same shape and contains roughly the same materials.
On the other hand, we can literally customise our badge to look like anything. Be it enamel, paper, or even recycled materials, the badge can have any shape we designate, and it’s not limited to geometric ones. For example, some badges look like shields, others like swords, and others take on the contours of a human’s or an animal’s face. Some even go the extra mile and engrave an intricate image, e.g. a building with all of its windows, a car, or a gamepad.
Creativity goes hand in hand with customisation, as we can see. And if our badges are unique and eye-catching enough, they might just become collectable items. Much like Kinder Egg toys, postal stamps, or Yu-Gi-Oh! cards, badges have been coveted by millions of collectors across the world. So, if our badge ends up as part of a collection, it will be an excellent selling point for the brand for years to come.
And speaking of selling points for years to come…
Viral, Passive Marketing
The best kind of commercial is the one where we’re not even aware we’re looking at a commercial. To put it simply, it’s an advert that subconsciously tells us to look into a product or a service. That’s the whole point of viral, passive marketing strategies, and a huge reason behind brands investing millions of pounds in promo products alone.
So, how do badges help with viral marketing? Well, if our customer wears the badge by choice, they will ‘expose’ it to everyone whom they meet. People that notice the badge will likely research the brand on their own, potentially becoming a customer in the process. But we can go one step beyond. If we bedeck our employees with company-themed badges during a trade show, people who pass them by will notice.
Of course, we can’t forget about the third type of people who may help us grow and expand, and those would be the so-called accidental advertisers. Children and teenagers tend to adorn their bags, clothes, and accessories with badges, even if they don’t know where the badge may come from. If it has an appealing enough design, a random individual may wear it, thus unknowingly spreading the word about us. And since the young demographic is active on social media, our badge may just end up on an Instagram profile page or in a Tweet, reaching thousands of additional people online.
Appreciation
The last, but definitely not least, aspect of custom badges is showing appreciation for the recipient. If we want a cost-effective gift that speaks directly to an individual, then we will need a badge made specifically for the person who will receive it. Let’s say that we work in a factory and the holidays are around the corner. How will we feel if our employer gives us a custom gift pack with say a free custom mug and badge that have our name on them? It definitely beats a hat with the company logo on it, or a USB flash drive with nothing but the brand’s name.
Corporate gifts, even seemingly small ones, show our employees and customers that we care, that we’re willing to go that extra step to keep them within our fold. Not only is it ethically right, but it’s also a good business tactic. After all, a client is more likely to remember a brand by receiving a unique promo gift or buying an interesting custom promo item.
Related content:
Create a Timeless Brand With Personalised Badges
Badges Making Marketing Optimal
Of course, a badge is not the be-all-end-all of marketing. We can achieve similar effects with other types of promo items, and digital marketing is far from dead. But in terms of achieving a lot with a small investment, few items can beat out custom badges. We highly encourage any entrepreneur worth their salt to give these small, effective promo gifts a try.
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Go over our vast collection of printed novelties including magnets, toys, and stress balls, and choose the ones you like best. Then, contact us at 0800 0148 970 or simply email us today — your way to seamless marketing is just a call away!
