Branded merchandise could be the best marketing tool for your brand

There are many ways to market a brand, and most businesses promote themselves in one way or another. Some companies spend fortunes to get their name into the eyes of the audience they are targeting with varying degrees of success. One marketing ploy that is often overlooked is branded merchandise. Here we will look at some of the different marketing strategies and discuss why branded merchandise could be the best marketing tool for your brand.

TV and radio advertising

TV and radio advertising can be a great way to reach people of all age groups, of all genders and of all cultures. It takes planning to get it right by choosing the right time slot and the adverts need to look or sound professional or it can do more harm than good. The problem with TV and radio advertising is that the costs involved put it out of the reach of most businesses. Although radio advertising tends to be a little cheaper, there can still be a sizeable outlay involved for a short period of engagement.

Social media

Social media is a favourite tool of many marketers. Used properly, it can help you to reach many thousands of people. The biggest problem with social media marketing is that it requires an enormous time commitment and high levels of consistency to be successful.

Regular posts need to be made and any comments or queries need answering quickly. Leave them a day or two and viewers will lose interest. It needs positive answers in all situations, or users will quickly form a bad opinion of the brand, and that defeats the whole object of spending many hours on the likes of Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.

Email marketing

Email marketing allows you to create targeted and personal messages which can be a great way to build relationships with new and existing customers. It can be much cheaper than many other forms of marketing and is preferred by many customers compared to intrusive telephone marketing.

The problems associated with it are the emails being sent to spam, and some email providers software filters out any with a subject heading or content that says FREE or has anything else it decides is inappropriate. This does mean that a portion of the emails you send might never reach the intended person.

Your website

The aim of many marketing strategies is to get potential customers to visit your website. This needs to be attractive to the eye and very user friendly. It needs to look professional or the 4 seconds it is said you have to hold viewers interest will not be enough time. Search engine rankings are partly based on the number of visitors your website gets and how long they stay.

Branded merchandise

Above are just some of the marketing tools available, but they all rely on customers remembering what they have seen or heard, and every one of them puts you in their mind for the short time they are viewing.

Branded merchandise has a huge advantage over them all in that the products with your brand on will be seen again and again, every time it is used. Branded merchandise can invoke a sense of brand loyalty and all customers appreciate a free gift.

Compared to all other forms of marketing, using branded merchandise is more cost effective and gives a good return on the investment. In fact, research has shown that somewhere in the region of 80% of branded merchandise is still being used after at least one year.

Different types of branded merchandise

Traditionally, when people were giving branded merchandise as free gifts it tended to be pens or mugs and these are both still very popular. However, there are many other forms of branded merchandise to consider, depending on the type of business you run and the people you want to target. Included in the vast range of branded merchandise we supply at Axis Promotional Products are:

  • Bags for many occasions. There are laptop and tablet bags, business bags, shopper bags, toilet bags, sports bags, travel bags, rucksacks, shoe bags and duffel bags to name just a few of the ones available.
  • Clothing. Among the range of clothes we can turn into branded merchandise for you there are hoodies, pants, sweat shirts, jackets, body warmers, polo shirts, caps, gloves and hats.
  • Technology is always a favourite. Smartphone and tablet accessories, headphones, calculators, laser pointers and USB sticks are a selection of the branded merchandise we offer from our technology section.
  • Everyone knows about everyday mugs that are branded merchandise, but what about considering travel mugs, flasks, tumblers or bottles?
  • Branded merchandise in the form of pens has always been a favourite, but these days there is much more choice than the ballpoint pen. Highlighters, markers, rollerballs, fountain pens and pen sets are just a few of the ones on offer.
  • Sports and leisure. If someone is passionate about a sport, they will appreciate a free gift related to it. Things such as golf balls, binoculars, umbrellas, torches, bike accessories and many other sports related items are available.
  • Hampers are for more than Christmas time. Hampers are appreciated all year round and are a great way of giving branded merchandise that is a bit special. There are cheese and wine hampers, food hampers, craft beer hampers and deluxe artisan hampers to choose from.

Call the experts for your branded merchandise

At Axis Promotional products, we have a huge range of goods ready and waiting to become your branded merchandise. Regardless of whether you are looking for some low-cost novelty items or a high-class gift for a special client, we can help.

We have more than 30 years’ experience of supplying branded merchandise and are the only place you need to contact no matter what promotional products you are after.

Our team of friendly experts are dedicated to assisting our customers. Why not give us a call and have a chat about the branded merchandise you are considering? The number is 01 524 0966 and we are waiting for your call.

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