Thursday 29 October 2015

Lanyards - Why they Work as a Promotional Tool

A lanyard is a simple tool that goes around the neck, clips onto a pocket, or wraps around the wrist. You can use them in a range of ways. What you might not have thought about is how these can be used as a promotional tool.

With business so competitive today, you have to take any promotional chance you can get. Let’s take a look at why lanyards are another great option to add to your arsenal.



Cost-Effective

The issue is not HOW you market your business; it is about whether the options available to you are cost-effective. When it comes to lanyards, there is no debate over whether you are going to see a return on your investment.

Lanyards are made of plastic and come with a simple band customised according to your specifications. Order them in bulk and you are not going to pay much per lanyard.

Security and Marketing

Let’s not forget that lanyards were concocted for security reasons. The original lanyards were simple pieces of ribbon with a person’s photo and identification number on them. These days you can still have that, but you can market your company at the same time.

Here are some of the things you can add to this simple lanyard:

• Custom colours. Make your lanyards instantly recognisable by decorating them in the company’s colour scheme.
• Add the company logo. Do not let anyone confuse your company with another.
• Slogans. Many businesses are adding their slogans directly to the identification card.

Give them to Customers

Do not just give them to your staff. If you are too utilitarian, then you’re diminishing the power of the lanyard. One strategy is to give them out to customers at trade shows, conventions, or even just when they visit your premises.

Immediately, you are instilling the company in the mind of the receiver. The slogan, the name, and the colours are already branded on their minds.

If you’re willing to spend some extra funds, you could even let them take the lanyards home. Add the company contact details and you have an instant business card. This could be the difference between claiming another loyal customer.

Versatility Reigns Supreme

A lanyard does not have to go around the neck. This is but one way you can use them. Instead, consider the other ways you can brand your company with them. Use them as various attachments and hooks.

1. Attach them to a memory stick. It’s both a practical and useful way of marketing.
2. Add them to badges. Give them to your staff.
3. Use them with pouches to allow people to carry their belongings around.

The reason versatility is so powerful in marketing is because you are not saying to a customer, “I am marketing this brand to you.” You’re more subtle than that. These are things staff and customers will find useful in their daily lives. The marketing is a bonus.

The Art of Numbers

Rarely do you come across a form of advertising that resonates with customers the first time every time. Companies realise this is a game of numbers.

Throughout a marketing campaign, customers may be exposed to TV advertisements, internet ads, and Twitter campaigns. The chances are the message is not going to get through to them until they have come across the campaign multiple times.

A lanyard is an aspect of any campaign. It could be the point where the message finally clicks and a customer taps into what you are trying to say to them.

Remember to Conduct Tests…
Lanyards are great, but you cannot slap absolutely anything on them and expect it to work. As with any aspect of marketing, you have to conduct testing and get feedback from a focus group.

We recommend gathering together a selection of staff members and customers. Show them a number of design variations and see what they have to say. Here are some of the questions you should ask:

• Which design grabs your attention the most?
• Which design is more likely to make you find out more about the company?
• How would you improve the design of the lanyard?

You also have to think about diminishing returns. If people keep seeing the same campaign and the same design, they are going to become saturated by the constant barrage.

This is why companies often decide to alter the design of their promotional material every 12 to 18 months. Only you know when a campaign is no longer as effective as it once was.

Conclusion

Lanyards are an enormously powerful way of sending a strong company message to customers whenever they come across a member of staff or a branded event. They are versatile, practical, and can easily slip into an existing marketing campaign.

Do remember to track your results and make any adjustments you feel are necessary. No marketing tool will do all the work by itself!

Get in touch with Ribbonworks today to find out how we can provide you with high-quality Custom lanyards and other Personalised Lanyards products to boost your advertising campaign.

Wednesday 28 October 2015

9 Unusual Ways to Promote Your Business

Promoting your business is about staying ahead of the curve, and your competitors. Sometimes you have to think outside of the box to get that crucial advantage.

Successful promotion is about creating a personal brand that resonates with people. Rarely does a company instantly resonate with people simply because of what it does and what it stands for.



In light of this, we are going to take a look at nine ingenious ways of promoting your business.

1. Get a Celebrity Endorsement


Okay, this is not exactly the easiest of prospects. Forget trying to get Kayne West or Barak Obama to promote your company. Think about someone who is a minor celebrity. Unless you are marketing something utterly reprehensible, celebrities will generally endorse anything when the price is right.

You may consider a local celebrity or a minor celebrity. It is an excellent way to get people talking, especially when combined with a social media campaign.

2. Print Some Lanyards

Lanyards can be issued to both staff members and customers. Whether these are presented at a convention or simply at the company’s headquarters, they offer the chance to add a company logo, slogan, or colour scheme. It is all part of personal branding.

Give them to someone as a security measure, wrap them around a USB stick, or throw them on a pouch. It is entirely up to you how you incorporate them into your business.

The main advantages of lanyards are they are cost-effective, versatile, and practical.

3. Promotional Sweatbands (and a sporting event)


Companies have been running sports days for decades. They don’t do it because they enjoy sports. They do it because it is such an effective marketing tool. In a world where so many people automatically switch off whenever they hear about promotional material, the sports day remains one of the most effective ways of promoting a brand covertly.

Issue promotional sweatbands with your company colours and name on it. This is a practical tool for the participants, and it is subtly marketing your brand at the same time.

4. Slap Bracelets

Slap bracelets are different from regular bracelets in that they offer more promotional space. In other words, they offer more of a chance to promote yourself. They are the hottest promotional product on the market right now.

A slap bracelet does not work in any other way from any other wearable piece of company merchandise. Choose the colour for the bracelet and what you want on it. It’s that simple.

5. Use a Field

Around the world, there are hundreds of thousands of miles of motorway. Along these roadways, you will find empty fields with owners wishing they could make some extra money from them. One option is to pay the owner a small fee to place something in their field.

Some of the options could include:

• a billboard
• a neon sign
• strange objects that grab people’s attention. Brand them with your company logo.

Remember to check the local laws before you do this. Every country, and in some cases every region, will have a different stance on this.

It’s cheaper than you think to do this!

6. Partner with a Business

You do not have to go it alone. There is a reason companies endorse other companies in other industries. The customers in one niche may also be interested in another niche.

How you work with a partner company is entirely up to you and will depend on the contract you draw up with them.

Look online for a company of similar stature that might be interested in working with you.

7. Brand Your Electronics


Brand every piece of company technology with a holder or cover of some kind. Whether it is a laptop cover or a mobile phone holder, every piece of technology is a chance to brand your company.

Every time one of your staff members enters a meeting, it’s immediately clear who they work for. Subtle pieces of branding like this are ideal for promoting your company.

8. A Competition

A competition is an easy way of grabbing new customers without spending a lot of money. Make sure you offer something related to the company, though. Offering an iPad or a laptop will just attract people who are not really interested in what you have to offer.

9. Invest in Cardholders

Security is essential every time someone enters your building. You may issue identity cards to visitors or swipe cards to staff members to open the offices. Do not throw the card in any old cardholder. Brand your cardholder with the company colours and a logo.

Conclusion

These unusual ways to promote your company are all about personal branding. Brand everything you can and you are repeating the same information to all prospective customers you come across. It’s all about message accumulation. The more times you say something, the more likely the message is to get through.

Get in touch with Ribbonworks today to find out how we can provide you with high-quality printed lanyards and other promotional lanyards products to boost your advertising campaign.

Tuesday 13 October 2015

What Attracts People to Promotional Products?



Promotional products stand out from most other common forms of advertising in one fantastic way, people actually want to engage with them. How many people do you know of who like to listen to or watch advertisements on television or the internet? Probably not too many. However, this is where the strengths of promotional products lie.

The average person tends to actually like and want promotional products because they serve a purpose beyond trying to advertise a business, product, brand or service. The lanyard for example is great for a range of functions, from keeping keys and wallets safe on your person, to having your work id card showing at all times.

Click Here to Read more about Promotional Products

Sunday 11 October 2015

The Enormous Variety that Promotional Products Offer



One of the very best advantages of using promotional products, such as lanyards and wristbands, is the fantastic amount of variety there is to choose from. Whatever your company specialises in or sells, there's always a range of promotional products that are sure to help you accomplish your advertising goals.

By looking at just a small sample of the promotional products your company could be using to advertise its brand, we can see that there are hundreds of options out there to suit any advertising campaign.


This article originally published at here

Thursday 8 October 2015

3 Tips for Effective Brand Marketing


Marketing to your chosen demographic effectively takes time, effort, and know-how to do successfully, especially when using promotional products. However, with the helpful tips Ribbonworks has put together, we can explore what makes for effective brand marketing.

Naturally, promotional products are the focus here as they are one of the best ways to get your company and brand known all over the country with ease. Whether your company chooses to advertise using quality lanyards, well-designed phone covers, or both, these tips are relevant to everyone.


This article originally published at here

Tuesday 6 October 2015

3 Advantages Small Businesses Gain with Promotional Products


Promotional products like lanyards, card holders and wristbands are always a terrific way to achieve your company or organisation's marketing goals. However, it's not just big businesses and corporations that stand to gain from promotional products, small businesses arguably gain the most advantages.

When considering your business's marketing strategy, promotional printed products excel at long-term exposure of your brand and business, as well as being extremely cost-effective no matter the size of your budget. By knowing what advantages promotional products bring to the table for small businesses, you can make the right decision when it comes to your advertising.

This article originally published at here