Creating a personalised customer experience has become the holy grail of marketing in the 21st century, and using branded merchandise is a savvy way to blend personalisation with brand loyalty. Branded merchandise allows you to reinforce a target message, show personality and engage with customers in a way that creates resonance.
If you want your customers to know that you really get them, then branded merchandise will change your marketing game.
Adding functionality and value
Office workers always need supplies, tech nerds need their gadgets and shoppers need a plastic carrier bag that is durable and reusable.
Every study on branded merchandising reveals the same thing – if you deliver promotional products to your recipients that are useful and add value to their customer experience, then you’ll create brand loyalty and a positive impression that outlives the merchandise itself.
And with 73% of recipients using their branded merchandise once a week, you have an unparalleled opportunity to create reach and impressions in a variety of spaces.
Reaching connected customers
Static ads that are broadcast through one-way channels are over. Modern marketing puts the customer right at the heart of a successful marketing strategy, creating tailored experiences and communication with their audience.
Branded merchandising goes beyond all other marketing strategies to engage your customers on a profound level, touching all five senses to create a unique marketing experience. It’s no wonder that promotional products have a higher recall than any other advertising medium, with 83% of customers recalling the advertiser of a promotional product.
Communicating your message
As a company, you have the ability to create a product that is specifically tailored to your audience and that can make a direct emotional connection. Think Coca Cola’s ‘Share a Coke‘ campaign – by adding personalisation to Coke bottles, consumers were given the opportunity to share and express themselves through their choice of bottle, creating a deep connection to the brand.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPnS-hVZJAs
Branded merchandising engages your audience, and printing your call to action on a bag goes beyond the screen and reaches out to your customers as human beings.
Be relatable
Everybody wants to go viral or have a trending hashtag, but without a compelling reason to talk about your brand, your hashtag won’t get used. Branded merchandise is a quick and easy way of seeming relatable in your merchandising campaigns.
Print your hashtag on a bag that your customers find useful, then ask them to take selfies with it in unusual places or use it to carry unusual objects, and you’ve given your customers a reason to share their experiences on social media.
Enhancing experience
You can enhance the customer experience by using insights to understand your customer and their journey, and provide exceptional service both in store and online – enhancing the experience creates a much stronger response to your services or products.
By adding the right branded merchandise, like a printed bag, into the mix, you’ll reinforce and enhance the positive experience, which in turn develops the deeper trust and brand loyalty that promotes the kind of customer engagement advertising and social media alone cannot buy.