Negosentro.com | 5 Reasons Small Businesses Should Consider Merchandising | Almost anyone who starts up a business of their own loves the idea of one day having their own line of merchandise, and seeing people wearing t-shirts or carrying bags with their business logo on it! Not only is it a fun project, merchandising can actually help your business in a number of ways.
Maximises Visibility
Having small items of merchandise that you give away for free can help to increase visibility of your brand. A really common way to do this is by giving away pens with your company name on them. People habitually lend other people pens, or inadvertently take pens home when they didn’t mean to! This means that your company name will be seen by more people than the one who you originally gave your piece of merchandise to.
T-Shirts are another example of this. Someone wearing a t-shirt with your logo on it will be seen by everyone that they come into contact with. They’re essentially wearing a billboard with your company logo on it.
Builds Customer Loyalty
If you can provide merchandise that your customer will find useful, and therefore use over and over again, you are building loyalty to your brand. Everytime they use that item that makes life a little easier for them, they will be reminded of your business and therefore associate you with that positive feeling of having a handy item.
This is why you see so many businesses producing branded tote bags, especially since stores started cracking down on providing plastic carrier bags. As someone is leaving the house, they remember that they need a tote bag to do their shopping, and they come across one with your name on it. In their minds, your business solved that problem for them.
Helps You Stand Out
If you can create a piece of merchandise that is truly unique and captures the essence of your business, it can really help you to stand out from the pack. To do this you need to think about each piece of merchandise you create as a project in itself:
- Decide what it is you are trying to say about your business and what impression you want people to come away with when they use your merchandise.
- What items of merchandise will people actually find useful?
- Think about design – it’s certainly worth involving a graphic designer for this part! You want a striking design that catches the eye and encapsulates your message.
Additional Revenue Stream
You don’t need to give merchandise away for free! Of course, you can do this as part of a marketing campaign or as a thank you to loyal customers, but if you create good quality merchandise that people really want to buy there’s no reason why you shouldn’t make a little money.
Increased Sales
Ultimately a good merchandising strategy, like any marketing strategy, should gain you more sales. If you think it’s the right fit for your business, why not give it a go?
