How To Boost Your Merchandise Marketing Efforts By The End of 2018

We live in a consumer-driven world with messages all around us that are trying to convince us to purchase one product or another. It is like the ultimate war for attention that will enable us to stand out from the crowd. Almost the whole business world has gone online and every business owner is aware of the importance of the proper online marketing. But what about the offline one? The fact that you’re running an online business doesn’t mean that there’s no need for offline promotion.  And merchandise marketing is there to take this promotion one step further.

The world is full of potential customers and all you have to do is to get your name out there in front of them. It is done through social media, email marketing, word of mouth, etc. but merchandise marketing is a palpable way to increase the awareness and loyalty of your customers using tangible items such as coffee mugs, t-shirts, gift cards, etc. Although it is a proven strategy until now it was just a small component of other forms of marketing.  But today its an entire strategy of its own as an emerging concept and it has become a lot more than preparing a box of printed shirts for your next tradeshow. It requires a strategy that you should implement by the end of 2018 in order to boost your efforts.

1. Quality matters

Every time you get your hands on some promotional item you realize it’s a piece of junk with a logo - a plastic mug or a t-shirt that will tear in a week. The reason for this is that many business owners look at the merchandise marketing as giving out freebies, which is far from the point. Merchandise marketing efforts need to have a price, but even in cases they don’t, they need to have quality because they speak about your brand. People are not ordering from Allstar Graphics because they like the name, but because they have a great in-house design team and the latest machinery.  Be careful who you order your merchandise for and don’t try to save up on items that need to represent your brand.

2. Pay Attention to The Language

The power of the merchandise marketing doesn't lie just in a beautiful design of the items, but also on a catchy phrase or even a sentence. While all the visuals speak one language, words do not. People like the feeling of familiarity and that’s what makes them loyal. That’s why you need to pay attention to the phrases only locals use. If you’re gonna employ your merchandise marketing in Boston you’re gonna use the word ‛wicked’ instead of ‛very’ because they do. It is a small thing that can get you much closer to your potential customers because they’ll feel at home.

3. Turn in Into a Contest

We’ve already said that merchandise marketing is not about handing out items for free, but sometimes that’s okay if it is the part of the contest. Organizing a smart contest can be a very powerful source of revenue for your website and if rewards are your merchandising items they can push its potential even further. Holding a prize with quality and value will shape the opinion of your customers towards your business. And the ones who didn’t win the prize will maybe want to purchase it afterward after they realize it’s not some cheap trick. In the meantime, you could send them a small gift card. 

4. There Are Much More Opportunities Out There

There is time for everything, but that doesn’t mean it’s just three times a year. You need to push your merchandise marketing effort further than New Year and Black Friday. If you just pay attention you’ll realize that there is a national day for everything - not just mother’s or father’s day, but also siblings and even pancakes. We live in a time when fabricated fake holidays are around every corner and you can use that as an advantage. Take a calendar and mark all these events, then prepare in advance by tweaking your design a bit for every occasion.  Don’t go too far, though. You don’t need to ‛celebrate’ all these ‛holidays’ - pick the most promising ones your brand can relate to. Sometimes organizing the whole event with a wide range of merchandise can be worthy of the additional effort.

5. Spread Out And Become Memorable

Showing your merchandise offers only online is like giving up halfway. Opening a small store is already something, but the material world offers a lot more choices and it would be a shame not to use them. It is crucial to explore your physical surroundings in search of an ideal audience.  Selling your merchandise in unique locations and in unique ways will get people talking about your business. Research some good guerrilla marketing examples and see which you can use for your merchandise marketing efforts in order to make them memorable.

To boost your merchandise marketing efforts first you need to boost the quality of your items. You need to think local and pay attention to the language. Then just look around, find the perfect spot and make every day a holiday.