There are many components of marketing that get underused by companies. Most of those have the potential to yield great returns. One of them happens to be branded merchandise─ also known as company swag.
Giving out a swag bag has many benefits including brand awareness and enhancement in employee experience.
If you want to learn more about leveraging the power of company swag, keep reading for this guide on unique swag ideas.
What Is Company Swag and What Is the Purpose of It?
Company swag is a term that refers to a variety of branded paraphernalia. This could be anything from t-shirts and hats to reusable water bottles and coffee mugs. These items usually have business logos, slogans, and colors printed on them.
Being accepted by a group satisfies our basic human need to experience belonging. People who feel like they are a member of the whole are often happier and more satisfied in life.
This can go a long way when it comes to cultivating and enhancing company culture. Physical items are a symbol of them being valued team members.
When it comes to customers, company swag can also make them feel like they're an extended part of your brand's family. It's also a great way to market your brand. Sending customers a swag bag can lead to them participating in various forms of marketing including:
- Word-of-mouth
- Referrals
- Affiliate marketing
- Brand ambassadors
Company swag for customers increases brand awareness, recognition, and loyalty. Customers are especially more likely to spread the word about your brand when you have cool, useful items that they won't immediately toss in the trash.
You can begin to leverage branded swag ideas for your company to reap these benefits and more. Keep reading to learn how to seamlessly include these promotional items in your brand awareness strategy.
Using Branded Swag Ideas for Marketing Strategy
Custom company swag isn't just for show. Although these items might photograph really well, they're also an integral part of your branding and marketing strategy.
We'll break down a few ways company swag can have an impact on your marketing efforts.
Generating Leads
An important factor in marketing is visibility and the right branded swag ideas can help to increase this. This is especially essential when it comes to lead generation. Lead generation refers to the process of getting a potential buyer's attention and interest in purchasing your products or services.
Companies who have a good handle on their lead generation understand that they need to be visible for potential customers to know that they exist. The more eyes that reach your business, the more of a chance you have to build a solid reputation and find your ideal customers.
Company swag can help with lead generation because it's a way of capturing attention and attracting people. Let's look at a marketing strategy example of how you can use branded swag ideas to enhance lead generation.
Let's say you've partnered with an influencer on social media who has a large platform. They've received a swag bag from you and they're wearing some of the branded gear in their professional photos.
The influencer has tagged your company in the photos which piqued the interest of some of their followers. An influx of people head over to your company profile and start to explore your social media (leads). A number of them end up making purchases (customers) thanks to the influencer that they trusted introducing them to your brand.
This is a quick scenario of how you could leverage swag bag ideas to generate new leads for your business. And there are plenty of other creative ways you can include them in a marketing strategy.
Building Brand Awareness
Remember, people need to know about your business in order to become customers. This is where building brand awareness comes into play.
Brand awareness is a term that describes how well your target audience can identify your company. It's a look at how familiar they are with you and your offers. Brand awareness is the beginning of the know, like, and trust pipeline.
You can use company swag as a simple method to build brand awareness. Marketers know that it takes multiple touchpoints before you convert a lead. This means that they need to interact with your brand on a certain number of occasions before making a purchase.
People seeing your brand's logo, for instance, on multiple occasions begins to spark remembrance. If they come into contact with it often, it'll grow the level of familiarity at least at a surface level. Company swag is also a solid strategy for offline marketing as well.
Customer Retention
It can cost a company up to five times the amount to gain a new customer than it costs to retain a previous one. Once you've got a customer, it's best to do everything in your power to keep them. This is why including company swag in your marketing strategy is a no-brainer.
Showing customers that you appreciate them with a nice swag bag is a small gesture that can yield big results. It's important for businesses to make partons feel like they are seen as humans and not just numbers on a spreadsheet. Even a new backpack or pair of sunglasses could create a sense of feeling appreciated.
Company swag is a good way to build and strengthen connections between your company and customer base. It can increase customer retention and loyalty.
Celebrates Employees & Teamwork
As we mentioned before, the use of branded swag ideas isn't just for customers. They also have some advantages on employees and team culture.
Custom swag can be used in many ways within a company that helps to highlight importance, breed acceptance, and enhance loyalty and belonging amongst employees. You can incorporate at various stages of a team member's journey with your company.
Here are a few ways to use a swag bag to celebrate employees:
- Use it as an onboarding gift for new employees
- Give it to employees as they reach certain milestones
- Send it to employees if they're out on leave (sick, maternity, etc.)
- Gift it for individuals when they get promotions
- Include them at company events and during special occasions
- Hand them out for team members to wear at promotional events
Take advantage of great corporate swag ideas to provide your employees with experiences that make them feel a part of the team.
Unique Swag Ideas to Improve Marketing
You may have seen different examples of company swag gear flaunted across the internet. There are some standard basic swag items, and then there are more extravagant ones. It's good to have a mixture of both and an intentional variety to interest and attract different personalities.
Here's a list of these unique swag ideas for your company to use.
Stationery Swag
Stationery items are a great first gift for new employees and anyone who loves to keep their work areas organized and efficient. Some cool items to giveaway include pens, staplers, sticky notes, and laptop snapfolios.
Focus and Self Improvement
Many people struggle with staying on task and attentive. This is a great chance for you to provide something helpful and branded. Consider giving them notebooks & journals, essential oils, blue light glasses, and desktop organizers.
Health and Fitness
You'll definitely have some fitness fanatics and athletic individuals in your audience and on your team. It's a good choice to include some workout-related gear in your branded swag ideas. Some things to include are sweatpants, yoga mats, water bottles, resistance band sets, and tote bags.
Travel Gifts
Send out some cool things for the travelers in the bunch. Everybody needs some practical travel tools to help make their trips smoother. Try a few items like luggage tags, travel backpacks, garment bags, toiletry kits, travel wallets, and waterproof bags.
Tech Lovers
Throw some items in the swag bag for the folks that have a love for technology and gadgets. Some great ideas for them are flash drives, power charging banks, Bluetooth earbuds, Bluetooth speakers, mousepads, wireless charging pads, iPad cases, and pop sockets.
Start Leveraging the Power of Company Swag
Using company swag in your marketing strategy has many benefits. You can help boost advantages like brand awareness to customer retention and even employee appreciation. Choosing unique company swag ideas can help position you to reap these rewards.
If you want to start leveraging this great promotional method for your business, you're in the right place. Check out our online storeat Bagmasters to find just the right branded swag ideas to improve your company's marketing efforts.
