How Companies Are Utilizing Merchandise And Technology To Outshine Their Opposition

Businesses now have more opportunities than ever to advertise their business effectively. Thousands of businesses around the globe have always wondered how to do one thing as efficiently and cost-effectively as they can. That particular thing would be advertising themselves, and getting their names out there in the big wide world. After all, what is a product or a service when nobody knows about it? Even if it’s a complete passion project which your whole company wants to succeed from the bottom of their hearts, unless they are hoping for a miracle, without a proper advertising campaign it will most probably not go far. Please do not misunderstand, the quality of the product or services should be ever as important, but keep in mind that it takes two to tango. One cannot simply expect people to magically find out about a certain company and then have it blow up with popularity. If you have ever been wondering what methods companies are using to stay ahead of the curve nowadays, then keep reading.

Promotional gear

If there is anything which sticks with your target market for more than 5 minutes, it’s most definitely some sort of promotional product which you can give out to your customers. Whether it be at a trade show and you’re giving it out at your booth, or at your office when the customers are leaving, they are sure to leave a long-lasting impression. No matter if it’s mugs, pens with logos, notepads, mouse mats, you can probably leave enough information on them to make the whole endeavour worthwhile. Check out this website if you are wondering what would be appropriate, then think about what kinds of things you could put on your products so that it’s useful for both you and your customers.

If it’s something like a mug, you don’t want it to be too overbearing. A simple logo with possibly a phone number and an email address would be more than enough on it. After all, nobody really stares at their mug all that long, so it should be kept somewhat minimal. On the other hand, if we’re talking about something along the lines of a branded mouse mat or notepad, then you have quite a bit of real estate to work with. Considering that both of these things will most probably end up on someone’s desk one time or another, they are right where you want them to be, at someone's workstation or home. If you happen to be providing something which may be useful to a more corporate audience, then this works out great for you. Not only is it an active advertisement around the office it ends up in, but the number you leave on it is most probably the phone number they are going to call when they need something which you possibly provide. Be it a delivery of stationery, a window cleaning service, computer repairs, it is most probably going to be the first thing that comes to their mind out of sheer convenience. After all, why do some research on the topic and find a random company you have most probably never heard of, if you could just call one that you know already exists?

Technology

In this day and age, business owners have more possibilities than ever when it comes to advertising their products, and easy access to custom merchandise is just scratching the surface. There are many more ways in which technology can be utilized to reach out to an even wider audience, and it has most certainly proven its worth as effective. Here are just a few of them.

The internet

The internet is now such a gigantic platform on a world-wide scale that not trying to harness its advertising power would be a foolish move for just about anyone. Of course, just saying “internet advertising” could mean a lot of things, so let’s narrow it down a little bit.

• * Good ol’ ads. If you have used the internet before, then you are most probably familiar with the ads which reside amongst all sorts of different webpages on the internet. From Youtube, to sponsored links on Google and adverts on the side of your page when you check your mail. Renting online space for these kinds of ads is most certainly effective and the continued use of them by companies all over the world is living proof of that.

• * Hit the mobile market. The vast majority of phones nowadays are either using iOS, or Android OS as their operating system. Both platforms come with their marketplace equivalent where one can go and purchase or just download apps for their phones, and if your company just so happens to be one that could benefit from having a mobile app, then what are you waiting for? Whether it’s just a store-finder, a stock checker, or maybe even a small game which somehow involves your branding or something along those lines, the smartphone app market is most definitely huge.

• * Social media. Ads and pop-ups are all well and good, but after seeing them for so long just about anyone can grow numb to them. After all, the internet now has been mainstream for almost two decades and people certainly do not use it sparingly. If a business wants to captivate their audiences and reach out to them personally, then having a business social media account could be the best thing to invest some time into. Whether a company decides to stick to one platform like Twitter, or make accounts on several, that is up to the person in charge of the project, but keep in mind that this is not advertisement of the passive kind, if anything it is quite the opposite. In order to actually garner some sort of following which then can be used to actually relay info to through tweets or status updates, an account must first be somewhat appealing. Don’t keep the account strictly business related, it is important to go out of the usual corporate zone and post about some more lighthearted things which people would enjoy seeing and be able to relate to. Companies like SEGA, Subway, Arby’s and many others have fully embraced the more lighthearted approach to their social media, and they happen to be doing better than ever.