Merchandizing and Brand Loyalty with Custom Products

Whether you’re a small start-up or a long-running business, attracting brand loyalty is a priority when it comes to marketing. And using promotional products as a method of doing so is extremely effective. Besides, who doesn’t love a free gift? Merchandizing can be a great way to establish those deeper, long-lasting connections with your customer support base, attracting shoppers back time and again.

Why is it creating brand loyalty important?

1. Increases brand recall

With all the noise in the marketing space, whether that be emails or TV and radio adverts, its crucial to ensure your brand is heard. According to research conducted by the Promotional Products Association International (PPAI), around 76% of people who receive merchandize remember the product and the brand they received it from. Given the individuality that branding can give to a product, it’s really no surprise that merchandising has such a strong effect on memorability.

2. Increases conversion rates

By increasing brand recall, you can in turn increase what the marketing world calls ‘conversion rates.’ This is essentially the percentage of people that have completed a desire action (most often, this refers to making a purchase through your website).

Conversion rates can be calculated using the following equation:

(Number of visitors that converted/number of people who visited your website, or in this case, the number of those who received a promotional item) x 100

To again take the research conducted by the PPAI, 52% of survey respondents made a purchase from a company after they provided them with a promotional product, boosting conversion rates.

3. Promotes word of mouth

Brand loyalty is often accompanied by a willingness to recommend the products or services received – something which we know as word of mouth. This is a highly effective method of advertising, through which you can increase brand awareness to generate sales. Statistics really do speak for themselves here. Research suggests that over 90% of consumers are more likely to trust word of mouth recommendations over any other form of advertising.

How can you use promotional products to increase brand loyalty?

1. Choose useful items

As explained, utilizing promotional products is a great way to increase brand loyalty. The products that people receive (whether that be at an event, conference, or through the mail) have the ability to evoke a response, feeling or emotion from that recipient. However, not all merchandise prompts a response. The products which are most effective at doing so are those which are useful. In other words, which products can be used on an everyday basis to make life easier? Products like mugs, pens and notepads are particularly great to use as part of your merchandising strategy. Not only will customers value you prioritizing their needs in this way, but you will also gain greater brand exposure given the everyday use of the product, which increases brand recall and sales as a result.

Aside from generically effective products, it can also be a good idea to think about your target audience. For example, if you’re appealing to sports lovers, perhaps custom water bottles would be a smarter choice than a mug, because it has greater utility to the recipient. Likewise, if you’re an eco-friendly business, you could opt for products which are made from recycled materials, such as recycled notepads or plastic water bottles.

2. Leverage data to inform your strategy

In a recent blog, we outlined how you can leverage data to determine your marketing strategy. Leveraging data can be used to assess how your current strategy is performing and how it can be adjusted to be more effective, generate maximum Return on Investment (ROI) and help you to increase brand loyalty. You can do this in a number of ways:

• Monitor email engagement by tracking open rates.
• Track social media engagement by studying measurable indicators such as likes and comments.
• Gauge brand recall by conducting surveys and interviews, e.g., why products have left a lasting impression and why?
• Calculate Net Promoter Score (NPS) to assess how likely a customer is to promote your brand in the future.

As a strategy, merchandising can be invaluable for your business. When used effectively, you can be sure to notice a difference in brand recall and sales as a result. If you haven’t already, it’s also important to think about using data to determine your merchandising plan in advance – really know your audience, what you think they would like, and take note of existing customer feedback. Here at EverythingBranded, we have everything you could ever need to get you started – browse our stock today. From t-shirts and water bottles, to mugs and pens, we’ve got you covered.