In the December 2, 2012 edition of Growmap.com, marketer Jawad Latif shares his secrets on how people can reap rich rewards when they promote a business for pennies. Even when money is tight, says Latif, businesses can “adopt new and different” methods to promote their products without overspending their advertising budget. Here’s how:
A business who struggles to gain ground can’t waste money on high-dollar advertisements on radio, TV or on billboards. Rather, they make each customer and their property a walking billboard with low-cost promotional items such as stickers, labels, and promotional wear.
Of those low-cost solutions, stickers are the most economical. Not only can customers attach them to their property, such as the back of cell phones, laptops, and cars, but they can also find their way onto the street as customers spread the word about their favorite brand. Walk down any city street, and you’ll be guaranteed to see the most popular brands’ stickers plastered onto the side of bus stop shelters, utility poles, and other public places.
People can’t help but notice. The word spreads without even a dollar invested per sticker. Brand awareness grows with even a bare-bones budget.
Savvy businesses, Latif points out, include some contact information in addition to the company’s logo on their promotional stickers. Some even include a discount or free merchandise for customers who display their stickers on their cars or other property, as does Malley’s Chocolates, an iconic Cleveland, Ohio sweet shop. Think of how stickers can help a company promote on Valentine’s Day!
Non-profit organizations, too, can use stickers to build awareness about their services. Autism Speaks has created such a buzz about their cause that hardly anyone is unaware of the condition. With their trademark blue puzzle piece logo and stickers that cost only a few pennies, they have not only raised awareness, but have educated a generation of Americans about the condition.
Many businesses and non-profits alike have returned to the ever-popular bumper sticker to create buzz—even on a frugal budget. Just think of the return on investment a business will get when their message goes out all over town on the back of a car. Compared to the number of people who will see a single billboard in one location, the number of people who see rolling “billboards” all over town bearing the company’s message is staggering.
Not only do these low-cost marketing powerhouses get seen by more people than billboards, but they also make it easier for people to write down a business’s contact information. In traffic, a driver can follow another car that has a company’s web address printed on its bumper sticker until the driver has committed the website to memory and can pull over safely to record it on her or his cell phone or notebook.
With a few dollars in the budget, a company can realize a huge return on its investment with smart marketing practices, such as low-cost stickers and other printed material. It is possible to promote a business at low cost with high quality stickers that will get the message out for pennies on the dollar.
