Brand exposure is important and by getting a professional logo and then sharing it in the right places you can work at improving your brand recognition. By improving your brand recognition you can improve your sales. This is really the only way that your small startup can turn into a bigger, more successful business for the future.

Here are some of the top places you can use your logo as a small business to improve your brand awareness:

Social Media:

If you don’t have a social media profile, you should think of creating one now. The most successful online businesses have their own online profiles today. That’s because they can market products and services out to their target market cheaply and effectively. Using your logo in marketing materials and for your profile picture on social media is important. Once you have a logo finalized you should consider using it for your profile picture on Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter, and more.

Promo Items/digital advertising:

If you are building a banner ad or a print advertising spot, this is the perfect place to put your logo. If you put out a flyer or produce any kind of advertising online, you need to strongly consider including your logo somewhere on the same material. Without including your logo on print advertising or online advertising slots, you could be missing out on a prime chance for exposure. Including your ad in the bottom corner or as a main part of the advertisement if you are a new company, is a great idea.

Packaging:

Your logo is a must on your packaging. If you are selling a product that will be in retail locations or even a product that will be sold/shipped from an online store, you need to include your logo in the packaging. Logos on packaging are a fantastic way to improve your brand recognition. That’s because even if someone happens to see the box your product was shipped in located in someone’s recycling bin, this can show your product is being used in their local market. Packaging gets people excited to try your product. With a logo that shows your business culture, you could potentially influence a purchase.

Emails:

If your company uses email marketing or sends out any kind of email newsletter, you need to include your logo into the template for your emails right away. Showcasing your brand in any email message is a fantastic way to increase brand awareness. It can also help to improve the way that people feel about your brand. A customer or potential customer can see your logo whenever they get new news about your company. You can also influence their opinion of your logo or branding by showcasing different deals or offers with your logo distinctly displayed.

Webpage:

A logo must have a place on your company webpage. Including your logo on company webpages is essential for your logo to reach an international audience. You can go a step further as well and index your page with Google business. This will ensure that your logo comes up every time someone searches for basic info on the search engine about your company, but doesn’t visit the main page. A logo can be a big part of a webpage. Any small business needs to take advantage of displaying one on their home page/ throughout their pages. Even blog pages and businesses that are entirely based on the web know the value of branding. They also have strong logos distinctly displayed across their posts and main page content. Following this kind of visibility can only bring you success in brand awareness.

Business cards:

A logo displayed on a business card is a very professional move that is great for expanding your industry contacts. Many of the world’s top executives carry business cards that showcase the professional logo design of their company. Any small business needs to showcase their logo on business cards. Imagine being able to improve your brand awareness by showcasing your business cards at trade shows. People would be passing by and anyone could pick up your business card! By displaying your logo on your business card it becomes more than just a tool for contact information. It becomes a promotional tool as well. With a unique business card design as well as a trendy logo, you can really make an impact as a small business.

Keep these top areas in mind when you are thinking of where to put your logo. If you are in the early stages of your business and you need to increase brand awareness, don’t forget to take advantage of all of these spaces and more!

Check out this article on who needs a logo!

The post Small Business Guide: Where to Use Your Logo appeared first on LogoMaven | Easy Logo Design Software & Logo Maker.

Big brands and companies have flexible and varied ways of using promotional products to increase their brand awareness, besides attracting new customers and clients. With this versatility, marketers have more choices to move the products of the company, but unfortunately, they are also prone to a number of mistakes along the way which might make the method less effective. If you intend to use promotional products for marketing or advertising your business, here are some of the most common mistakes you need to have in mind so that you can get the best out of using such products for marketing:

Lack of objectivity

Most brands splash out promotional products without defining the specific objectives they intend to achieve with the drive. It is not clear to them whether they want to increase the traffic to their website, increase brand awareness, give emphasis to a particular product, increase email sign-ups, etc. Each of these various objectives may need a different promotional product for more effectiveness.

When you define clearly what you attend to achieve with your promotional products, you will know the best distribution channels to use so that you increase your effectiveness in reaching the target audience without wasting products on those who don’t even care about what you give to them. Always have in mind that however great your promotional products are, lack of a clear goal, or a desired outcome will spell doom for the promotion from the word go.

No clear distribution plan

It is saddening to note that there are a good number of companies who go ahead and buy promotional products without knowing what to do with them. Imagine a situation where you have received five hundred promotional key chains, yet you don’t have a single idea on how to get them out to your target audience. It is imperative that you have a clear distribution plan before you get the promotional products.

Such a plan should be guided by your desired result. For instance, if you intend to increase the number of your repeat clients, then you may decide to include the promotional product for every purchase of the product. If you need to attract new clients, on the other hand, you can give out the promotional product as a gift during the trade shows that you attend.

Remember, giving away your promotional products to anybody that comes on sight is never a good idea since there is no targeting if you do that way. If you have to go down this route, however, you can increase the chances of getting the right clients by first asking them to sign up for your mailing list or complete a customer survey on one of your products before they get the item for free.

Products not tailored for your target audience

One common mistake that most brands and business are fond of making is giving out promotional products that they like and which may not be necessarily what their target audience need or like. Effective results are achieved with promotional products if they are items that will add value or solve one of the needs of your target clients.

Remember, they never asked for the products neither were they desperate for them. Hence, you should not insult their intelligence and loyalty to your brand by throwing just anything their way. They might take it negatively, and you may end up driving them away instead of bringing them closer to you.

Using generic designs on the products

Most companies giving away promotional products will have nothing on them but the business logos. This is quite generic and might not yield great results if a lot of branding considerations were taken in the design of the products. Remember, promotional products are also meant to increase brand awareness and make your brand known to certain people who might have never heard about you. Therefore, playing it safe with the branding is missing out on a big opportunity to improve the penetration of your brand.

Distributing the products on the last minute

Many companies are very comfortable with handling rush orders and will have no problem in dealing with the customer issues and ensuring that all of them are satisfied. However, dealing with promotional materials at the very last minute can prove to be elusive. If you wait for long, you are likely to have less time to facilitate effective distribution plan.

If for instances you needed the promotional products for an event, you need to allow enough lead time so that you get all the products in good time and before the actual date of the event. This will also allow you ample time to inspect and request for adjustments should there be any particular concerns with the materials you received.

Be very keen when using promotional products to advertise and market your business or brand. Avoid these mistakes for increased chances of having great results with the drive.

Learn about the purpose of a logo here!

The post Top Mistakes Brands Make with Promotional Products appeared first on LogoMaven | Easy Logo Design Software & Logo Maker.