Refresh your brand and use print to the fullest in 2023
As we head into 2023, many companies and businesses are thinking about ways to refresh their brand and market themselves to a post-pandemic audience.
We know that more people are online for more hours than ever and that home is the new office. Yet on the flip side, consumers are weary—even suspicious—of online marketing, and younger consumers are enjoying hitting the post box each day.
In 2022, trade shows came back into full swing along with personal, engaging, and highly touchable messaging.
Try these tips to refresh your brand for the coming year and how to use print collateral strategically to reinforce your message and bump your visibility.
Now is the time to go big.
Signs, banners, and posters all help you stand out in a crowd—and now that there are crowds, it’s essential to get your message across in a big way. For events like seasonal sales, annual fundraisers, and awards banquets, you’ll need specific messaging that draws people in, explains what to do, and tells your story at a glance.
At trade shows, plan to don banners, signage, and drapings with a more evergreen message you can use all year long. Be sure to coordinate all the images and colors across your brand collateral to make a consistent and powerful impact.
Wear it out.
Your customers are out and about. Be sure they have branded apparel to share your message where you aren’t. When someone sports your logo, they are saying, "I believe in this brand.” These brand ambassadors make others believe in it too. Stock your events with giveaways like hats, shirts, jackets, bags, and travel mugs. We can work with you to ensure your colors are true and your logo is on point, showing up everywhere.
Stick it to them.
Stickers are the king of cool when it comes to communication. High-quality, professionally printed, heavy-duty stickers can live for years on water bottles, vehicles, bike helmets, travel mugs, and other belongings. Give away these darling decorations at events, trade shows, and storefronts, or start your own Sticker Drop Day (a la Dutch Bros, adhesive extraordinaire) to create a buzz. Combine your refreshed brand with a meaningful message, and watch it live in perpetuity.
Send it their way.
Now is not the time to stay under the radar. Come on strong with printed mail. Send invitations to events, trade shows, and fundraisers—even the random personalized invite to swing by your business or shop for a cup of coffee can warm a customer’s heart. Personalized thank-you notes and unusual holiday cards (Happy Pi Day, anyone?) go a long way toward establishing a loyal following. Use full-color envelopes—the verdict is in: they increase opens by a whopping 21%.
If you are putting effort into refreshing your brand or logo, reveal it in a series of direct mail pieces. Include new headshots, staff candids, and product photography. Keep the anticipation high and reward your readers for engaging by adding a couple of those cool stickers you printed. Entice people to see what else is new with a mini-catalog or magalog (catalog + magazine) delivered directly to their door.
Be bold.
Make it a stand-out year with a bold approach to marketing and visibility. Integrate your story by bringing it across all channels and reinforce your print efforts with digital messaging and data collection. If you focus on consistent brand awareness using a clean, fresh brand, you’ll start strong and end even stronger.
Make print and mail happen at EMCO. We specialize in powerful print products and customized direct mail that hits the target every time. Contact us today!