By Cool Air Creations, Inc. Experts
Spring offers businesses a great opportunity to refresh and improve their brands. That’s because a seasonal marketing and promotions cleaning and replacement or improvement campaign is a proven way to boost your community image — and potentially, revenue.
For some of us in New England, we really feel the new year has started at last. The mountains of dirty, steaming snow are now puddles and the bitter cold is gone. We appreciate the longer days, sunshine, budding trees and flowers, outdoor sports, and more. This applies especially after a long, harsh winter that saw Mother Nature leave us up to our eyeballs in snow. And we’re not just excited spring is here — but summer is now just around the corner, too.
For regional companies of all sorts, one effective way to strategically celebrate the season of renewal is with personalized branding and promotional solutions. These run from custom apparel to vehicle wraps and on to mugs and more. And these products are now available.
In our competitive world, businesses of all types — but especially those that operate in spring and summer alone — can make the most of the new season with timely branding and promotional solutions. Those types of operations include:
- Restaurants and bars
- Sports teams
- Construction companies
- Landscaping firms
- Hotels and motels
Spring Branding and Promotions
And as marketing and advertising professionals, we are excited for all the spring-to-summer opportunities to support our customers. They have a great chance to refresh their look and boost cash flow. That spring is a strong buying time is a seasonal constant; and given we’ve had the harshest winter in years, we expect New England consumers will be even more eager to buy.During the next six months, it’s likely consumers really open their purse strings. A powerful spring momentum will also likely carry many businesses' operations healthily into the summer. So the faster and more efficiently managers and owners execute now may be key to success for the second and third quarters overall.
So, what are some of the ways New England seasonal businesses can reflect the excitement and sense of renewal for the season? Naturally, they will want to:
- Refresh the website with new/revised pages
- Boost SEO strategy to pull in more visitors
- Launch email campaigns
- Promote awareness via Facebook, Instagram, and other related social media channels
Those are all solid choices for New England businesses. But to get the most of marketing efforts from now until September, strategists should also consider the fantastic branding and promotional solutions available. These, properly deployed and integrated with web platforms and campaigns, offer great value and a potential strong return on investment (ROI).
While we all need web platforms, physical brand products are also crucial. The statistics support this approach: industry research indicates that promotional gear is not just popular with the public. It’s also a great long-term source of customer engagement. Many consumers who receive mugs, clothes and other items keep them for a year or more — and the longer these items are in circulation, the more they deliver branding value.
Other research indicates that, of those consumer who received promotional product, on average: 90 percent correctly recalled the item's branding; and 80 percent remembered the product's messaging.
Spring Marketing Season Success
And there’s more great news: There are so many spring and summer promotional solutions available. You can pick exactly what you want, how you want it. Some of the better-known categories of these are:Vehicle graphics: It’s a great time to show off your professional auto or truck fleet — think of outfitting your vehicles with new signs and distinctive designs. The longer days mean people have more time to see how great these mobile corporate ambassadors look in the bright, clear sunshine.
Custom apparel: Companies can boost their profiles via branded clothing of many types, sizes, materials, and more. Managers can use branded clothing when outfitting a corporate team, launching a special marketing campaign, or transforming a routine event into a highly memorable one. In the Northeast, according to industry research, the most popular apparel types include hooded rain jackets, Bombas socks, and cotton T-shirts.
Signage: Nicer weather means more and more people are out and about this spring. So, it’s a perfect time for bold, colorful, and striking exterior signs, banners, and more to mark the season. (And don’t forget to refresh the interior signage to complement the spiffy new exterior signs.)
Promotional products: This category offers amazing flexibility and potential — because there are literally millions of different types of product configurations available, from pens to drinkware and beyond. They are easily manufactured to meet any need for spring and summer. They can be paired with league baseball and other games, barbecues, beach parties, etc. Some of the most popular promotional items include branded golf bags, custom bags, and reusable water jugs.
Banners and banner stands: ‘Tis the season for compact signs — or massive attention-grabbing displays, and everything in the middle. They are ideal for creating a long-lasting impression for sporting, recreational, or corporate events. For instance, a Rhode Island restaurant or hotel can really grab mindshare by celebrating a grand opening (or reopening) with an eye-catching banner. Multiple banners can support multi-locations as well, enforcing brand discipline over distributed geographical locations.