Category Archives: Marketing

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9 Signs that You Should Rebrand Your Business in 2022

If you’re reading this, it’s probably because you’re considering rebranding your business in 2022. And that’s a great idea! A rebrand can help refresh your image, attract new customers and boost profits.
Maybe you’re bored with the look of your marketing materials and business stationery, or you feel you aren’t connecting with your target market like you used to. Perhaps there’s a new company in the industry that is giving you a run for your money, and you feel that rebranding will help you compete.
But a rebrand is a huge undertaking that involves a lot of time, money and effort. How do you know when it’s the right time, or even the right decision? In this guide, we’ll discuss 9 clear signs that indicate it’s time for a rebrand, and share some helpful tips.

1) You’re Not Happy with Your Identity

One of the most obvious signs that it’s time for a rebrand is if you’re not happy with your current brand identity. As a business owner, it’s often good to follow your gut feelings, and this is an excellent example! If you’re not happy with your branding, it’s likely that your customers won’t be either.

A rebrand can help you create a new identity that accurately represents your business and its values. So if you’re feeling uninspired by your current logo, colour scheme, product packaging or tagline, it might be time for a change.
Tip: If you’re not sure where to start, try conducting a brand audit. This will help you take a closer look at your current branding and assess what’s working well and what needs to be improved.

2) Your Logo Is Outdated

Another sign that it’s time for a rebrand is if your logo feels outdated.
This might be the result of changing trends or evolving technologies, or just a matter of trends changing. But whatever the reason, an outdated logo can make your business look dated too.
A rebrand can help you create a fresh, modern logo that accurately represents your business in the present day. So if you’re looking to update your image, this is definitely the way to do it!
Tip: When redesigning your logo, try to focus on simplicity and versatility. A complex logo might look great on your website, but it might not work so well on a business card or letterhead.

3) Your Branding Is Inconsistent

If your branding is inconsistent, it’s likely that customers are getting confused about who you are, what you do and what you stand for. This can be a major problem, especially if you’re operating in a competitive market.
A rebrand can help to unify your branding and make it more consistent across all mediums. By creating a strong visual identity, you can make sure that customers always know who you are, no matter where they see your branding.
Tip: When rebranding, it’s important to create a brand guidelines document. This will help to ensure that your new branding is consistently applied across all touchpoints, from your website to your business cards.

4) You Don’t Stand Out

A business whose branding doesn’t help them stand out from the crowd is never going to succeed and thrive the way you’d like it to.
Perhaps when you first started your company, you didn’t have a lot of experience and weren’t sure how to design a memorable name, logo and tagline that would stick in your customers’ minds. Or maybe when you first started out, you were operating in an untapped market, and now you have a lot of competition.
Whatever the reason, a complete rebrand – especially with the help of hired professionals – will make your business feel fresh and new, and will help set you apart from your competitors.

5) The Industry is Moving On

If you’re part of a particularly new or fast-paced industry, your business has to be constantly evolving to keep up with these changes. If it isn’t, you’ll quickly find yourself left behind.

This might manifest itself in a number of ways, such as:
1) Outdated website design
2) Irrelevant marketing materials
3) Products that are no longer in demand

All of this feeds back into your branding, because you want your branding to represent precisely what it is that customers/clients can expect from you.
A rebrand can help to signal that your business is keeping up with the times, and is willing to adapt to changes in order to stay ahead. It can also help you attract new customers who are looking for something fresh and innovative.

6) Your Target Market Has Changed

If your target market has changed, it’s likely that your current branding is no longer relevant.
Maybe you’ve pivoted towards eco-friendly products; well, changing your logo and marketing materials to incorporate the colour green is an obvious potential change. Or, you might have started selling to businesses instead of consumers; in this case, a more corporate branding style would be more appropriate.
A rebrand can help you reach your new target market by creating branding that appeals to them. So if you’ve changed your business focus, it’s time to update your branding too!

7) Your Business is Evolving

If your business is in the process of growing or expanding into new areas, or your vision or ethos is changing from what it used to be, this may also be a good time for a rebrand.
This might be because of changing demographics, evolving technologies or even an adjustment in your personal beliefs. It might just be that you think your business needs to move in a different direction, in order to take advantage of changing public opinion or interests.
A rebrand that reflects your new business model and ethos can help you future-proof your business and ensure that you’re ready for these changes.

8) You’re Not Reaching Your Audience

Sluggish sales figures? Hardly any visits to your websites? Or do you never hear the bell ring to tell you a customer just walked in? If any of this sounds familiar, it might be because you’re not reaching your audience.
One of the main purposes of branding is to create a connection between your business and your target market. But if that connection isn’t there, then you’re missing out on a lot of potential customers.
Rebranding can help in two ways. One is if there are any negative connotations people have with your business; maybe you recently bought it, and it still has a bad reputation in the trade, for example. The other way rebranding can help is by giving the impression of freshness and newness, which can draw in customers that would otherwise ignore you.

9) You Can’t Keep Up with Competitors

The competition is always changing, and if you’re not keeping up, you’ll quickly fall behind.
One of the best ways to stay ahead of the curve is by constantly re-evaluating your branding. If you see that your competitors have updated their branding in a way that’s more in line with what customers are looking for, then it might be time to do the same.
Of course, this is a fine balancing act. After all, you’re constantly working to build brand recognition and make a name for your business in the industry. Rebranding after all that effort may not be the right idea. But nobody said running a business was easy!

Contact 123Print Today!

If you’re considering rebranding your business, it’s important to update your physical marketing materials – such as business cards, flyers and letterheads. So, once you’ve settled on a new direction to go in, get in touch with 123Print.
123Print provides high-quality printing that is both affordable and totally customisable, so that you can rebrand without the effort and at a fraction of the cost. You’ll find thousands of templates on our site to suit a wide variety of industries and niches – every one of them ready to be customised and made to specification.
We offer professional printing, speedy shipping and a 100% money back guarantee – so you can rely on 123Print to kick-start your 2022 rebranding adventure!

8 Small Business Advertising Tips for Drawing in New Customers

There’s no doubt that starting a business is a lot harder today than it has been in the past. With a more competitive market and even more discerning consumers, it’s no surprise that a lot of businesses are struggling to draw in new customers, keep loyal ones and drive business growth.

But while there’s no magic recipe to success in business, there are certain smart advertising strategies that will help make your business more attractive to potential customers.

As you probably know, one of the keys to succeeding in the digital age is to take advantage of social media and all it has to offer. But don’t make the mistake of thinking that you can abandon all offline advertising strategies, as they can be invaluable as well.
This guide will talk you through eight small business advertising and marketing tips that will attract new potential customers, and encourage them to choose your company over a competitor.

1. Start with a Firm Game Plan

Like everything else in business, you need to start your marketing efforts with a good game plan. Who do you want to target for your campaigns? What do you want to achieve?
You’ll need to know and understand the demographics of your target market, as well as being extremely familiar with any competition you may have in that area. These factors can greatly influence the kinds of marketing and advertising that will work best for your company.

For example, if your target market is young people, you should focus your efforts on social media campaigns and online ad spaces. But if your business appeals to the older generations, this would be a waste of time and money – you’d be far better off going a more offline route.
Next, you’ll need to have a firm advertising and marketing fund. By being specific about your objectives, it will be easier for you to choose strategies that work for your business and within your budget.

2. Don’t be Afraid to Go Old School

Don’t make the mistake of focusing your entire marketing budget on online advertising. “Old school” techniques still reap a lot of benefits to smaller businesses, especially since most consumers are already overwhelmed with the amount of digital marketing that’s sent their way. It’s much easier to scroll past a Facebook ad than to ignore a flyer that’s put through your door.

As a small business, you may not have the budget to put into bigger advertising strategies yet, and that’s okay. Offline techniques can still go a long way – such as:

1) Advertising in newspapers and magazines
2) Word-of-mouth marketing
3) Handing out printed marketing materials, such as flyers and postcards (particularly if they contain discount codes and other special offers, designed to entice people in)
4) Letterbox marketing
5) Giving away freebies, e.g. personalised promotional products

Products printed with your company’s logo and branding, such as personalised mugs, pens, t-shirts and bags are particularly effective.
Market research has demonstrated that people are more likely to think positively about, and support, brands whose merchandise they own. They also have the potential to spread brand awareness far and wide, which is absolutely vital for new businesses looking to get their name out there.

3. Combine Both Online and Offline Techniques

Of course, offline marketing techniques – as useful as they are – can only take you so far in the digital era. No matter what kind of company you are, if you’re just starting out and you want to gain traction as a new brand, you will need to embrace more modern digital marketing methods.

Even when it comes to businesses targeting a more mature market, don’t forget that the older generations are becoming more and more tech-savvy – and their children and grandchildren are online every day.

If you want to maximise the result of your campaigns, you should combine both online and offline marketing techniques that can work together to help you achieve your goal.
For example, a great offline marketing technique is handing out business cards containing all of your company’s branding. Having a pocket-sized, physical reminder of your company will work wonders for keeping you fresh in your customers’ minds. But to bring your cards into the 21st century, you might include a discount code for online purchases, or a QR code that takes people directly to your web store.

4. Capitalise on the Power of Social Media

No one can deny the power that social media has on consumers these days. With people spending on average of two hours daily on social network platforms like Facebook and Twitter – and this figure being even higher for younger generations – being on the forefront means that you’re getting better exposure that could lead people to check out your business. For example:

1) Take advantage of Facebook’s targeted advertisements. You can pay to promote posts through Facebook, and tell the site who to show your ads to – for example, people living in a certain area, or people of a certain gender or age.
2) If you’re targeting a younger market, having your product sponsored by Instagram influencers can have a very real impact on spreading brand awareness.
3) The same goes for popular YouTubers. YouTube content creators often feature “sponsors” throughout their videos, which can work wonders for drawing in new customers.

Being present on social media doesn’t mean focusing all your efforts on these platforms. You just have to determine which sites work best for your business, and learn all about the types of content and promotional materials that you can put on these platforms in order to encourage new customers to see what you have to offer.

5. Invest in Ad Space

Although you can gain exposure organically through your content and social media profiles, paid advertisements are still essential in helping you gain more exposure and hopefully motivate new customers to see what you have in store for them.
You can go with Google ads or social media ads depending on your budget and your goals for your campaign. Buying ad space on websites is a great all-rounder, as pretty much everyone of every age uses the Internet to browse sites that interest them, even if they aren’t on social media.

Advertising is definitely a trial-and-error activity, so you’ll have to do a bit of experimentation first. Try out several different types of adverts and keep track of how many clicks you get. Once you know what works for your business, make sure to double down on those methods so you can gain the most benefits and enjoy positive results for a longer time.

6. Offer Value to New Customers

Here’s the truth: customers now are a lot smarter than they were 10 years ago. They don’t just look at advertisements to buy a product. They’re always looking for value in these campaigns.

Consumers want to find answers to their problems, solutions to their challenges and recommendations that will help them improve their quality of life in one way or another.
This means that you can’t just advertise for the sake of getting a sale. In fact, your revenue should be the last of your priorities when creating a marketing campaign. You want to build that trust with your customers first by making sure that you offer value to them – value that makes you stand out from your competitors.

One of the best ways to do that is through good content. Once you have a good understanding of the common pain points of your customers, you can create articles that offer solutions to those problems with the help of your products, of course.
Once you establish yourself as an authority in your niche, it will be easier to convince people to buy your products.

7. Bank on Imagery

According to scientific studies, the human brain can process images 60 times faster than words. So, it’s very important to make sure that images are part of your advertising efforts. It’s relatively easy to scroll past a large block of text without reading it, but it’s far harder to scroll past an image without at least glancing at it. That split-second glance will still make an impression in potential customer’s minds.
These days, consumers love to devour visual content like tutorials and how-to videos on YouTube, flat lay and artistic images, and even simple reels on Instagram or Facebook stories.

When you have good images, it’s easier to tell your story to people, stir the right emotions and motivate them to check out your business. Do some research into the effects of colour on the brain, for example, to use certain hues to influence what people will think about your company.

8. Respect your Loyal Customers

While the goal here is to draw new customers to your business, you should not forget the importance of retaining loyal customers.
Make sure that you implement strategies that also focus on existing consumers. For instance, you should take advantage of loyalty cards to encourage patrons to keep coming back to your business time and time again, rather than shopping around for competitors.
Don’t forget that loyal customers play an important role in attracting new customers through testimonials and reviews. These people already understand your brand and what you have to offer, and their opinions are highly valued by other consumers.

If they have a good experience with your brand, they can easily refer you to family and friends. Remember that word-of-mouth is still one of the most effective marketing strategies today, so capitalise on that.

Order Your Marketing Materials Today through 123Print

You can’t master effective marketing overnight. It’s a long process that involves a lot of trial and error, and you’ll need to make a huge investment to make things work.
But once you see the results of your efforts, and customers start pouring in, you’ll know that everything you did was worth your while. So, start by embracing these advertising tips into your system.

If you’re looking for marketing materials such as flyers, business cards and loyalty cards, 123Print is the place to go. With years of experience in the professional printing industry, we’re proud to produce some of the most affordable and highest-quality advertising materials around. All of our products can be customised online from the comfort of your own home (or office).

We also stock a range of promotional products including personalised mugs, postcards and vinyl magnets that are perfect for giving out as freebies to spread brand awareness. Why not have a browse through our range today?

Why Do You Need Personalised Office Equipment?

Have you been wondering how to make your office a little more homey and friendly feeling, help your business appear more professional to your employees and clients, or tie in your office supplies with your brand for a more cohesive aesthetic? Personalised office equipment could be exactly what you need!

Personalised office equipment could be anything from a custom-printed mug for the breakroom bearing your company’s logo, to a personalised notepad with your branding and contact details printed at the top.

There are so many benefits to investing in personalised office supplies and business stationery – and, contrary to popular belief, it doesn’t have to be expensive! In terms of budget, there are many low-cost sources of office supplies and equipment, so why pay the extra?

In this article, we will discuss the benefits of personalised office equipment to your business and where you can order yours today.

Can Personalised Office Equipment Improve Your Business Branding?

Read any book on business marketing or search online and brand marketing comes out on top of the list of marketing essentials. Establishing and building a brand is one of the fundamental ways of promoting and growing a business.

Develop your own corporate brand image and try to emulate the success of major corporations, whose brand images are closely associated with their products and services.
With brand marketing, the company should use their chosen brand image in every aspect of the business, and that includes areas such as office equipment.

The consistent use of the brand’s image:
1) Immediately makes your brand familiar to customers and the public. For instance, McDonald’s golden arches logo stands out on the high street and is instantly recognisable, without even seeing the company name.
2) Reinforces your brand among your own employees. As a business owner, you encourage your employees to be brand ambassadors and using branded office products internally is great for achieving this.

If your employees associate themselves with the brand, they will believe in and promote the company’s brand image to customers. It is a very important aspect of business marketing – which is why you need personalised equipment in the office.

Some companies, perhaps focusing on their customers only, forget that their own employees are part of the brand too. It makes an enormous difference to business promotion and company morale when employees see themselves as part of the brand.
How can a company be true to its own brand image if they don’t promote that image both internally and externally?

What Kinds of Office Equipment Can Be Personalised?

The list covers many items that a company uses on a day-to-day basis, including pens, notepads, personalised mugs and letter openers.
Cheap, non-branded versions of all these products are indeed available from any office stationery supplier. Some business owners, despite brand promotion being a prime marketing goal, automatically choose the cheaper option rather than using personalised products in their own office.

But for long-term marketing, this is a false economy. Even if you don’t see an immediate benefit, don’t underestimate the long-term effect of personalised office equipment.

Where Can I Use Personalised Office Supplies?

Aside from being useful for internal brand promotion within the office, most of the above products work very well as customer promotional gifts and can be distributed:

1) During trade shows and sales conferences
2) As part of promotional events, such as “spend £20 and get a free mug” when ordering online
3) In your customer-facing business premises, if you have one

As an example, if your business is in the hospitality sector, such as a hotel, branded personalised office equipment such as stationery and pens are great to leave around the hotel for guest use. For instance, most hotels provide pens and stationery in their rooms.
Personalise the pens and notebooks to match the hotel’s name and style. Guests will take the pens from the hotel rooms and use in their everyday life. From a quality point of view, make sure that the pens work well as it is a poor recommendation for the brand if they run out of ink, or break, after a short period.
Look around your home or working environment to see how many promotional items from other brands you own – it may surprise you!

How to Personalise Office Equipment

So, when it comes to ordering personalised business stationery, office equipment and promotional products with your branding, what kind of products are out there – and how might you use them? Here are some examples.

Personalised Mugs

Mugs are probably the most versatile item, as they are highly visible and used every day. You may choose full-colour designs that cover one side or a design wrapped around the entire mug.

Choose a design that matches the company’s brand image, is nice to look at and reflects its products and services. If its intended use is as a promotional gift, make sure that the design includes contact information, and use a good quality mug. As with other items in this category, cups offer long-term brand exposure.
A well-designed personalised mug looks great on social media. Perhaps offer them as prizes during social media campaigns.

Design personalised mugs for your employees complete with their names, or perhaps have a designer draw a caricature of each person and give them out as Christmas presents. This would be a fun way to engage with your employees!

Notepads

Personalised notepads are great all-rounders. They can be used:
1) In the office
2) In the shop, hotel, or other business premises (to be used by staff and guests alike)
3) As promotional gifts for customers
4) As gifts for your employees to take home

One particular advantage of promotional notepads is their size, which allows for extensive creative design and personalisation. Being a paper-based product, they are easy to print on and are less expensive than some other items.
If your business is in the legal sector, design custom branded yellow legal notepads for internal and promotional use. These can be used both internally and for customer engagement.

If aimed at important customers, combine the notepad with a high-quality pen in an attractive leather-style folder. Alongside mugs, pens and notepads are some of the most popular promotional items, because they also offer long-term brand exposure. In marketing budget terms, that’s great value for money.

Pens

There is not a lot of space on a standard pen, so when adding text, include essential information only. If branding is important, custom manufacture the pens using brand matching colours and use a unique shape or design.
The custom manufactured pen option is more expensive and perhaps more appropriate if used for important customer promotions.

As mentioned above, pens are great promotional items for hotels, whose guests may continue to use them after leaving the hotel. If the company hosts a sales conference, give away branded pens and notepads for note-taking. The recipient will hopefully carry on using the items after the event.

For the ultimate high-tech promotional gift, use pens with built-in USB storage and a laser pointer. Before a sales conference or customer meeting, load up the pen with company sales brochures before distribution. These items are also highly popular with employees. Before giving them to the customer, make your sales pitch presentation using the laser pointer. It is a novelty gift, but a highly useful one.

Letter Openers

There are several types of promotional letter openers available, including plastic and sliver knife styles. However, think carefully before giving away a knife-style opener.
Aside from the danger aspect, something that resembles a blade may get blocked by airline security, which would cause issues for a customer flying back to their home city. Unless you have a pressing reason to choose the former, the plastic-style opener is likely the safer option and features several unique benefits.

Because of the plastic material, they come in multiple colours and shapes and are convenient for adding promotional printing, compared to the silver knife style, which is only suitable for engraving.

Rubber Stamps

Unless there is some novelty value in them, rubber stamps are not as useful as promotional gifts. However, they are very versatile when used by a business, in an office or retail environment.

For instance, a coffee shop implementing a loyalty card scheme may use a coffee bean shaped logo stamp, for stamping their loyalty cards, each time a customer buys a cup of coffee. Typically, stamps with a company logo and address are the most popular for office use.

But stamps are versatile and may use any shape or design that fits! Often, these are used in the office to mark received documents or invoices—‘Received’ and ‘Paid’—being typical examples.

Where Can I Buy Personalised Office Equipment?

Personalised office equipment is a great way to liven up your desk at work, and spread your brand awareness among your employees, clients, customers, and the general public.
At 123Print, we provide a wide range of affordable personalised office equipment for you to choose from. You can make your own personalised mug or notebook featuring your business logo and tagline with our easy-to-use design editor. Our printing technology is the best available on the market, so you’ll end up with an extremely high-quality product that you can be proud to associate with your brand.

Start with a blank design, or choose from a range of templates that have already been created for you. We can also print flyers, postcards, business cards and even custom printed envelopes for your business at extremely affordable prices.

When your order is complete, our shipping process ensures that we’ll dispatch your order within two working days! We also offer a 100% customer satisfaction guarantee, so you have absolutely nothing to lose by giving us a try – and we’ll replace or refund your order if you’re ever unsatisfied with the results.

What are you waiting for? Visit our website now to get started and transform your business into a true force to be reckoned with!