Tag Archives: mugs

Promotional Mug

8 Inspirational Uses for Promotional Mugs that You Haven’t Thought Of

Promotional mugs are exactly what they sound like—ceramic mugs with customised images, logos, contact information, and quotes representing your business. They’re a great way to promote brand awareness with a personable touch.
Customisable mugs can also be used in a personal context. For example, you could upload a family photograph to a mug as a gift for a loved one, or simply to have something very personal to drink tea from!
The great thing about personalised mugs is that they’re tough, and designed to be used again and again. Unlike many other kinds of promotional material (such as flyers), they won’t be discarded after a single use. They’ll be cherished for years, if looked after correctly.
If you’re keen to discover how ordering personalised mugs could benefit your business, you’re in the right place. We’ve put together a list of 8 inspirational uses for promotional mugs that you might not have thought of.

1. Merchandise

Many businesses use promotional mugs within the office, but you might not have considered selling them as merchandise. If you’ve got a website where customers can purchase goods or services, why not let them add a company mug to their basket, too?
You could even offer the mug as a free or discounted add-on with orders over a certain amount. While it might sound counterintuitive to offer mugs for free (or for very little), you have to consider the benefits here. Your customers will have an incentive to order more from you than they otherwise would have, knowing that they’ll get a free gift out of it.
Another great benefit is that whoever buys your product will have a warm reminder of your brand in their kitchen. This will keep your business fresh in their minds, making them more likely to use you again. Sports Direct is an example of a company that already uses this amazing marketing strategy (with great success).

Promotional Mug

2. Welcome Gift Baskets

We all want to feel special. And there’s no better way to show someone that you think they’re special – whether it’s a customer, a repeat client, or an employee – than with a gift basket.
This idea for getting your promotional mugs out there might work particularly well with businesses with a membership or subscription service. Three month subscription? Here’s a gift basket containing a mug with the logo of the brand you love and support. What else? Maybe some coffee, hot chocolate, or a fancy kind of tea to enjoy in your new mug!
Even if your business doesn’t have such recurrent billing models, the gift basket never fails. After all, who has ever needed a reason to receive a gift? Maybe send it out with larger orders as a thank-you for your customers’ patronage.

3. Décor

This is more for our readers who own a physical store, or other place of business that allows customers to enter (such as a car wash or hairdressing salon). We’ve all seen mugs with the store logo printed beside registers, as placeholders on shelves, or available for customers to purchase.
Nowadays, more and more businesses are realising the importance of aesthetics. We see this applied to storefronts, logos, and décor throughout the shop. Many promotional mugs are used to advertise, and their success largely relies on the aesthetics of the design. Obviously, mugs are practical, but appearance matters too.
Make your personalised mugs look beautiful enough to be conspicuously displayed in your store or place of business, and your customers will notice. They might just ask for one to take home!

4. Host a Design Competition

You must have heard of big businesses that host competitions to allow customers to choose the latest products, or even name them. One of the most well-known examples of this is the crisp brand Walkers. Over the years, they’ve held several polls allowing their fans to choose new flavours of crisp to go on sale – whether taking suggestions from the public, or simply allowing them to vote on predetermined choices.
These kinds of competitions definitely get people talking about and sharing the company on social media. There’s no reason why you can’t do a similar thing, but with a company mug – allow your customers to submit their own design for it!
You could make it a children’s competition, or targeted more towards adult artists. Choose the winning entry yourself, or allow the public to vote – and have the final design printed on promotional mugs. Let your customers order them for personal use, and display them around the office proudly! (Just make sure you obtain copyright for the image before using it.)

5. Unconventional Uses

There are always people who don’t want more mugs in their homes. Here is where we circle back to the importance of a beautiful design and decoration.
Remember in tip #3 we discussed the idea of making your promotional mugs a decorative staple in your store? We can take it a step further by making unconventional uses out of them. For example, why not use your company mugs as succulent planters, or holders for dried flowers? For around the office, they can also be used as pen and pencil holders.
If you’re in the food industry, promotional mugs make great tip jars. You could also jump on the latest trend of “mug cakes” – take a promotional photograph of an employee eating a mug cake out of your company mug, and share it on social media! It’s all great fuel for brand awareness and recognition.

6. Parade Your Values

Sharing your company’s core values and beliefs, especially when it comes to social issues, is one of the best ways to gain loyalty. Today, there are so many opportunities to show what your business is about, other than making products and profits.
Do you value feminism? The Black Lives Matter movement? Perhaps you want your company to show its support for LGBTQ+ rights? You name it. Now put that on your branded mugs and let your customers know what you care about. You can even connect with one of the organisations behind one of the causes and make a fundraiser out of a mug sale.
Make a slogan for that cause side-by-side with your brand. Throw in that basket with hot cocoas and marshmallows in there, and that’s a promotional mug people are willing to buy.
It’s not just promoting your business, but a valuable cause for a better society. Now your business also has a conscience that connects with people.

7. Anniversary Mugs

Anniversaries make people excited and nostalgic. We celebrate anniversaries to remember special occasions marked by dates. Within a business, there are anniversaries around every corner.
So, why not add an anniversary series to your collection of promotional mugs? For example: employment anniversaries for your senior employees, customers’ birthdays, membership/subscription anniversaries, or even the anniversary of the day you opened your business. Give them away with a congratulatory email or a promotion, and your clients (and employees) will feel loved and appreciated.

8. Advertise a Promotion or Sale

Sales and special promotions are super important for almost any business – especially those that sell products directly to the public, whether that’s through the internet or a physical shop. The lowered prices draw in new customers, who then become repeat customers if they like what you offer – even when you put your prices back up.
Most businesses, when they want to advertise an upcoming or ongoing sale, will default to sending an email out to their mailing list, or advertising through social media. But emails end up in spam folders all too often, and when was the last time you really paid attention to a Facebook ad? Can you even remember the last ad you saw?
What if that advertisement, however, was on a free mug? I’ll bet you’d remember it then. Design a mug advertising your latest sale and hand them out for free – outside your place of business, for example, or on the street. Just check with your local council first!

Where Can I Order Personalised Mugs?

Everyone’s got a go-to mug that they’ll choose other any other for their hot beverage. There’s no reason your company mug can’t become your customers’, clients’ and employees’ favourite!
Order your personalised promotional mugs today through 123Print. Choose from dozens of single-image or wraparound templates – or create your own design from scratch. You can upload your own artwork and customise the text, font and colour to your liking.
Our easy editor is extremely simple to use, and you’ll be shown a preview of your mug so that you can ensure it’s perfect before ordering. With our 100% satisfaction guarantee, you can rest easy in the knowledge that you’ll love our products!

promotional mugs

Personalised Mugs: How Much They Cost and How to Use Them

When you think of ways to advertise your business to potential clients and customers, personalised mugs might not be at the very top of the list. But company mugs are surprisingly versatile, long-lasting and universally loved as a gift or as part of a welcome pack.

Mugs (and other such products bearing your business’s logo) form a type of advertising known as promotional products, promotional merchandise, or ‘advertising specialties’. They are incredibly effective at keeping customers loyal, and drawing in new clients.
So, what can you use them for, and why do they provide such good value for money from a business perspective? Let’s find out.

What Are Personalised Mugs For?

For a nice brew, obviously!
But in all seriousness, there are many reasons why your business could benefit from personalised mugs. It might sound silly, but something as cheap and cheerful as a mug can have a real effect on your business in lots of different ways…

1) For the Big Opening Day

A mug may seem like an odd choice for a promotional product. If you want to promote something, fliers make sense: you can post them through letterboxes or hand them out, and they’re cheap to design and print. So, what’s the idea with mugs?

The point is that mugs are built to last. A good, solid mug can last for years or even decades. And what’s even better is that they see actual use, because, well, they’re for drinking from. A flier or a business card might get straight to the point, but both end up in the recycling, whereas a mug can sit on somebody’s mug tree for years.

The kicker, of course, is that a mug is more expensive than a flier! That’s why they’re best used for special events, like your big opening day, or when you’re networking. An opening day has a special ‘buzz’ about it, and customers that are there for your opening night are probably going to be good customers down the line, too. You can build up a special relationship with these customers with mugs, coupons and other goodies.

2) For Promoting a Sale, Advertising a New Product, as a Prize…

Beyond just the opening day, there are lots of ways to use personalised mugs to build up a loyal customer base. The prime example is definitely Sports Direct. Sports Direct mugs are famous for being huge, a neat tie-in that gives customers the impression of value for money. They’ve been given away for free and included as automatic add-ins to online orders, and being so cheap, they’re good for customers who need to add just a little to their basket to qualify for free shipping or a discount.

This is a great example of how versatile personalised mugs are. You could give them away as prizes, sell them cheap through your online store, use them to advertise something specific, or sell them straight to the customer!

3) For Building Good Client Relationships

Personalised mugs are even better if you work with clients rather than customers. Building up good client relationships is crucial, both in terms of ensuring that current business goes smoothly, and snagging repeat business.

While they obviously aren’t the ‘be all and end all’ of generating a positive working relationship with a client, personalised mugs can help. Again, a mug is like a permanent advert, a reminder to the client of the work you did together and the service they received. You can give them out as part of a ‘welcome pack’ to every client—while the other things you give depend on the trade you’re in, a mug will always be welcome! And if just one of these mugs helps drum up repeat business from a client, they’ll pay for themselves.

4) For Around the Workplace

Personalised mugs aren’t just good for building relationships with customers or clients, though. You can also get some for the office.
On the one hand, everyone likes to have their own ‘work mug’. This might be their favourite that they brought from home. But as you’re probably intimately familiar with, somebody might use your mug or even break it.

Having business-branded mugs can work here for a couple of reasons. First, you can have stock ready for if/when somebody breaks their mug. That way they can have a cup of tea without having to use someone else’s mug, perpetuating the vicious cycle of mug theft. Or, you could go the heavy-handed route and say t

hat everybody should use a branded mug and leave their own crockery at home.
This can look good to any customers or clients who come to the office: everybody has a slick-looking branded mug. And if your employees choose to take their mugs home with them, they’ll also be showing off your company’s logo to the other members of their household – and anyone who comes round for a visit.

5) For Proud Business Owners

If you own your own business, you don’t need a reason to have a branded mug—you call the shots, and don’t have to answer to anyone! So, whether you want to show your pride in your business, create a consistent branding image in everything you do (and everything you drink), or you just really love your business’ logo, a personalised mug would make the perfect ‘self-gift’. You could also gift them to friends and family – it might even encourage them to try your products!

What’s a Good Price for a Personalised Mug?

Personalised mugs don’t have to be expensive. We offer high-quality white ceramic mugs with personalised printed designs from just £3.87! The price-per-mug depends on two main things: the style of printing you’d like, and how many you’re going to order.

Personalised Mugs in Different Styles

123Print.co.uk offer two different styles of personalised mug: single image and wraparound image. Single image mugs have your logo printed on one side of the mug along with any details you want to add on. Wraparound mugs have an image that covers the entire outside of the mug, which can be anything you like: a photograph, a big logo, artwork—anything. Wraparound mugs are slightly more expensive than single image mugs because there’s more printed on them.

Single Order vs. Bulk Order

Depending on the size of your team, or how many mugs you plan on handing out, you could want anywhere from one or two mugs to one or two hundred. As is the case for any kind of bulk order, ordering personalised mugs in bulk means that you pay less ‘per mug’ than if you only order a couple. So, at 123Print.co.uk, the cost per mug for orders of 200+ is almost half what you pay for just one on its own! The more you order, the more you save.

Is It Easy to Design Your Own Personalised Mug?

Designing your own mug is very, very easy. In fact, it only takes a few minutes. All you have to do is upload the artwork of your choice, or choose from one of the many professionally-made preset designs available. You can upload directly from your computer, or if it’s more convenient, from your Instagram or Facebook account.

You can also add any text you like: an email address or the address of the business, for example. You can save designs for later, too, if you’d want to spend a while coming up with something perfect just for you!

Our mugs are British made and we offer 2-day turnaround. If you need support, we offer a chat feature, or you can call 01772 625179. You can also request a free sample of our printing if you’d like to try out the quality before you buy.
With all those reasons to order, why not try personalising your own mugs today?