For over 65 years, stickers have been helping politicians get elected, building companies, establishing brands, advertising, starting conversations and increasing exposure. Yet despite being long-lasting and having a low cost per impression, not enough attention has been paid by marketers and businesses to the power of this sticky marketing tool.
Promotional stickers are physical, off-line forms of social media and broadcasting. People were ‘liking’, posting, pinning, tagging and starting conversations with stickers long before the Internet. Designed and distributed properly they continually generate low-cost exposure, impressions and word of mouth marketing
Recent studies show that 90% of people trust word-of-mouth recommendations from people they know (Nielsen). And, 90% of word-of-mouth about brands is taking place off-line (Keller Fay Group). Yet tools, like stickers, used to encourage and amplify off-line (as well as on-line) word of mouth are often overlooked by many businesses. This is an obvious mistake. The power of stickers lies in the fact that when displayed they are not perceived as advertising at all. They are personal endorsements, recommendations and badges of support for a message, product or organization.
Because of the succinct nature of a promotional sticker, the process of development and design can help clarify and focus other marketing efforts (logo, website, advertisements, business cards, headlines, press releases, etc.). The same core questions need to be asked and analyzed:
- Who do I want to communicate with (who is my market)?
- Where do I find them? How do I make contact?
- What are their interests (what do they want/need)?
- What is my unique offering, message and/or story (identity)?
- How do I communicate and broadcast my message/identity cleanly, simply, graphically and quickly to my market and prospects?
