When you think about the marketing of any business, branding should be front and centre of all of it. This means designing a logo, deciding on brand colours, thinking about fonts and choosing a brand voice, to name just a few considerations.
This branding should then be replicated in every area of your marketing, from your website to your social media pages and even your lanyards. This ensures that your brand is seen in a number of different ways and can become recognisable.
Whilst lanyards might seem like a simpler element of your branding, they can be just as important as any other part of it. That is why We Print Lanyards, specialist lanyard designers, thought it was time to look at the role of custom lanyards and how they work with professional branding exercises in order to investigate how they can help to push your business forwards.
How do custom lanyards work?
We are all familiar with lanyards these days as they are seen in almost every workplace, conference and event. They are a relatively simple invention that can help to solve a number of different problems, which is why they are now so prevalent.
However, instead of opting for a standard off the shelf lanyard, many businesses are now choosing customised lanyards to help work into their marketing and branding campaigns.
This means that the strap on the lanyard that goes around your neck can be completely personalised to fit in with your own branding. Not only do you get to choose the colours, but you can also have things like logos, strap lines and web addresses printed onto them as well.
If all of your staff, guests or visitors are wearing one of these lanyards, then your branding becomes visible to a huge number of people, and this can go a long way to making it more effective.
Wide reaching branding
The number of people that will see your branding through a customised lanyard is often underestimated. Not only will those entering your business see them on every staff member, but you can also benefit from staff members wearing their lanyards outside of work, too.
Whether they are on the train, doing the shopping or picking the children up from school, there are plenty of people who will start to see those lanyards on a regular basis and recognise your branding who may not ordinarily have been exposed to it.
This can make it an incredibly effective brand exercise and can open your business up to a whole new audience.
Cost effective marketing
Anyone involved in the marketing for business will know exactly how expensive it can be. Whether you are paying for online advertising, billboards or even a television promotion, the bills can run into the thousands or even millions.
This can make the subject of marketing quite intimidating for those in small businesses who have more modest budgets and lanyards have proved to be a cost-effective alternative for many.
As these can be ordered in bulk, each one is relatively cheap but can be worn for a long time and seen by a huge number of people. Whilst it might be difficult to calculate the return on investment for your lanyards from a marketing perspective, it is clear that for a very small amount of money you can get an awful lot of exposure.
Boosting branding at events
If people have chosen to interact with your business, then your branding may be less necessary, however, at things like conferences, exhibitions and trade shows, you want to get your name seen as much as possible to attract a new market that may not be familiar with you yet.
Whether you are hosting the event or simply acting as a guest there, handing out custom lanyards can be a great way to ensure that your brand is seen by everyone in attendance.
Not only will people be walking past with your brand on display for the entire day, but they are also likely to take your lanyards home with them and keep them as souvenirs. This means that they will finish up on the desk or in a drawer for a long time to come, acting as a long-term positive reminder of their experiences with you.
Boosting employee morale
Your lanyards can also help to build a sense of belonging amongst your employees. When each of them wears a branded lanyard, it can help to foster a sense of unity amongst your team.
This can go a long way towards improving things like team spirit and morale as everyone is more likely to feel connected to the business that they work for.
In turn, this can lead to things like better collaboration and productivity throughout the whole business, and they are also more likely to sing the praises of the brand when they are outside it.
Practical solutions
Most people associate lanyards with the carrying of identity cards or passes, but this is not their only use. A fully customised lanyard can have a variety of different attachments, meaning that they can be extremely versatile.
In addition to carrying cards, they can also hold things like keys, pens, USB drives and even hand sanitiser. By making them a practical tool as well as something for identification, they are more likely to be used repeatedly, ensuring that your branding lasts for a long time to come.
Accessibility
Lanyards are also extremely popular because of the access ability that they offer. Everyone can use them no matter what their age might be or whether they have any disabilities or limitations.
Lanyards were once just practical accessory, but they are now being recognised as an extremely powerful branding tool and are incorporated into a lot of marketing strategies across a wide range of businesses.
They play a key role in increasing brand visibility and unity amongst your team whilst remaining cost effective and easy to use. This means that a custom lanyard should now be considered as an important branding exercise for almost any business environment.
Malcolm Humphreys is the Director of We Print Lanyards, a family business who specialise in recycled custom lanyards, ID cards, name badges & more.
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