Although the term “swag” is a relatively new phenomenon, it has been around in one form or another for plenty of time. Nowadays, it is used to denote a kind of style that is used to describe someone or something that is dripping with style, so to speak. Because of this denomination, lots of businesses are looking into ways they are able to capitalize on the idea while boosting their brand visibility and the culture surrounding it without coming off as overly cringeworthy or making anything negative that could cause an adverse reaction to their brand.
This is a much more challenging task than many people like to believe, but certainly not one that is insurmountable. In this post, we’re going to explore how a company swag store can enhance its corporate culture, boost morale, and generate new ways to interact with its marketing channels that could increase revenue and overall brand recognition and satisfaction.Â
Boosting Employee Pride
Any business worth their salt should really be doing everything within their power to ensure that their teams are happy to work for them and are proud to tell those around them who they work for. When you set up a company swag store that has been designed for your employees, you are creating a special place where they are able to visit and invest in a part of your overall company culture. However, as is the case with anything related to employees, there are a few caveats that you ought to pay attention to. These include:Â
- All products must be of very high quality: If you are simply looking to create a product of the lowest quality to save a bit of money and then attempt to pawn it off to your valued employees, you have another thing coming. Not only will they be vastly less likely to buy anything, but they will also question their value in the company, causing you to reduce morale rather than boost it.Â
- You should avoid overpricing: Not only should you avoid making your merch too expensive, but when selling to your staff, you might consider adding some sort of employee discount to sweeten the deal. This can increase the uptick in staff members making a purchase and also make them feel as though they’re getting a special deal from being a part of the team, a deal unavailable to the public at large.
- The merch must include designs that encourage people to wear them: If you are pumping out cringeworthy design after cringeworthy design, you shouldn’t be shocked when you suddenly discover that there’s a considerable backlog of a product taking up valuable inventory space. Instead, aim for designs that are fashionable and make you want to wear them. If you’re really feeling brave, you could also set up an employee contest where they’re able to generate and send in their own designs, and you send them around to all your members of staff to vote for. The winner can then be made into a legitimate item ready to purchase.
Creating A Sense Of Belonging
Instead of applying a strict dress code in your organization, why not allow a little flexibility with an eye to encourage staff to use the various branded products you sell in your store? Obviously, this will depend on the type of industry you’re in and if there are any dress codes in place (like at a law firm or financial institution) or if there are any PPE requirements, etc.
Nevertheless, if it’s possible to encourage your team to dress in the various items of swag you’ve developed, you will eventually find that your offices will be filled with people willingly showing their connection to your company. This also has the added effect of boosting morale in the sense that everyone is in it together, but also a nice bit of free advertising when they’re traveling to and from work or nipping out for a spot of lunch.
Creating Brand Ambassadors That Are Proud To Promote Your Brand
Company swag can be used in myriad ways, but one partially interesting way is by creating a loyal army of highly motivated brand ambassadors. This isn’t always easy to set up, but there are a few techniques you can utilize to encourage the process. Firstly, you could offer your products to your employees at a discounted rate to facilitate the uptick in adoption. Once you have reached a critical mass, you could also sweeten the deal by offering them a percentage of each sale they make via an affiliate program you set up.
This will allow you to shift more products and embolden your staff to push your branded stuff to the wider public, all while being happy to both earn a bit of extra money and also proudly state that they work at your organization. As long as you’re careful with the initial set up and create products that people might actually want to wear without being overly promotional, you could find things flying off the shelf faster than you’re able to replenish them.Â
Providing Your Marketing Team With New Opportunities
Fostering morale via swag isn’t just about offering a quality product to your staff at a great price or even sharing a percentage of each sale; it can also involve giving them enough ammunition to carry out their tasks to the best of their abilities. When it comes to marketing, it’s easy to run out of ideas and benignly recycle older ones if there isn’t enough information or promotional events to utilize.
When you offer swag to your staff members, you provide your marketing team with a raft of invaluable content ideas they can use and run to generate higher brand visibility. You could promote the design process behind the scenes with your team, how they’re made, what goes into crafting a quality product, and possibly even giveaways and other ways to promote your merchandise. In reality, the sky is the limit, and as long as they don’t overdo things and intersperse this campaign with other content, you could be a real winner in terms of marketing campaigns.
Company swag can be used in a plethora of ways, from increasing morale among your team to offering new ways to advertise and promote your brand. As long as you create a quality product or products, you will eventually reap the rewards.
