Remember when you were a kid and you plastered stickers of your favorite cartoon characters all over your lunchbox? Even as an adult, you may decorate your car’s bumper with the slogans of causes you support or the logos of teams you root for.
People of all ages use stickers as shorthand for who they are and how they want the world to see them. Scan any group of working adults and you’ll see stickers gracing the back of laptops, mobile devices, briefcases, and water bottles.
Stickers are irresistible, and for event organizers, they can be a potent marketing tool.
So much event “swag” gets thrown out these days, it’s contributing to a growing crisis. Cheap pens, unreliable flash drives, and redundant keychains are among the least-welcome items. Promotional stickers, on the other hand, may be small, but event attendees actually enjoy receiving them and they can make many more impressions than any quickly-forgotten gift bag giveaway.
Here are a few reasons to give out stickers at your event. (Many of these benefits apply to promotional buttons, badges, and magnets, as well.)
Depending on their size and complexity, stickers are available at very modest price points – especially by comparison to the high cost of so many items that people really do not want anyway. Considering the number of people who might see each sticker, promotional stickers may have the highest ROI of any event marketing tool.
Let’s say you’re attending a trade show and someone hands you a promotional sticker on your way into the keynote speech. You’re pumped up after the talk and, in your enthusiasm, you proudly slap the sticker on the back of your iPad.
As your glow from the event fades over the next few days and weeks, the sticker won’t. You may even forget it’s there. Nevertheless, it will continue to promote the event to your colleagues, clients, and anyone who might see you working in a coffee shop.
People tend to leave stickers in place once they attach them. For stickers that last, work with your label printer to choose durable materials, adhesives, and inks.
Veteran conference attendees tend to pack pretty lightly, so they’re unlikely to grab bulky or heavy swag. An eye-catching sticker that they can tuck in their notebook, though? That’s a lot more likely to make the cut.
Plus, unlike signs and billboards, promotional stickers go places. Hitching rides on cars or backpacks, stickers can penetrate advertising-free zones and achieve global reach as attendees travel home from your event and go about their daily routines.
“Hey, did you attend [insert event name here] last year? How was it?”
“I did, and it was great. How did you guess?”
“Oh, I just noticed your sticker.”
People want to know what to expect from an event before investing hundreds of dollars in tickets, accommodations, and travel. Online reviews can be helpful, but one-on-one conversations are often considered the most trustworthy source of information. Stickers tell people who to ask for details about an upcoming event, essentially creating an army of voluntary brand ambassadors.
Whether your event is an industry convention, a concert series, or an annual half marathon, attendees want to show the world they’ve been there, done that, and done it again. Stickers demonstrate the commitment of your most loyal attendees to participating in your event year after year.
Consider redesigning your sticker slightly or entirely each year. People will be naturally driven to collect them all. A sticker design contest can be a fun way to engage attendees even more.
Promotional stickers can make a big impact for a small price. But to stand out, they need an eye-catching design and captivating colors. It’s best to work with a label printer that has the expertise, experience, and technology to help you capture your event’s identity in sticker form.
Contact the Label Printers today to talk about customizing promotional stickers for your next event.