The humble bag has experienced somewhat of a renaissance in recent times, for small and large business alike. This is in part due to the promotional tote bag. While these bags are often given out at conferences, trade shows, or perhaps at point of sale, there is no doubt that they offer the highest number of impressions than any other type of advertising.
Practical, stylish, and eco-friendly
The reason for this high level of exposure is that consumers find these bags useful, not just to carry their products home, but in other parts of their lives. Whether it’s carrying their groceries, taking their things to the beach, or simply storing items in an organised manner at home, the tote bag is a very useful item for consumers. As consumers use more of these bags, they are contributing to the number of eyes that are seeing the brand on each bag.
Apart from being useful, tote bags can also be fashionable. Some consumers choose to take specific bags out in public as they identify with the brand or the design of a bag. It is therefore a great opportunity to design a promotional bag that your customers will want to be seen with.
Finally, the eco friendly movement has also contributed to the rise of the humble tote bag. As laws are introduced to ban plastic bags, and more retailers are encouraging customers not to use them (or discouraging them by charging extra), retailers are turning to tote bags to carry their goods.
Get exposure
So how many impressions can a promotional tote bag actually get? The 2013 Global Advertising Specialties Impressions Study found that printed promotional bags get almost 6,000 brand impressions each during their lifetime. That is a lot of eyeballs!
With such a high number of impressions on offer, how do you ensure you get them? The best way to do this is to create a bag that customers want. This means it must be useful, so ensure that it is of good quality and won’t wear out too quickly. Secondly, the point of fashion comes up again, as almost a third of customers want to keep bags that look attractive.
When designing a custom promotional bag, think about what you’d like to print on it. You may simply wish to put your brand logo on it, or you may like to add some text. Some brands add humorous phrases to grab attention, whilst others use their slogans or business descriptions.
Selling your bag
Once you have designed a bag, you should think about how best to get it out into the world. Many businesses opt to give away bags for free at events, or if a customer spends a certain amount.
Other businesses sell them at the point of checkout. If a customer sees an attractive bag at checkout, they are likely to purchase it as an impulse buy, but also as a practical way of carrying their shopping home. An example of this are the tote bags commonly found in large supermarkets.
On a more creative note, some businesses go a step further by introducing the tote bag into their product range. They design and offer a range of bags in different styles that sit alongside their usual range of products. This is particularly popular with fashion businesses.
There are lots of benefits in creating a custom branded promotional bag, and the trend towards consumers keeping and reusing these bags is solidifying their status as a valid and effective marketing tool.