Sticker Marketing 101 for Small Businesses

Custom stickers can be a powerful tool for small business owners looking for ways to spice up their promotion strategy, boost brand awareness, and attract new customers. And the best part is, there’s no need to spend a ton of money on printing stickers. 

5 Ways to Promote Your Business with Custom Stickers   

Several studies have analyzed the effectiveness of sticker campaigns and they all point out the same result: these print products successfully got the message across, whether it’s to encourage households to recycle their food waste, remind drivers that it’s dangerous to text behind the wheel, or reduce immunization dropout rates.

Sticker marketing has a sui generis appeal to its approach of promoting your business. Whereas conventional print products are intended to be kept, stickers need to be spread.

Stickers with a clear message and eye-catching designs can be an effective, versatile promotional tool with multiple creative uses. Here are five creative ways to use custom stickers for your promotion strategy. 

 

1. Use stickers as packaging materials.  

Stickers can help enhance your packaging by displaying how-to-use instructions, product ingredients, and other relevant details. You can also use them to create a tamper-proof seal or to display a QR code that will direct customers to a website or an online form.     

If you need stickers for products that require refrigeration or will come into contact with moisture and water, ensure that you pick the right material. Vinyl with a high-gloss finish has an excellent waterproof quality, while BOPP is notable for its oil-resistant and refrigerator-safe properties.   

 

2. Distribute stickers at events.  

Cut-to-size stickers are excellent giveaways at trade shows, conventions, and other events. You can also include them in goodie bags, media kits, and other promotional items. Some retailers also include stickers with customer orders as a gift.  

 

3. Apply stickers on movable objects.   

Place bumper stickers on your vehicle and turn it into a mobile billboard. These stickers are made of durable, waterproof, and UV-resistant vinyl to withstand harsh outdoor environments.      

To be an effective promotional tool, car stickers need an attention-grabbing design, which can be achieved by using bold colors and high contrast (e.g., black text on white background).     

You can also apply custom stickers to everyday items like laptops, tumblers, mobile phones, and notebooks. These get carried around everywhere and if patrons use your stickers on them, your brand will be advertised wherever they go. 

  

4. Stick them in places with high-foot traffic.    

Place your stickers where your target customers hang out. If, for example, you own a shop that sells sports equipment and apparel, the best places for your promotional stickers are sports amenities such as baseball and basketball fields, gymnasiums, pools, tennis courts, etc.   

  

5. Sell stickers to your customers or fans.  

You don’t need to be a big brand to sell stickers to people. If you have a decent number of online followers who are fond of your unique content or offer one-of-a-kind products, chances are you can sell stickers to your fans.     

If you want to make your own stickers but don’t know where to begin, read  our guide on how to start a sticker business. It explores the different materials, finishes, formats, colors, and shapes of custom stickers to help you get started on printing your first run. 

 

Real-Life Examples of Successful Sticker Campaigns 

Fauna the Bear 

This nonprofit, which advocates culturally relevant free access to mental health resources, needed stickers with a comforting message to encourage people struggling with anxiety. 

 

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Boomer’s Bakery  

The company needed stickers with catchy, vibrant designs to promote their no-artificial flavor, no-preservative dog treats. When they got their stickers from PrintRunner, they were ecstatic and happy with how the prints turned out. 

 

 

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Kari Smyth Design  

Kari Smyth is a graphic designer who offers creative services and sells gift tags, cards, and reusable gift bags. She ordered high-quality stickers from PrintRunner that could serve as a mini billboard for her brand. 

 

 

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Jenni Pops 

This local bakery in Cleveland specializes in beautifully hand-crafted, customized cake pops. To elevate their product packaging, they ordered stickers from PrintRunner. 

 

 

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Glossier  

This beauty brand includes a sticker sheet with every purchase, which encourages customers to post and share photos of Glossier products with these giveaway stickers. The company also used scratch-and-sniff stickers to promote their first fragrance product. 

 

Cillit Bang   

In today’s highly competitive and saturated market, Cillit Bang needed a unique promotion strategy for its cleaning products. The company designed a low-budget sticker campaign where they recruited supermarket cashiers to give out loose change with a little promotional sticker. This ingenuous sticker campaign proved effective, increasing Cillit Bang’s sales by 330%.   

 

Folgers Coffee  

In 2006, Folgers Coffee company used vinyl stickers to decorate manhole covers along the sidewalks of New York. The stickers showed a cup of coffee and came with small holes to let steam come out of the manholes, thus creating an illusion that they were hot brewed coffee. 

 

 

Other Ideas for Custom Stickers 

Custom stickers have a myriad of uses and applications for the promotional strategy of small businesses. However, they are particularly effective for enhancing packaging and giving customers a memorable unboxing experience.   

 

Stickers also have creative uses for weddings and other special events. You can use them to seal envelopes, label water bottles and buffet items, and personalize wedding favors and souvenirs. 

 

If you’re a graphic designer or visual artist, selling custom stickers can be profitable, even without buying your own printing equipment, tools, and inventory. The key is to work with a reputable supplier to print high-quality stickers with your design. 

Conclusion

Custom stickers are effective and versatile promotional tools that can help boost brand awareness and recognition and, ultimately, allow you to stand out from the competition. Use them to turn your vehicle, laptop, and other everyday items into a catchy billboard; include them in promotional kits and customer orders; and incorporate them in your packaging.