We all know where promotional plates are often used, as stated in this earlier blog post. Now, it is time to talk about how you can maximize the potential of this somewhat unexplored and underused medium for marketing and advertising. How can you get the most out of these unique metal nameplates and what should you do to make these plates work for you?
Make your plates easy to remember and hard to forget – What you put on these metal plates can easily spell the success or failure of a marketing plan that involves its use. Before having these special plates crafted, you should deliberate over what to put on these items. Should you put a catchy slogan on it along with your company logo and name? Should these plates carry your company contact information? Should these have graphics and other designs on them or should these only carry text? Should these carry only your logo or mascot on them?
Make these plates useful – metal plates that are used for advertising and marketing should serve more than one purpose in order for these to be effective. The more people end up using these, the more they get to see your company name or brand, and the more brand familiarity is increased. Handing out promotional plates that have no specific use other than for advertising can easily make it forgettable. Try making these plates into useful items that have your marketing information on it. You can make these into coasters, rulers, or bookmarks, to name a few examples.
Make these easy to mount or attach – if you are planning on making these plates attach to certain surfaces, there are ways to make this easy. For those plates you are thinking of attaching to metal surfaces (like refrigerator doors), sticking a flat magnet in the back would be a good idea. If you are thinking of having these attached to promotional items like bags, caps and the like, an adhesive that makes these plates stick to such porous surfaces, and can stay there even when these surfaces get wet, may be in order.
Make these worth obtaining – some people find that when an item is called “limited edition” or is rather rare, it is worth obtaining. Try to create a gimmick or marketing strategy where these plates are given away as prizes. Have people compete in contests or collect and complete certain item lists you place in your product boxes in order for them to qualify for a limited edition refrigerator magnet, metal ruler or metal sticker that your company will give away to a few lucky individuals.