Vinyl Stickers
Vinyl stickers are one unique way to get your business out there. Although they are small in size, usually, never underestimate the power one or a few vinyl stickers have as they can literally transform your business if used strategically.
Vinyl stickers are an out of the box strategy which can put your brand on the map and therefore when designing them, one should be thinking more in terms of branding rather than advertising. Stickers have the exact same advantages posters have over flyers -and then some. In this post I have highlighted a few significant advantages which vinyl stickers have over flyers.
Major advantages stickers have over flyers
1. Brand Association
Even if you were a boss from hell, there is definitely no way your are going to convince your employees to advertise your business through flyers 24-7, the same way they do with stickers. With vinyl stickers, people would be practically advertising your business to their friends and family wherever they are, and if your brand is stylish, they are more likely to want to be associated with that brand because it would make them appear stylish too.
Stickers also tend to boost employee moral, even if only to a small extent, and they tend to give some form of customer loyalty as customers are more likely to put your stickers on their valued possessions and are constantly reminded of your business. Word of mouth is only limited to a particular conversation, whereas stickers leave a lasting impression long after the story .
2. Distribution
Stickers travel greater distances than flyers. A tourist may take one sticker put it on his/ her backpack and take it with him wherever they travel to, whereas with flyers …er, lets just say you cannot. Stickers can be moved around with, with ease, wherever you, your employees, and your belongings may go to, that means people are more likely to notice that sticker on your backpack, cool drink bottle, computer, and I can’t even begin to imagine how many see that bumper sticker or your car decal. On the other hand, flyers are only restricted to a particular geographical area.
3. Leverage
Due to their very nature, stickers tend to have a leverage effect as they get more eyes to see them, unlike when you or your employees hand out flyers (which most people fail to resist the urge to throw away anyway).
The message sender – receiver ratio with flyers is usually one is to one, that is, the one flyer distributor to the one potential customer. With stickers on the other hand, odds are one is to plenty, with one sticker distributor giving one sticker recipient but with more eyes consuming your brand.
4. Size
With flyers you are more likely to be restricted to 4 size options, namely, A6, A5, A4 and DL. Any size greater than A4 can not be distributed with ease and would rather be a poster than a flyer. With stickers on the other hand, there is greater flexibility in terms of sizes. Any size greater than A4 would still be consumed by end users, such as, for vinyl wall art and vehicle branding.
5.Going green
Flyers are the only type of print product with directly devastating effects on the environment. This is because when they are being distributed, most people would throw them in the bin, if not interested in your business (that is, if they are polite enough), otherwise a majority of those who reluctantly accept a flyer they are given would throw it away the minute you / your employees turn your back, if not after turning the next corner. This causes massive land pollution, which would in turn result in the paper being burnt (if not recycled) leading to global warming etc. I don’t mean to be melodramatic, but I doubt if you would get the same results from distributing stickers: well, at least not to the same extent.
6. Longevity
Due to their cohesive nature, and depending on quality, vinyl stickers have more of a durable after sale-use satisfaction, unlike flyers which quickly turn to trash after the exchange between seller/distributor and user/consumer. With stickers you actually have something people can always go back and refer to if they eventually get interested, not to mention the subliminal messages which stickers give out, as people familiarize with the brand the more they see it. This is unlike a flyer which is long forgotten about 30 minutes after being thrown away, unless one really sees the need to keep it, only if interested of course.
7. Creative Manipulation
With vinyl stickers you do not play with the same set of rules that apply to flyers when it comes to shapes. Whereas flyers are mostly, if not almost always, in rectangular or square shapes of different sizes, stickers can be in any shape you can imagine. They can even be a cut out of your logo or mascot. Whether you want circle or star shaped stickers it is all up to you, therefore, your creative genius is put to the test when designing your long lasting vinyl stickers
Putting the above into consideration, with stickers you get more results from once off effort, and lets face it, you are not going to be giving out flyers whenever and wherever you get the chance to do so now, would you? Also there is no guarantee that people will keep looking back at your flyer, that is, if they do keep it at all.
So in which cases exactly can we use flyers?
It should be clear that stickers are mostly for long term use, while flyers are more suited for short term or immediate gains, such as, for events, specials and promotions, not to mention, a local business which keeps advertising with flyers on a regular basis – at the expense of the environment of course. In most cases, flyers are used to advertise a new business, or businesses which are not on the ground floor, where they would have been more visible.
Flyers are also useful as a price list / price guide, should potential customers wish to make price comparisons between you and your competitors. In essence, vinyl stickers are for branding, while flyers are more suited for short term advertising.
