How to Use Stickers and Labels to Market Your Brand

Labels and stickers are some of the most affordable marketing materials you can use to promote your brand and products. And they’re flexible too. Regardless of what industry you’re in, you’ll always find a reason to order both.

Let’s talk about how you can use stickers and labels to make people remember your brand and get more eyes on your products.

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The Difference Between Stickers and Labels

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Let’s talk about the difference between labels and stickers first. Most people use these terms interchangeably. However, business owners quickly learn that they’re not the same.

What Are Stickers?

Entrepreneurs use stickers to promote a brand. They’re attached to surfaces where there’s high foot traffic so that passersby take notice. But most of the time, they’re given away to customers as freebies. 

As far as design goes, there’s more emphasis on branding than information. Most business stickers feature the company’s name, logo, or slogan.

Sticker suppliers will print them on sheets. Some cut them into individual pieces for easy distribution. 

What Are Labels?

Businesses use labels to share details that their customers need to know. You’ll find labels on boxes, jars, and other product packaging. They’ll have information like the product name, ingredients (for food items), date manufactured, and usage instructions.

Labels are important for branding because they’re the first thing customers notice. They’ll rely on labels to make informed purchasing decisions. Whether shoppers buy your products or not will depend on what you put in your labels.

Suppliers will ship your labels in rolls for easy application.

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How to Use Stickers for Promotion

There’s only one rule when promoting a company through stickers — don’t stick them where you shouldn’t. Other than that, you’re free to use stickers however you want. The following strategies are a great starting point. 

Give Them Away at Events

The use of stickers as giveaway items is a tried and tested tactic, especially for those who frequently participate in events like conventions, trade shows, meetups, corporate shows, product launches, and expos.

There are even attendees who actively seek out stickers because they see these as souvenirs. 

Hand Them to Customers After Purchase

Who doesn’t like getting free stuff? It’s not that uncommon for retailers to give away stickers with every transaction, especially when selling big-ticket items. 

They’re a point of pride for some customers. If they like your brand, they’ll place your stickers on things they own as a show of support. 

Create Bumper Stickers

Customers willingly place stickers on their cars to give them some character. If your brand speaks to them, they’ll have no problem adding your stickers.

It’s great publicity for your company as bumper stickers are highly visible and unintrusive. Bumper stickers can not only promote your products but also let everyone know what your brand is about.

Post Them in High-Traffic Areas

Businesses with retail locations can place stickers on their windows and doors. If there are public spaces in your neighborhood that allow it, you can stick your decals there. 

You can also ask non-competing stores in your area if they’re open to having your stickers in their store and have theirs in yours.

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How to Use Labels for Branding

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As discussed, labels would typically go on product packaging. Some can go on shipping materials too. Here’s how you could maximize the use of labels to market your brand.

Make Them Part of Your Packaging

A lot of businesses will include labels in their packaging. They’re placed on jars, cans, bottles, plastic, cartons, and other types of packaging solutions. 

Make life easier for shoppers by including all the information they’ll need to understand what your product does and how it differs from competing brands.

Apply to Shipping Containers

Many apply labels on shipping and mailer boxes, poly mailers, and other materials used to send products to customers. It reassures customers that their orders are secure and it deters tampering.

More importantly, it allows you to add some branding to your packaging.

Create QR Codes

QR codes are awesome because they let you direct people to specific web pages where they can learn more about your business. When scanned, QR codes can bring people to your social media pages, YouTube channel, or lead capture pages.

You can also just put your website if you don’t want to create a QR code.

Foster Transparency

Customers want transparency from retailers. Labels can help with that. Use them to add disclaimers, instructions, warnings, and other details that would lead to proper usage of your product.

It goes without saying but don’t use labels to make false statements about your products. But do make factual statements about how your products can help customers.

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Tips on Creating Effective Stickers and Labels

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Keep these tips in mind as you design stickers and labels for your brand.

Make an Emotional Connection

Take the time to learn more about your customers. This is easier to do if you have customer data. Do surveys or polls. You can ask them directly through your social channels too. 

Use that data to understand what resonates with them when creating your sticker or label design. 

Design With Your Target Audience in Mind

Who do you want to do business with? Have these people in mind when you design your stickers and labels. If you’re after a sophisticated crowd, then your stickers should reflect that. The same goes for businesses that want to appeal to a younger audience.

If you don’t know where to start, do customer profiling to learn who your target audience should be.

Keep Them Consistent With Your Branding Elements

You want to keep your label and sticker designs as close to your other marketing materials as possible. Consistency throughout all your materials will make your brand feel more cohesive.

Use the same color palette, visuals, typography, and messaging wherever possible. Pay close attention to your brand tone and voice.

Pay Attention to Little Details

All the little details matter when you print labels and stickers. What type of paper are you using? How crisp do the images look? What kind of finish will you apply?

These might not sound like much but these are details that customers notice. If the quality of your stickers and labels is not up to their standards, it might reflect poorly on your brand.

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What to Look for When Ordering Custom Stickers and Labels

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These are some of the specifications you need to pay attention to when ordering stickers and labels for the first time.

Shape and Size

Stickers and labels come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. The shape you select will affect your size options. If you’re unsure what size to choose, consider doing a test run. Order a small batch first. This should give you a better idea of what size is right for you.

Material

Material refers to the paper that printers will use for your labels and stickers. The most common materials are white paper, white vinyl, white plastic, and clear plastic. 

They all have characteristics that make them special. For example, clear plastic looks great on products like jarred marinara sauces.

Quantity

You don’t want to order more labels and stickers than you have to. However, you will save more money by ordering in larger quantities. So you’ll have to find that sweet spot. 

This is something you’ll learn over time. To keep it safe, order a few first and see how long it’ll take to use them up.

Turnaround

Turnaround is the time it takes to print your labels and stickers. This isn’t the same as shipping time which is how long it takes to ship your order.

When placing an order for stickers or labels, pay close attention to the turnaround time. If you order too late, they might not arrive in time. Depending on how you’re using them, any delay will affect your operations.

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Recap

Labels and stickers are the easiest ways to improve your packaging aesthetics, provide product information, and improve your brand recall. 

Use stickers to promote your business. Give them away at events. Hand them out to customers. Stick them on bumpers or in high-traffic areas.

Use labels for branding. Make them a part of your packaging. You can also use these to seal shipping boxes. Some businesses use labels to add QR codes that link to their sites or social media pages. And some add labels for transparency.

If you’d like to see more posts about packaging, check out these resources:

• How to Package Your Ecommerce Product
• Ecommerce Packaging: Things to Know
• What Is Ecommerce Packaging?
• What Is Food Packaging?
• Sustainable Packaging Tips for Small Business

Would you like to learn about the ways PackM can help with product packaging and marketing? Get in touch with one of our friendly representatives via phone or live chat.

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