Adding branded products to your sign shop’s offerings

We all know how important it is for a business to have an eye-catching, well-placed sign if they want to attract customers. But that’s just the start of an effective awareness campaign for your clients, who get a secondary sales force when you create mugs, T-shirts, bags, and other branded items their customers can showcase in your community. Adding promotional products to your sign shop’s offerings can also benefit you by solidifying your client relationships and creating more opportunities for repeat business.

The demand for promo products is here and rising. According to Grandview Research, American businesses spend $20 billion a year on promotional products; the global market was valued at $90.5 billion in 2023. The research firm also forecasts 3.75% annual growth in the worldwide market through 2030. Grandview calls promo products “a low-budget customer acquisition technique (that) enables startups and small enterprises to reduce their marketing expenses while still capturing consumers’ attention.”

The success of this market stems from companies’ desire to make the physical workspace more inviting, with a recognizable look and feel for employees and customers alike. Customers are looking for more meaningful products that are useful and durable. Businesses aren’t just buying promotional products to increase brand awareness but for employee retention, rewards, and recruitment. When given as prizes for team-building activities, for instance, they can help create a sense of pride and camaraderie among co-workers.

A business needs branded apparel and promotional products for the same reason they need a sign. It isn’t just important; it is essential for customers to be able to identify you wherever you are. Promotional products are one more opportunity to stand out and demonstrate what kind of organization the business is.

The most significant benefit of adding promo products to your sign shop’s offerings is that you become a more trusted source of what your customers need, further entrenching yourself in your client base. If a customer can now get two products from you instead of just signage, they have one less point of contact that they need to manage, which they appreciate. Additionally, offering more products allows you to nurture the relationship with your customer and better understand their business and needs, which opens the opportunity for you to give them new products and services.

We’ve grown our expertise and knowledge with a new set of vendors and products, making us more competitive as a business in our area. The more we diversify our products, services, and expertise, the more value we offer our customers — enhancing our brand and driving growth.

Getting started with branded products

If you haven’t extended your services into this area, you can start with trade show items like table throws, retractable banners, and tabletop displays. Then, you can expand to individual items like drinkware and office supplies.

When looking for clients, consider industries with big promotional product budgets, such as the automotive or insurance sector, or categories like landscaping and construction, whose employees wear branded apparel.

Ask about their business, their employees and customers, and other challenges they are facing. You can then identify opportunities to offer them promotional products that make sense. This approach helps them understand that you want to help solve their challenges instead of just selling them additional products and services.

When suggesting any new product or service, you may not get to “yes” right away. You may have to propose a branded product several times before your message registers, so it’s critical to communicate everything you can offer on a consistent basis. Using your email campaigns, social media, and in-store branding and displays to remind your existing customer base what else they can get for you is essential to become that one-stop shop.

Once you and your team are comfortable executing promotional product orders, bring samples and displays in-store. As the team’s experience grows, incorporate it into your email and social media marketing.

The industry has many vendors that operate in different ways, so it is essential to understand each one you work with; you’ll avoid surprises and won’t underdeliver to your customers. The beauty of having a sign shop, however, is that you may not need an outside vendor for all products. If you have a UV printer and a laser engraver, you may be able to offer in-house promotional products such as golf balls and drinkware at a competitive price with quicker turnaround times.

Start slow and work with customers you already have an excellent relationship with; they’ll be more forgiving of mishaps with new products and vendors that are likely to arise. But don’t let the challenge of a new product category cause you to miss this tremendous opportunity for your sign business.