5 tips to save money on your merchandising campaign

When we need to cut costs in our business, it is very common to turn to marketing first. Within this, merchandising campaigns are often one of the first options that are foregone when needed. This is a big mistake. Advertising campaigns in general, and merchandising campaigns in particular, are crucial to generating optimal brand presence.

In fact, according to the Harvard Business Review, even when a company is going through difficult times, “building and maintaining strong brands that customers recognise and trust remains one of the best ways to reduce business risk”.

So it is clear that in order to position yourself as a brand, even if you are going through a crisis, you should never give up on your merchandising campaign, but focus on how to save money by executing it. We give you 5 tips to improve your merchandising strategy while reducing unnecessary expenses.

Look for advice

In our last article we talked about the advantages of seeking advice before launching your merchandising campaign. And the truth is that this will also help you to reduce unnecessary costs.

These corporate gifts or personalised merchandising promotional items play a vital role in marketing strategies to engage customers and reinforce the brand message. However, many people jump into the pool without properly planning this strategy, which wastes money.

Plan ahead, analyse every expense, compare suppliers and thoroughly review your merchandising strategy to see which products will work best. When money is tight, you don’t want to rely on underperforming products. And above all: this is not the time to innovate and try new things. Concentrate on strategies that you already know work for your brand.

Take care of your customers

Do you know who your target audience is? Do you know what segments make up your potential customers? What products and strategies will attract the best customers? If you want to save money on your merchandising campaign, one of the most important things you can do is focus on the customers who are most interesting for your brand.

And don’t forget: it costs more to get a new customer than to keep an old one. So in a time of economic hardship, don’t invest your resources in getting new customers, but in not neglecting the ones you already have. In times of crisis, customer care is an area to which you should pay special attention.

Define segments, quantities and budget

All your audiences are of great importance, but the rate of return (both immediate monetary and image) does not apply to all in the same way. For example, the efforts to connect with a potential investor who is interested in your company should not be the same as reaching out to a supplier.

In other words, you need to define the segment according to the target, which will give you a much better idea of how much money will be needed and therefore limit the budget. It can also be very effective to define each action in your merchandising strategy in relation to the budget.

Reuse existing content

Once you have defined and developed your merchandising strategy, try to find ways to reuse the assets you have created.

Don’t forget that merchandising is there when you’re not, it’s selling when you least expect it, anywhere, anytime. So learn how content you’ve already created, both old and new, can be reused for other platforms, other campaigns or other clients – you don’t always have to start from scratch!

Design with budget in mind

Colours and printing systems, materials, positions, size? There are many factors to consider when designing merchandising products, in order to achieve the goal at the lowest cost. Here are some tips on how to save money in the design process:

o Colours and printing: as a rule of thumb, the fewer colours and prints, the lower the cost.

o Dies: any time a part requires a die to be cut or printed, it means a significant increase in budget, which can only be justified by large-scale production.

o Transport: Think about the logistics of the products. Generally companies charge for transport by weight and/or volume.

o Storage: Don’t forget that if your products are not going to be distributed immediately, you will probably have to incur storage costs.

What are you waiting for? Put our tips into practice and remember that merchandising is not boring. Make the most of it with Musart Creative.