3 tips for creating branded merch your customers will love, from small-business owners and marketing experts who have used it to build vibrant brand communities

• Branded merchandise, or swag, can still benefit businesses in the digital age.
• Effective swag is more personalized than a brand logo printed on a T-shirt or mug.
• Ideally, it's an item a customer will use frequently and be excited to share or wear.
• This article is part of "Marketing for Small Business," a series exploring the basics of marketing strategy for SBOs to earn new customers and grow their business.

When it comes to growing a business, there's definitely a wrong way to do branded merchandise. 

"A very old-timey thing to do — which companies are still doing for some reason — is that they just put their logo on everything, which is a huge mistake," Amanda Hofman, the founder of the branded-merchandise company Go To Market, told Insider. 

"When you're giving 500 people a branded pencil, you're actually giving 500 people nothing," she said.

When Bryan Clayton, the cofounder and CEO of the lawn-care company GreenPal, first started printing T-shirts with his company logo on them, he said he might as well have been burning cash. "No one was interested in being a walking billboard for GreenPal," he told Insider.

But that doesn't mean it's a strategy to write off entirely. A 2022 poll by Vistaprint found that 76% of American consumers said their perception of a brand changed in a positive way after receiving a promotional product, and nearly half agreed that promotional products are a more memorable way of marketing than traditional advertising.

Hofman said that well-done swag can give consumers a tangible connection to the brands they love, facilitate word-of-mouth marketing, and even incentivize them to purchase more.  

"When everything is digital, there is magic to being able to hold something," said Moriya Kassis, who distributes swag packs to people who participate in her mentoring program for product managers, Product League.

Insider spoke with small-business owners and marketing experts about how to use branded merchandise effectively.

Make it less about your brand and more about belonging

Hofman said that printing your logo on as many items as possible is not the right approach. "We're overloaded with information — if you have the opportunity to have someone's eyeballs, even for a fraction of a second, why not tell them something about your company?" she said. 

She likes to work with brands to think about how their mission and values could be communicated through their merchandise in a fashion-forward and trendy way. 

Kassis agreed that successful swag is less about promoting your brand and more about creating a sense of community and belonging. She likes to print her swag with inside jokes or notes of encouragement for product managers. 

Your brand should still be incorporated subtly on any merchandise you're giving out or selling to customers, Hofman said. "If it doesn't tie into the brand clearly, it's not doing its job," she added.

Clayton saw more value in swag when he started using it to show off state pride, including state-specific illustrations, instead of just his company's logo.

Get creative with items your customer would actually use

Danielle Reid, a marketing consultant, said business owners should think about what their customers actually use on a regular basis before printing their name on products.

For example, a healthcare nonprofit Reid advised created branded ID-badge holders and coffee mugs to distribute to medical staff and sell for fundraising.

Hofman suggested taking personalization a step further by giving customers a discount code or gift card to your online store rather than sending them random swag.

"Yes, you're going to spend more per person, but you're not going to spend more overall and you're not going to waste money with minimums and items that people are not going to actually cherish and use," she explained.

Use swag as an incentive for marketing or sales objectives

Simply having customers use your branded merchandise can provide low-cost, word-of-mouth marketing. "Someone will look at a shirt with a statement and say, 'Where did you get that from?' That's bringing a person to you," Reid said.

If you want to see a more traceable ROI from swag, use it as an incentive to encourage customers to share your brand online or make a purchase, Hofman said.

For example, you can offer swag for customers who purchase by a certain date or who upgrade to an annual membership. "If you can say, 'Register by this date, and get a free T-shirt,' people will do that," Hofman said.

Kassis has used branded merchandise to encourage customers to share their experience with Product League on social media. Each swag pack includes a note asking customers to post and tag the company.

She's noticed an increase in online sharing with this strategy and said it gives her customers an excuse to brag about being included in the exclusive program. "People absolutely love it, and they share. We don't do anything but tell them we would love to see the picture."