Are you a part of a startup and are looking for promotional ideas that are out-of-the-box and give you the maximum bang for your buck? Read on, you are on the right page.

Every startup worth its salt has dipped their hand into T-shirts as swag and promotional material.  Though a dependable and an iconic promotional material, T-shirts are so yesterday and commonplace. The cool startup swag today include rad socks(yes!) and stickers.

What’s the deal with stickers you ask? Aren’t stickers for school kids? Why and how should startups use stickers for promotions?

Why Stickers for Startups?

Only if you have been in a time-warp, you will have missed the sticker explosion in the startup universe. Stickers are everywhere, they are fun, colorful, easy to design and source (from Gumtoo 😊) easy to stick, durable, economical and offer free word-of-the-mouth publicity. And the best part is, you don’t need to stick to your brand logo for a sticker, you can make your stickers cool, quirky and interesting for your audience. You can give your startup stickers as:

1.     Swag at demos/tech shows/conferences such as Tech in Asia, Echelon

2.     Mail it your customers in exchange for their email address

3.     Engage your online community with stickers for major fans/contributors

4.     Take it to the campus when you are hiring

or if your stickers become hugely popular,

5.     Sell them as cool merchandize.

Some examples of creative startup stickers:

How to Create your own cool Startup Stickers?

Creating your own sticker is easier than writing HTML code. All you have to do first, is think of a cool design. We recommend that you use not just your logo. Unless you are an iconic brand like Apple, it is less likely that people will want to stick your logo on their personal belongings. Think of creative fun images, short quotable quotes, or anything that is relatable to your prime audience. (In case you are stuck at this stage, you can reach out to us at Gumtoo for sticker ideas that gel with your brand. Our graphic designers will help you create the ultimate startup sticker.)

Once you have your design ready, email it to your preferred sticker manufacturer (few reputable ones in the market, including Gumtoo 😊). Choose Vinyl stickers for durability and, polished look, and ease of application and removal. You can choose from die-cut/kiss-cut or large format stickers depending on your need. If you want to know more about the kinds of stickers best suited for you, read this post.

Most sticker firms will ship your design within 10 days. Get ready to give away your super startup stickers.

How to use your Startup Stickers?

Startups and Stickers are a match made in Branding Heaven. Here are few of the formats in which you can promote your startup stickers:

Small Format Stickers:

These are stickers which you can peel off and stick on small surfaces such as gadgets or give away as swag. You can choose options from kiss-cut stickers (additional sticker backing, apart from the custom-cut of the sticker, sticker can be easily peeled out of the backing material) or die-cut stickers (cut to the exact shape of the design, sticker backing exactly the shape of the sticker, no extra backing around the stickers). If you plan to give stickers out individually, die-cut stickers look extremely cool. Some ideas for small format stickers:

1. Gadget Stickers: Laptop Stickers / Phone-back Stickers: Everyone loves making their plain Jane gadget look colorful and cool. If you are an entrepreneur just starting out, working out of co-working spaces or cafes, your startup stickers can be great conversation starters. Stickers are great for self-promotion-your stickers tell your story, they define what kind of person you are, your interests, the conferences you’ve attended and so on. Most geeks and even non-geeks relate to stickers, and can get your story moving. Get your team to sport your startup sticker everywhere possible on their belongings, people will get curious about your stickers and eventually your startup.

2. Campus Stickers: When you go to campus for hiring or for promotion, remember to take your startup stickers to give away as swag. The more stickers you give out, more will your startup be talked about. Check some creative campus stickers here.

3. Business Cards Stickers: This is a really cool idea. Get creative business cards which your customers can peel off and stick. Your business and sticker and startup get high visibility and customers are least likely to forget how to reach you.

Large Format Stickers:

These are fantastic mediums for out-of-home (OOH) advertising. If creatively designed, and placed in the right location, these can offer high visibility and great return on investment /(ROI). Made of high-quality vinyl, these look awesome and can transform any surface they are pasted on.

1. Elevator/Escalator Stickers: Elevators/escalators provide startups with a captive audience; the audience can’t just look away. People use these devices multiple times every day. If elevator stickers and escalator stickers are placed in an area with a lot of footfalls, the reach to consumers is high. Read this post on how you can create dazzling, customer-engaging campaigns using elevator/escalator stickers for your startup too.

2. Floor Stickers: Ideal for campuses, supermarkets, shopping malls, tech conferences, these strategically placed stickers can become a talking point.

3. Window Stickers for Cafes: Partner with a local popular café where your prime audience hangs out, and stick creatively designed, eye-catching window stickers.

4. Car Stickers: These can be your startup promotional tools on the move! Imagine your startup stickers zooming everywhere, a brand’s dream come true.

How to make your startup sticker go viral?

You’ve gotten all these cool sticker formats and have handed them out to your team, customers, curious passers-by at your tech booth, at conferences and in your campus hiring stint. What next? How do you make your sticker go viral and your startup talked about?

Here are some ideas for that viral sticker:

Example of a viral sticker marketing campaign: Read how Reddit’s stickers helped make Reddit what it is today.

If you are a startup/entrepreneur/small business in Singapore looking for creative promotion ideas using stickers, get in touch with us at sales@gumtooStickers.com. We will help you with fresh ideas that will get your brand the visibility it aims for.