SMB Marketing

In 2018, we saw big, bold graphic design, with bright colors and fonts that seemed to have more impact rather than just being new or novel. Will these trends continue into 2019? Vengage created an infographic detailing what the eight big trends will be in graphic design over the next year. These are the highlights:

A logo is arguably one of the most important parts of your branding strategy. Think about it — when you see the golden arches, what’s the first thing you think of? McDonald’s. You may even get a bit hungry. That’s because the McDonald’s logo is doing its job. It’s reminding you of the brand and the products you get from it, and potentially triggering an emotional response. Granted, we can’t all sell hamburgers, but your business’s logo should elicit the same reaction from people.

One of the biggest trends right now among Millennials and people in their mid-30s hearkens back to ancient Egypt and battling soldiers: enamel pins. It’s not unusual these days to find a social media picture of a pin, with the hashtag #pingamestrong. On Instagram alone, there are more than 510,000 posts. Essentially, if you haven’t yet tapped the enamel pin market, you’re missing out.

The upcoming midterm election will likely be one of the most closely followed elections in a long time, punctuating a political term that’s been rife with debate and protest. But the problem remains that many of the eligible voters in the United States still don’t come out to the polls. According to FairVote, only about 60 percent of eligible voters show up for presidential election years and the number is even lower for midterm elections — hovering at about 40 percent. Primaries and local elections?

As embroidery digitizing experts, we here at Idea Custom Solutions know there’s not much more professional than a smartly embroidered garment or accessory for team members or customers. But logos and monograms are far from the extent of what you can do with the art form. Try offering your clients promotional products with more innovative styles. Perhaps you can take inspiration from one of these stunning examples of alternative embroidery.

It’s the spookiest time of the year! Halloween is more popular than ever and is you haven’t started your seasonal marketing campaign already, you may be missing out on All Hallows Eve-fueled sales. Here are three ways to add some eerie flair to your marketing.

Choosing to completely redesign your logo is a big step. Customers have likely grown accustomed to your current look and, as it has been proven time and again, most people don’t like change. You risk losing customers, sparking some outrage and, even worse, losing a large portion of revenue from people who either hate the new look or just don’t recognize it anymore and can’t find your company.

In case you haven’t heard, there’s no crying in baseball. That line and the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL), were immortalized by Tom Hanks and Geena Davis in the movie, “A League of Their Own” in 1992. For the 75th anniversary of the league, the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum worked together with the AAGPBL to create a new memento: the first ever bobblehead series to feature the 15 league teams.

At times, the promotional products industry can lag behind when it comes to technology, but it’s never too late to catch up. If you haven’t been implementing SEO best practices for your website, Idea Custom Solutions is here to help.

As we’ get ready to start a new fiscal year, some of you may be reviewing your budget and realizing you need to trim some of the fat. With custom apparel embroidery businesses, one of the first things people suggest is moving digitizing in-house. Cut the costs of outsourcing and you save your company the money, right? Wrong. Whatever you’re saving in cost, you’ll likely end up spending more in lost time. Here’s why it’s more expensive and less productive to DIY your digitizing.