A quality tote bag can speak louder than words about your brands and business. Custom tote bags with your logo or slogan on them can make your business, brand, or event linger on your customers’ minds longer. That’s why both small and large companies now heavily rely on custom totes to get their message across and help grow brand recognition.
What’s more, tote bags have gradually morphed into the ultimate statement accessories and more and more people are willing to carry them and replace waste producing plastic bags with reusable totes.
Think about it. If you give a personalized tote with your logo on it as a gift to your conference attendees, business partners, and even employees, your brand will stick to those people’s minds for several months and even years, boosting your business opportunities like no other.
8 Reasons to Use Custom Tote Bags to Ramp Up Your Business
1. Millennials Love Businesses with a ‘Green’ Vibe
Since Millennials are the largest generation to join the U.S. workforce EVER, you will have to market to them all the time. That’s why you need to know what makes Millennials really tick. One thing that almost any Millennial is concerned about is sustainability. Millennials have been experiencing an increasing environmental awareness and companies that try to become greener instantly catch their attention.
When trying to build brand awareness and recognition with eco-friendly promotional items like the reusable tote bag, you have the surefire recipe for success with the Millennial generation.
A tote bag will suggest to your average Millennial that your business is oriented toward greener alternatives and reducing waste. But make sure that you use only quality totes that won’t break down after a single use to get this message across. A durable tote will be reused time and time again and your brand will remain on your potential customers’ minds long time.
If you want to walk the extra mile, use promotional totes that are eco-friendly by design such as organic cotton totes, which means that the cotton was grown without pesticides and other harmful ingredients for the environment and people and that the production of such cotton sustains local businesses and communities.
2. Custom Tote Bags Are Great for Businesses on a Small Budget
Buying promotional tote bags in bulk for an event or marketing campaign automatically drives the price per unit down. For instance, some of Tote Bag Factory’s premium cotton totes’ price can sink as low as $1.3 per item when bought in bulk.
For a small business that is looking for inexpensive marketing opportunities oftentimes every dollar count, so why not stretching that dollar to the max? However, always take into account other factors when buying wholesale, such as customization costs and your audience’s expectations and needs (you won’t make a good impression with a cheap tote bag that rips after a single use).
3. Custom Totes Turn Users into Walking Ads for Your Business
A custom tote with your name and logo on it that also happens to be visually stunning will be used many times. This means that every time the wearer displays it in public other people learn about your business.
It is estimated that a custom tote can spread the word about your brand and services to up to 1,000 people per dollar spent, or to up to 5,700 people per tote bag. This means that tote bags are the most effective marketing tools to date. Way more effective than flyers and other promotional items that are of no secondary use to your recipients and get immediately tossed away.
It is best to pick promotional totes that are durable, are visually appealing, and can be used in multiple contexts from the workplace to the gym to the grocery store and mall. It is estimated that the average American makes at least a couple of trips to the grocery store every week, which means a lot of exposure for your brand, with the best return of investment one can wish for.
4. Custom Totes Boost Brand Recognition
Every quality promotional item will keep a business on its potential customers’ mind and speak volumes about that business’ care about its customers. It is estimated that a promotional custom tote gets reused for more than 7 months after being received which means a lot of advertising for your brand and a boon for your brand recognition’s growth.
However, don’t rely only on custom totes to make yourself seen. Keep your brand on people’s minds by being present on various websites relevant for your niche, on banners, and other practical freebies like pens and notebooks embellished with your company’s logo.
5. Custom Tote Bags Help Keep Small Businesses Afloat
Many people, mostly Millennials and other young people would rather support a small local business than an international brand. Many young people are so conscious that they actively try to not only support but also promote small businesses that are on their liking.
Some of them praise small businesses they love on their blogs, other in customer reviews, while others simply wear their favorite indie shop’s or other favorite local business day in day out to support the business.
According to a UPS online survey involving 5,000 U.S. shoppers, 93% of Americans prefer small and local businesses to big retailers. The most common reasons for the newfound love for small businesses include:
- Product selection (61% of shoppers enjoy small businesses’ unique products)
- Product availability (49% said that they couldn’t find the products they were looking for at big retailers)
- Supporting the local community (40% of respondents like to support their local community when making purchase decisions)
- Curiosity (29% like to experiment with new retailers)
- Varied assortments (26% believe small businesses offer a broader product assortment than big retailers do)
What’s more, if your promotional bag recipients genuinely love your goods and services, they’ll gladly offer plenty of advertising for free. Just make sure that you keep yourself on their minds with a nice quality custom tote.
6. Totes Bags Keep Waste Down
Regardless of your potential customers’ love for green businesses, a promotional tote bag that can be used many times before giving up its ghost will help dramatically reduce waste.
An eco-friendly tote with your company’s logo on it also manages to educate the users and the general public at large on the importance of keeping waste down and pursuing a sustainable lifestyle.
Replacing that pile of plastic shopping bags with a reusable shopping bag such as a tote helps reduce ocean plastic pollution and unnecessary waste. It is estimated that an average household throws away around 1,500 plastic bags every year. A single plastic shopping bag needs around 500 years to fully break down.
What’s more, ocean plastic pollution kills over 100,000 marine animals annually. But the worst part is that just 1% of the world’s plastic bags are given a new life through recycling programs every year.
That’s why, many states and jurisdictions have started considering a plastic ban. In the U.S. California, New York, and Hawaii have already completely banned single use plastic bags. In New York, the state-wide plastic bag ban comes into effect in March 2020.
Reusable shopping bags help keep waste down because they can be recycled too. Unlike plastic bags, tote bags made out of natural fibers such as cotton and jute can be easily composted while other can be upcycled, i.e. turned in entirely different things or given a new purpose. (Here are some ideas for upcycling the totes you no longer use.)
7. Custom Tote Bags Can Be Great Statement Accessories
Photo credit: pipertheplane on Instagram
Custom tote bags are not only practical, but if the recipient really likes your brand, she will proudly don your custom tote as a statement accessory. In other words, your tote is used to send a message about the user and their status.
For instance, The New Yorker magazine used to give out visually appealing totes to every new subscriber a couple of years ago. The totes became such a huge success among subscribers that even the old subscribers started to demand the totes.
It goes without saying that the number of subscriptions to the American weekly publication skyrocketed as a result. Especially young people sought to be associated with the publication by wearing the stylish tote because they felt that other people perceived them more cultured and sophisticated.
But the New Yorker case is not unique. On a smaller scale, more and more young people ditch the ‘It’ bag for a visually appealing tote, and that tote can carry your logo if you play your cards right.
8. Custom Tote Bags Can Double as Gift Wrap
Since wrapping paper is so wasteful (check out our previous post on the topic: Can Your Recycle Wrapping Paper?), tote bags make an eco-friendly alternative to gift warp. During a company event or fundraiser, you can toss various promotional items in a custom tote bag for event attendees to recall your brand or the event for years to come.
Unlike gift wrap, a custom tote bag will not be thrown away as soon as the gift is unwrapped and is 100% recyclable. Just make sure that the promotional bag is visually appealing enough or that it bears a message that will make your recipients smile or be inspired.