Paper napkins… that unimpressive, unexciting, yet essential business expense that decreases your bottom line and serves no purpose beyond baseline functionality. But what if your napkins worked for you? What if your napkins made you money?
Paper Napkins in the Digital World
Once upon a time, paper products were standard. We had paper mail, paper maps, business forms, phonebooks, menus, et cetera, et cetera… Yet the farther we delve into the digital realm, we watch more and more paper products reach obsolescence. Small businesses struggle to convert their limited marketing budgets to the digital realm, chasing an ever-evolving slough of digital customers. Yet they drown in masses of sub-par digital content.
For small business owners with limited time and slim profit margins, this proves problematic. Tossing more money into the digital void is a terrifying prospect with no guarantee of ROI.
Paper napkins, a commonplace, unimpressive essential, cannot be mechanized. And they are your perfect medium for in-your-face marketing.
Marketing Opportunities for Custom Printed Napkins
Custom printed napkins, or napkins selectively personalized for your company or organization, provide a unique branding opportunity. Duplicating your corporate logo inundates your customer with you, your message, your company, and your purpose. More creatively, napkins play canvas to infinite marketing ideas: print with games, clever sayings, useful coupons. Print on all four panels and open your napkins like a book. Print your logo, donate to local businesses, and advertise like a tiny billboard throughout the city. We even print QR codes on napkins (ScanNap), linking your customers directly to your digital content. Creativity is your only limitation.
Unique Marketing Attributes of Custom Printed Napkins
Paper napkins are portable, utilitarian, and personal. Customers will stash your napkins in briefcases and purses, to store in glove boxes, cabinets, and junk drawers everywhere. When used later, your message is still there, staring your customers in the face. Did they have a lovely dinner? Remind them! Did they enjoy your event, did they intend to recommend you to friends, but forgot? Remind them! The world is busy, your customers are forgetful, and your message needs to be a part of your customer’s daily life to have a lasting impact. Custom napkins do just that.
Best of all, napkins are uniquely affordable. Consider the resources and labor that go into constantly washing and folding non-disposable napkins, and the cost to replace them after they inevitably wear out with constant use. Custom printed tissue is an incredibly inexpensive medium, just $0.007 per inch of print, and provide a unique, more hygienic option against traditional cloth napkins.
The unassuming paper napkin… an unrefined diamond of marketing potential.
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