Marketing is key to making your business a success – after all, how are you meant to win customers if people don’t even know that you exist? There are lots of different methods for getting your name out there, from a full scale advertising campaign through to direct mail and social media marketing, but many small businesses are increasingly choosing to make their mark with fleet vehicle branding.
Boosting brand recognition
Fleet vehicle branding simply means applying decals or graphics to your fleet vehicles in order to turn them into moving billboards for your business. This type of marketing activity can be a really effective way of improving the visibility of your brand; branded vehicles receive up to 3,000 impressions per hour and research suggests they are more effective than any other form of advertising in terms of boosting brand recognition.
What’s more, fleet vehicle branding is not just a one-dimensional marketing activity. By including information such as special offers, customer testimonials or social media details, for example, on your graphics, you can tie your vehicle in with your other promotional activities and increase customer engagement.
Making your mark
Fleet vehicle branding is undoubtedly an effective marketing tool but in order to get the most from the exercise and really make your mark it’s important to approach it carefully and take some key considerations into account.
Before you make a start on the design you need to consider your key messages, target audiences and what you want your vehicle branding to achieve. Graphics can vary from a simple logo to a full vehicle wrap, and focusing on these questions can help you to narrow down your options and choose the right design for your brand.
When it comes the design itself it’s important that the graphics are eye-catching but also simple enough for people to read and understand whilst on the go. Text-heavy designs are a definite no-no and your key messages should be front and centre. Perhaps most importantly, the design should be consistent with the rest of your branding to avoid confusion and provide a seamless customer experience.
Quality is key
The quality of the work is also key. Your vehicle will be many people’s first contact with your brand so it’s crucial to project a professional image – and poor quality graphics will have the opposite effect, potentially harming your brand image. To avoid this, it’s important to opt for high quality finishes that have been specially designed and formulated for this purpose, and to choose a company that is experienced in vehicle graphic design and can show you examples of previous projects. And remember, your designers are not mind readers, so be sure to fully brief them on your requirements and be prepared to take any advice they have to give on board.
Fleet vehicle graphics are most commonly associated with traders such as electricians, plumbers and builders. However they have so much more potential and the benefits can be applied to almost any business that uses fleet vehicles. So, if you have company vehicles out on the road, fleet vehicle branding could be a great option for you, helping you to increase your reach and take your business from strength to strength.