Promote Your Brand on the Road

Building up brand recognition is a long and difficult process. When you start a new business, you need to get your brand name in front of people several times before your brand message will stick in their minds.  The best way to do this is to run several consistent advertising campaigns, combined with a regular programme of trade show attendance and other marketing tools.

Show Off Your Brand On the Move
If you're spending money on trade show attendance, you may as well make use of those display units for extra marketing on the road too. You probably have a relationship with some trailer manufacturers thanks to your trade show attendance, so why not use those trailers to promote your brand or product during the rest of the year too?
If you spend any length of time driving on motorways, you've probably noticed how effective vehicle branding can be.  When you're stuck behind a trailer with a company logo and a slogan printed on it, you can't help but read it, and after a few exposures, the message sticks in your head.
Perhaps the most effective marketing, though, comes from setting up a trailer or a large display unit in town.  Promoting a "road trip" as part of a new product launch is great viral marketing. You can hand out free samples and promotional materials, or invite people to visit your trailer to see product demos, sign up for your newsletter, or otherwise engage with your brand.

Embracing Technology
You don't have to stick to just plain old branded trailers.  In addition to using your company logo, consider getting a QR code put on the side of your van. Or, get the trailer manufacturers to deck out your trailer with plenty of luxuries, and run a live blogging and tweeting campaign to entice people to visit the trailer.

Great Giveaways
Once you've attracted people's attention, you want to make sure that they remember you, and think positively about you.  This means that if you offer a QR code, you've got to make sure that people get something nice as a reward for taking the time to photograph it and visit it.  Your visitors will not be impressed if they dig out their smartphone and risk being late for work in order to visit a link that turns out to just point to your regular home page.
As a thank-you for people that take the time to visit your trailer, consider handing out some nice promotional gifts such as stationery, t-shirts, product samples, or discount booklets.  You don't have to hand out expensive items, just something to make people glad that they spent the time to drop by.

Using Street Teams
Hiring a street team to promote your product can be an effective way of generating buzz without having to spend a lot of money.   This sort of marketing works best for products aimed at younger demographics.  If you get a street team to advertise for you in a busy student town, you can often get amazing results.

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Article by Amy Fowler