Branded merchandise offers organizations powerful ways to amplify culture, enrich the employee experience, and strengthen external branding simultaneously. But building an online company swag store encompassing quality custom apparel, lifestyle gear, promotional products, and beyond requires upfront investments, like any solid strategy.
Understandably, CFOs seek assurances that corporate merchandise ROI outweighs associated costs before allocating budgets. The good news? Quantitative analytics paired with anecdotal feedback provides compelling proof that thoughtful swag initiatives return exponential dividends across key metrics from recruitment to retention when executed systematically.
Here are five ways to measure online company swag store success beyond initial profit and loss statements:
Track Brand Impressions Through Employees
Calculate invaluable brand impressions made whenever employees sport branded apparel externally. Say your software firm provides matching technical jackets for conferences. Collect data on the number of people interacting at sponsored hackathons where engineers flaunt sleek outerwear. Or document logo recognition from sales reps wearing branded golf shirts and meeting vendors for nine holes.
Tallying exposures makes quantifying ripple effects simpler. For example, estimate how much equivalent out-of-home advertising real estate would cost to achieve comparable impressions. Compare online swag store gear amplified digitally through employees’ social channels for bonus leverage. The halo effect surpasses payroll deduction line items substantially.
Monitor Social Engagement Response
Develop designated campaign hashtags like #reppingthebrand tied to swag gifting initiatives, then track engagement rates on platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter. Company contests awarding apparel bundles for the most viral posts connected to branded messaging present another way to measure audience reach.
Consider that stirring up social buzz also equates to free research, uncovering which designs, products, or slogans optimally resonate externally. Identify colors, graphics, and lifestyle imagery that perform best online to refine future branded merchandise even more sharply. Digital analytics inform and inspire invention simultaneously.
Survey Internal Swag Store Sentiment
Gauge the impact of the employee experience on online company swag through quick polls and sentiment scoring. Ask staff questions like:
● On a scale of 1-10, how proud are you to wear branded apparel representing us?
● How has free or discounted access to company merchandise influenced your job satisfaction either way?
Solicit open feedback on the types of custom corporate swag people want to see more or less of, from color choices to fabric qualities. Continuous surveys illuminate merchandise gaps to address or highlight standout products to replicate across future branding. Most importantly, sentiment signals guide leaders on how swag perks improve workplace positivity, morale, and energy flowing into external interactions.
Review Glassdoor & Comparable Sites
Is custom company merchandise mentioned in Glassdoor reviews or other employer rating platforms by candidates and employees? Positive callouts confirm relevancy, making organizations attractive amidst fierce hiring climates. Constructive critiques of swag offerings likewise show people notice and care about branding collateral as part of workplace experience.
Pay attention to how your merchandise strategy stacks against competitors hashed out on review sites. Does branded gear edge out other perks that explain why staff stick around? Or are competitors doing a better job of making apparel discounts genuinely compelling? Don’t underestimate the internal and external intel freely shared online about merchandising wins and pitfalls.
Calculate Cost Savings Against Other Methods
Compare investing in online company swag platforms to traditional awareness tactics like TV advertisements and billboards. Significantly lower production costs making custom tees still generate impressive brand lift through employees simultaneously acting as walking ambassadors. Rather than paying external models or agencies, your internal talent incubates organic endorsements at a fraction of the price for the patient but with profitable returns.
Branded merchandise also holds up strongly versus other promotional items like mugs, pens, or bumper stickers, which have limited lifespans before hitting landfills. Quality garments withstand washing, travel, and daily wear, keeping logos circulating sustainably. Analyze hard cost and waste differences to demonstrate how apparel provides combined financial and eco upside.
Beyond hard figures, remember influencer effects, where branded goods spark conversations about corporate values, community initiatives, or purpose-led transformations. Employees sharing gear with families and friends educate networks. Small businesses ordering custom shirts for local fundraisers give back. Keep tabs on those invaluable connections over time, stemming back to initial orders.
The Bottom Line
An online company swag store requires earnest number-crunching to justify budgets. But leaning into both quantitative tracking and qualitative surveys spotlights compounding ripples. Employees act as billboards through apparel worn externally. Candid feedback surfaces merchandise gaps and standout pieces. Savings against traditional media emerge by leveraging in-house culture ambassadors already on the payroll.
Add up the savings from the avoided costs of high-priced marketing replacements to make sound business cases. Though trickier to capture in spreadsheets, the positive social reach, recruitment advantages, and culture branding lift count significantly, too. Analyses affirm that merchandise investments yield unmatched exposure, with employees’ help boosting brands to new heights through quality swag.
