5 Important Reasons You Need Name Tags for Your Events.

*5 Minutes Read

Introduction

Custom name tags are often not the first thing that pop up in your mind when it comes to planning an event. It is insignificant, and you might wonder if this part of the event preparation is even necessary.

Besides official business events, these tags can be used for weddings, reunions, meet-ups and networking events, volunteer and community events, baby showers, school events, parents-teacher meetings, and more.

5 Important Reasons for Having Custom Tags

Looking at the pros and cons, the benefits of having a batch of custom tags for your next event outweigh any sacrifices in terms of time on your event team’s side. Here are some reasons why you should make name tags for your next event.

1.They Help People to Form Connections

Everyone likes to hear their own name being called. Research had shown that feel good hormones such as serotonin and dopamine are released into your brain when you hear your own name being called and it makes people happy and compassionate, making networking easier. People warm up to one another faster when they meet people who call out their names, and with name tags or a custom label stick-on, it is easier for you to see and call out someone else’s name. At large events and business conferences, this will make a good first impression on your co-workers and business partners, and start your business relationship on a good note.

2. They Can Communicate Other Information 

A name tag or an event badge can communicate more than just a name. Many people attend events and conferences to network, and attendees who want to know who they should connect with. They can easily be able to instantly identify industry partners, speakers, affiliates, sponsors and so on. Hence, you should also include such other information on your name tags such as designation, industry, email address and company name. Your tags can even be colour-coded according to certain industries or sectors to make networking easier.

3. They Can Act as a Conversation Starter 

An event name tag can act as a quick conversation starter. You can approach people easier, and that, plus good starter topics such as ‘tell me more about yourself’ and ‘working on anything exciting lately?’, can break down barriers between people, spark interesting, deep and memorable conversations and quickly help build a rapport among event-goers.

4. They Serve as A Reminder 

For those of us that are bad with names, identification tags serve as a reminder of the other person’s name, and that’s what really matter in a networking event. Sometimes, in the midst of an event, we might meet so many people that when we get around to the same person, we might forget his name momentarily. Name tags are there to help us easily remember their names and pick up where we leave off just a while ago.

5. They Can Serve as Marketing Opportunities 

Event organisers can also add in a QR code that leads to your company’s social media accounts. With everyone having a mobile phone with them, pulling it out and just scanning the QR code will make connecting and keeping in contact so much quicker and easier! You can also add in Facebook, Twitter or Linkedin handles to increase your brand awareness and boost your followers on social media too.

Tips to Make Name Tags for Your Next Event 

How do you make professional name tags for your next event? Here’s everything you need to know, such as what type of tags are right for you, how to design them, what information to put, and how to display them professionally on your registration table.

Decide on Who Is Going to Design Them

The first step in your process is to decide who is going to design your name tags. Are you going to do it yourself, ask one of your marketing staff or designer to do it, or outsource it to third-party design services? All of them are viable options, and you should decide based on your budget and the amount of time you have. There are also tons of design options online for you to seek inspiration from if you need. 

Decide on the Information to Print on them

Decide on the information that you want to print on the name tags. Most of the time, just printing the event name, sponsors’ logos, and the participant’s full name, email address, designation and company name is sufficient, though sometimes, you might want to also print information such as their positions or titles, the industry they belong to. Most importantly, choose a simple text, and bold and dark colour font.

Get all the details of the participants during the RSVP or ticket sales process. In this way, you do not need to check their details again, or ask for their information more than once.

Choose the Shape of Your Name Tags 

Next, you should choose the shape of your name tags. Standard shapes include rectangular, square or circular, though you may also get creative and opt for heart-shapes, hexagons, or more. You can also choose to customise your name tags.

As a guide, you might want to keep the sizes to between 57.3mm to 67.7mm, and 99.1mm wide because any smaller, the resulting text may be difficult to read, and if the sizes are too large, the identification tags may become too big or overwhelming for participants to wear it on their clothes.

Choose A Material

The materials that you can use include stainless steel, aluminum, brass, or laminated plastic and paper if you have a budget for the event. Make sure you ask for those materials that are scratch-, tarnish- and corrosion-proof, or at least there is a protective laminating on top. If you are looking for high-end premium name tags, you should use metal, as professionally, name tags will look the best if you use this material. 

Usually, engraving is used to imprint the names and information on the name tags for the materials, even for paper and plastic. Other methods include embossing and laser etching. The materials you choose for your name tags, your design and your budget will affect the marking method used. With metals as the material, you will have more choices of the marking methods, while for papers and plastics, you will have less choices. 

Types of Name Tags

There are many types of name tags to choose from, such as laminated adhesive paper or plastic name tags, clip-on name tags, name tags with strong magnets, stickers or name tags on lanyards. You should choose the type of name tags based on your event, such as how formal or informal it is.

Colour-Coding Your Tags 

You might want to explore using colour codes or different graphics and markers to differentiate between participants of different groups, professions or interests, for example. Colour identification tags will help them find one another and greatly facilitates networking.