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Marketing your Business using Promotional Products

March 21, 2019 By Alina

Giving out promotional products is a great way to keep your name in front of past and potential customers. Use this advice to choose the best way to use promotional items for marketing your business.

Here are some tips regarding choosing and using promotional products with your business.

What to Give Away

Almost anything you can think of can be turned into a promotional item.

Some of the more common and most successful promotional items include:

Pens and other writing instruments
Apparel (t-shirts, hats, outerwear, etc.)
Food
Water bottles
Reusable shopping bags
Calendars

Logo or No-go?

You probably assume that every promotional item should have your company logo on it. After all that’s the point of advertising, right? Not necessarily.

Sometimes personalizing the item for the client makes more sense. Putting a good customer’s name on a ballpoint pen, water bottle, or reusable shopping bag ensures they will use it – and tell others where they got it.

By the way, a small company logo is OK; just make sure the customer’s personal identification is prominent.

Clothing Caution

The caution against logos on items goes double for t-shirts, hats, and so forth. You love your company and the logo that goes with it. Unless you are a truly beloved brand, – think Nike – chances are your customers will not relish the thought of wearing a ball cap with your logo on it.

If, however, you can include a logo with a catchy original slogan, you might have a winner. Examples from the past include “Where’s the Beef?” (Wendy’s), “Got Milk?”(American Dairy Association), or “We Try Harder” (Avis).

Environmental Targeting

It’s probably not what you think it is. Environmental targeting means to give items that will be used in the environment where decisions that involve your product or service will be made.

For example, if you operate an online business, give out mouse pads or flash drives – items that will be used when decision makers are at their computers thinking about placing an order.

Avoid Short Shelf Life

Try to select items that will be around for a long time. In other words, instead of an imprinted pad of sticky notes, go for a holder that can be used repeatedly.

One exception to the short shelf life rule is food. At certain times of the year – major holidays – a promotional gift of food is welcome and appreciated.

Logos Can Be Winners

Your employees, on the other hand, working trade shows or county fairs, should be outfitted in matching shirts, hats, or whatever else is appropriate for the setting. That is a smart use of logo emblazoned clothing and serves the advertising purpose without looking forced.

Another place you can use clothing with logos is with your best customers. They have that “love” attachment to your brand and will truly appreciate the special recognition you give them by presenting them with branded clothing.

Reward Referrals

Another area in which a logoed item works well is when someone has given you a referral. Reward the referral with the company brand and they will feel as if they are special. Again, choice of more than one item would be best.

Choice is King

If possible, let customers select a promotional item – assuming it is not personalized – from several you have available. Someone who wants and needs a pen will actually use it. The customer or prospect who could use an envelope opener will select that.

Give Something Get Something

When you give a promotional item to a customer or prospect, you set up an expectation that often makes them want to do business with you. You don’t have to say anything or make a big deal of it, but they will feel an obligation.

Break the Ice by Being Nice

Giving out promotional products is a good way to “break the ice” and start up a conversation. Sometimes that’s all it takes and next thing you know, the two of you are communicating.

Attention, We’re Here!

At trade shows and community events, everyone wants to be noticed. It’s how you engage with potential customers. Nothing beats FREE stuff when it comes to getting attention. If what you are handing out is unique or novel, word-of-mouth spreads and you will be swamped.

Exhibit Surveys, Inc. said a study it conducted determined trade show participants who gave out promotional items had a 176 percent increase in traffic versus those who did not.

Regifting is Good

The idea of receiving a gift and giving it to someone else is not generally considered good sportsmanship in normal relationships. In business, especially when it comes to promotional products, the more mileage that item gets the better.

In general, you don’t have to do much to encourage regifting of a promotional item. It happens naturally. In some cases, however, giving away two of an item with instructions to “share the wealth” is an easy way to double your advertising impact with little effort on your part.

There you have it. Like anything, too much of a good thing can become a bad thing but when done right, the money you spend will be returned to you many times over.

Why should you use promotional products for your business

March 21, 2019 By Alina

In my humble opinion, every business should incorporate promotional products into their ad campaigns. Promo items are great for helping new companies establish their brands and helping existing companies increase their sales and find new leads. When customers use promo items, they give other people a look at a company’s logo, and that just keeps generating interest. It’s the Circle of Promotional Life, you know?

Need some proof that promos are crucial and effective?

Promotional Consultants: The Rock Stars Of The Marketing

World Need 1,000 screen-printed t-shirts for a concert? Done! How about 500 whistles to hand out at a marathon? No Problem! Promotional consultants develop solutions for marketing challenges. From increasing brand awareness to increasing tradeshow traffic, promotional consultants are experts in the field of promotional products and can solve any marketing dilemma you may have. There are more than 20,000 consultant firms in the industry!

It’s a bird. It’s a plane. No! It’s a promotional product!

From lip balm to a wireless mouse to paper airplanes, promotional products come in all shapes, sizes & colors. In many cases, it’s even possible to obtain custom items that aren’t usually found in promotional product catalogs. If you can see it and touch it, it’s most likely available as a promotional product. This allows you to customize a marketing campaign so that it is more relevant to a specific demographic.

Business is Booming

Every day you hear about a new endurance race, a new music festival, a new community event. Today’s consumers expect brands to reach them on a personal level. What better way to connect with consumers at these events than with promotional products? In 2011, advertisers spent more than $18 billion in products purchased through promotional consultants.

Spread The Word

Promotional product incentives produce valuable referrals from satisfied customers. A survey conducted Louisiana State University indicated accompanying a request for referrals with an offer of a promotional product incentive drew as many as 500% more referrals as an appeal letter alone. The results speak for themselves!

Enhance Marketing Campaigns

Adding a promotional product to the media mix generated favorable attitudes toward a print ad in all cases. The use of a promotional product as the advertising medium alone achieved maximum impact, up to 69% increasing brand interest and 84% in creating a good impression of the brand.

Positive Impact On Brand Image

Recipients of promotional products have a significantly positive opinion of a business through:

Increase in positive overall image
More positive perception of the business
Higher likelihood of recommending the business
Higher likelihood of patronizing the business .

Endless Array Of Options

With over 3,900 suppliers in the industry, there are hundreds of thousands of promotional products that can fit any budget. Having a variety of options allows for greater flexibility when planning out a marketing campaign of any size.

Quick Turnaround Time

Often times, new marketing opportunities arise out of the blue and require quick action. Luckily, promotional consultants usually have a list of products that can be turned around quickly to meet your needs. There are even products that can be shipped within 24-hours of placing an order! Fun and Handy People love receiving promotional products, there’s no denying it. Whether it’s a little boy playing with a yo-yo from the local bakery to a woman carrying a tote from her nail salon, promotional products are appreciated and welcomed in all walks of life. 90.4% reported either currently owning or possessing a promotional product received within the last 24 months.

Fun and Handy

People love receiving promotional products, there’s no denying it. Whether it’s a little boy playing with a yo-yo from the local bakery to a woman carrying a tote from her nail salon, promotional products are appreciated and welcomed in all walks of life. 90.4% reported either currently owning or possessing a promotional product received within the last 24 months.

25 Insane Facts About Promotional Products

March 21, 2019 By Alina

If you’re in the business of promotional products, you know the impact they can have on an organization’s marketing efforts. But do you know these fun facts about promotional products?

Eight in 10 consumers own between one and 10 promotional products.

Fifty-three percent of these people use a promotional product at least once a week.

Six in 10 of them keep promotional products for up to two years.

Only one in five people will trash an unwanted promotional product.

Before receiving a promotional product, 55 percent of people had done business with the advertiser. After receiving a promotional product, 85 percent of people did business with the advertiser.

With nearly six thousand impressions, bags generate more impressions than any other promotional product in the U.S.

Thirty-one percent of U.S. consumers own a promotional bag.

At one-tenth of a cent, bags tie with writing instruments for the lowest cost per impression of any promotional product in the U.S.

The first known promotional products – commemorative buttons – trace back to 1789 when George Washington was elected president.

Fifty-three percent of the time, promotional products create a more favorable impression of the advertiser.

Forty-eight percent of consumers would like to receive promotional products more often.

Consumers hang on to promotional products for an average of 6.6 months.

Sixty-nine percent of consumers would pick up a promotional product if they deemed it useful.

Sixty-three percent of consumers pass along the promotional products they no longer wish to keep.

Eighty-nine percent of consumers can recall the advertiser of a promotional product they’d received in the last two years.

Ninety-one percent of consumers have at least one promotional product in their kitchen, 74 percent have at least one in their work space, 55 percent have at least one in their bedroom.

Seventy-seven percent of consumers say a promotional product’s usefulness is the number-one reason to keep it, with health and safety products, computer products and writing instruments ranked as the most useful.

The top five buyers of promotional products are clients in education, finance, not-for-profit, healthcare, and construction.

Wearables are the top product category, followed by writing instruments, bags, calendars and drinkware.

The first promotional product tradeshow was held in 1914 – there were 32 exhibitors.

Women are more likely to have bags, writing instruments and calendars, whereas men are more likely to own shirts and caps.

Ownership of logoed outerwear is highest in the Midwest, with 15 percent of people owning an item.

Logoed mugs in particular are more effective advertising than radio and television spots; 57 percent of people were able to recall the advertiser on a mug, versus 32 percent of radio and 28 percent of T.V.

Adding a promotional product to the media mix increases the effectiveness of other media by up to 44 percent.

Promotional products draw as many as 500 percent more referrals from satisfied customers than an appeal letter alone.

Do you have prospective clients who are skeptical about the power of promotional products? Share this blog with them and they’ll be true believers in no time!