Last updated on January 7th, 2022
Marketers have used promotional products for ages as an effective means of advertising a business. Under this method, a business owner gives away anything to the potential consumers.
A wide range of products of daily use such as bags, glassware, wearable, desk items, calendars, writing instruments, etc makes the perfect gift for business promotion. These gifts have a logo of the company.
Many such items become part of daily lives of the recipients for a long time. Thus, the products with a business logo turn into a potent tool of marketing a brand.
The cheapest yet most effective tool
Many surveys have revealed how important promotional products are for business promotion. According to the British Promotional Merchandise Association, 79% of the recipients of promotional products think of doing business with the company.
The association is dedicated to the research for the usefulness of the promotional products for marketing. The survey disclosed that 66% of the recipients of the promotional products can recall the name of the brand or company.
According to another research, American business owners spend around $20 billion on giving away the products. A fast-food restaurant invested $181 in promotional products, which increased its food sales by more than $1,200, a report says.
The Promotional Products Association International conducted a study entitled “High End, Low End: Which Promotional Products Work Best” It said: “More than a fourth of respondents (27 percent) felt significantly more receptive to the company and its objective and 44 percent felt somewhat more receptive to the company and its objective.”
A reason for the traditional marketing still thriving in the digital marketing era is that it continues to be the cheapest way to advertise. Most of the promotional products can be bought in bulk at low prices.
The prices turn out to be even cheaper considering the increased customers attention and brand promotion value the companies get in return. People can recall a brand much quicker as they use the promotional products.
The advertising means such as television, radio and print have a lower brand recall value. This is because these advertisement tools are not so close to the people as promotional merchandise are.
However, your marketing team must plan promotional products programs carefully. The plans should take into consideration several aspects such as budget, audience, goals, etc to target the customers.
Here is what you should consider creating your promotional products strategy.
1. Know Your Objective
Before starting your promotional products campaign, find out your precise goal behind the exercise. Many marketers fail to drive customer attention on expected lines for a simple reason that they did not set the goals of the campaign.
Different businesses may have their own different set of goals. For example, your company may want to attract more people to a trade show exhibition or it may be aiming to increase sales.
The goal may simply be to show gratitude towards your customers for being loyal to your company and business. The entrepreneurs use the promotional products also to make potential consumers aware of a business, company and its product or service.
Some companies motivate partners, customers, and prospects for encouraging them to do a specific task. The promotional products are also a way to convey a non-marketing message such as inviting people to a get-together event.
2. Pick the Products Relevant to Your Business
If the promotional products are relevant to your business, the recipients are more likely to recall your brand. For example, if you run a clinic, giving away a product like a branded hand sanitizer will draw your potential customers’ attention more than an irrelevant product like an inexpensive pen.
Similarly, a food company can offer a promotional drinkware or aprons with its logos. If the products match with the company’s business and industry, people can recognize your brand instantly when they shop for your product or services.
3. Choose Good Quality
People surely appreciate the high quality of products. Your promotional products program need not be too expensive to drive the customers. But pay attention to the good quality of the merchandise so that it helps build an image of a trustworthy brand.
An inferior quality product can do more harm to your company’s brand image than good. You may be disappointing your recipients and even upsetting them if you give away low quality products.
Pick some branded merchandise that is useful to the people. Choose the products that can represent your company well.
4. Set a Distribution Plan
Distribute your promotional products in a planned way. For example, you can send an email to the select recipients regarding the free merchandise distribution before an event. This measure will drive more trade show traffic to the event.
This will also generate more qualified leads. This is a better distribution strategy than simply delivering the products to passerby at an event abruptly.
5. Deliver the Products with a Theme
Your promotional merchandise has your company’s logo for business promotion. But make the campaign memorable for your potential customers. Create a theme for the campaign. The theme should have your brand message.
The message should be such that it solidifies your company’s market position. A catchy and strategically crafted theme will linger on in the audience’s mind for a long time. For example, a company developed a magic motif.
When it attended a conference at Disney World, it delivered promotional magic-related products with the theme ‘’Experience the magic at DisneyR.’’ Similarly, a bank noticed that small businesses are facing hurdles to get loans.
The bank sensed a business opportunity in attracting these customers. So, the bank distributed some fish related promotional products. But it also added a strategically created theme “Are you tired of being treated like a small fish?’’. With this, the bank also added some promotional literature.
The company in the following example, delivered its stain remover product in the shape of a kitchen-stain.
Can you come out with such unique promotional theme?
6. Personalize the Items
We all value our relationships with friends and family members. Your promotional products strategy must also consider ways to build relationship with your potential customers or existing clients.
The recipients will remember your gifts for a long time if they get it with a personalized message. Sometimes, putting name of the recipient on the product is a good starting point for building the relationship.
Another way to personalize the products is to research your audience to know more about their backgrounds. Find out some of their common concerns. You can then write something that touches their heart and makes the gift memorable.
7. Use Regifting to Your Advantage
Very few people like it when they received a used gift. But regifting as a marketing tool can yield the desired results. All you need to do is to give away two of the same product. But leave an instruction to ‘share the wealth’. This will encourage the recipient to give the other item to someone else. This means that you will have another potential customers’ attention drawn to your business. You will get a double impact from the gifts delivered to one person.
Hope that these tips will help you create a precise marketing strategy for your promotional products program. If implemented with a focused approach, it will bring increasing number of customers in a cost-effective way.
