In the world of marketing, promotional products have become a popular and effective way for businesses to increase brand awareness and customer loyalty. However, simply giving away these products as freebies without a clear purpose can be a wasted opportunity. By setting clear goals and using promotional products as part of a larger marketing mix, businesses can achieve much greater success.
What Are Promotional Products?
Simply put, promotional products are any item that you can brand with your company name and/or logo and use to improve your visibility with current and potential customers. This visibility, or “stick-ability,” is ultimately what you want to achieve with any form of marketing. Promotional products have the power to dramatically increase your brand/company visibility and recall.
The Power of Promotional Products
While promotional products are generally thought of as useful items with a company logo or message, good promotional products not only showcase your brand, but actually achieve measurable results, as long as you follow four rules:
- They must be targeted to your audience. There’s no point in giving out business card holders to children or USB sticks to a sports club when water bottles or sports towels would have been much more appropriate.
- They must have an effective marketing message, i.e. a clear call to action (CTA) that encourages the recipient to do something, go somewhere or take some other action.
- They must reach qualified prospects. Instead of trying to market to “everyone,” be choosy about who your real target audience is, where you can find them, and how you can convince them to buy what you’re offering.
- They must be given at the right time. The only difference between salad and garbage is timing; the same goes for your marketing approach.
The best promotional product consultants in the world are those who advise their clients on mastering these four factors of successful promotional product and gift usage, and unleashing the power of promotional products!
Reaping the Rewards of Sustainable Marketing
Promotional products are extremely efficient because they succeed in placing themselves directly in front of your target audience and remaining there (especially when the above four rules are followed).
Consider this when using direct mail. Studies have shown that including a gift or promotional product can increase the open rate of a direct mail piece by up to 75%. This is good to know when it comes to acquiring new customers.
After opening and reading your direct mail piece, the promotional product continues to work, creating a lasting impression of your company, as well as a permanent reminder. This creates a tangible impression that lasts long after the letter has been opened. That’s what sustainable marketing is all about.
Long after your sales letter or visit to that customer is over, the sticky note pad or high-quality pen is used repeatedly, ingraining your company image and associated positive message in the recipient’s memory.
The frequency of presence and low cost per impression make promotional products a particularly valuable marketing tool. If you send sticky notes with a message printed on them and each pad has 100 pages, the message will be seen 100 times. You can easily double or triple this if the pages are shared – as is usually the case with sticky notes.
If you give someone a coffee mug with your logo and message, that design will be displayed every time the mug is used or washed. If the person drinks coffee with others, this increases the advertising impact even more.
Multiple impressions of your company create brand awareness, and this is one of the keys to increasing your market share, which in turn is one of the keys to the success of any business.
The Importance of Setting Clear Goals
When considering promotional products, it’s important to define a clear objective. For example, a car dealer might order 1000 keychains to send out to households in their area as a marketing tactic. However, if the promotional product advisor asks, “What are you hoping to achieve with this?” the car dealer might reveal their goal of promoting a financing offer or a new car line.
But what if instead of just sending out plain keychains, the car dealer attached a key to each one and invited recipients to try it on a new car in the showroom? Each key that successfully unlocked the car would win a prize, with the grand prize being the car itself. This type of promotion can generate much more traffic and excitement than a simple giveaway.
Similarly, a pharmacy might want to promote its new website and offerings to households within a two-kilometer radius. Rather than just sending out a newsletter, they could include a promotional magnet with an invitation to participate in a giveaway. By investing a bit more, the pharmacy can achieve much greater results.
Key Questions to Ask
When planning a promotional product campaign, it’s important to consider several key questions:
- What do you want to achieve with your marketing?
- Are you trying to motivate people, and if so, to do what?
- How will you measure your results?
- Are you more interested in raising awareness or increasing sales?
By working with a promotional product advisor who understands your goals, you can find creative solutions that align with your desired outcomes.
The Importance of Planning
To ensure the success of a promotional product campaign, businesses must also plan effectively. Rushing the process increases the likelihood of Murphy’s Law coming into play – if something can go wrong, it probably will.
Promotional product campaigns often involve coordinating with multiple vendors, such as manufacturers, printers, packagers, and delivery companies. By allowing these professionals to do what they do best and giving them adequate time, businesses can ensure the best results.
In addition, developing a close relationship with your promotional product advisor over time can lead to a better understanding of your brand, logo, and company rules, as well as what does and doesn’t work for your business. By carefully selecting a promotional product advisor, businesses can unlock the true power of promotional products.
In Conclusion
Promotional products are an essential part of any comprehensive marketing mix. By setting clear goals, planning effectively, and working with a knowledgeable promotional product advisor, businesses can achieve great success with these powerful marketing tools. If you’re considering promotional products for your business, take the time to find a reliable and experienced advisor and unlock the power of promotional products.
Over the years we have supplied promotional products to hundreds of European promotional product advisors and importers directly from China and are happy to give a recommendation!