Promotional products aren’t just for niche industry operations. Whether you are a small organization looking to grow your business, or an established company wanting to reach a new market, a product branded with your company name and logo is the most cost-effective way to promote your hallmark. Here are six things your business is missing out on if promotional products aren’t a part of your marketing mix:
Reaching a broader market
When you give away a promotional product, it’s not just the recipient that sees your message. Your audience widens to family members, friends, coworkers, passersby, and anybody who happens to catch a glimpse of your gift. While your main concern should be marketing to your target audience, it doesn’t hurt that promotional products are extremely mobile and can reach audiences to which you’ve never marketed. Promotional products also give you more visibility compared to other advertising mediums. TV ads get fast-forwarded through. Magazine ads get flipped through without hardly a glance. Only promotional products provide a conscious, interactive experience for your marketing message.
A more positive brand image
Creating a positive brand image doesn’t happen overnight—you need to consistently shape your customers’ opinions over the years by delivering what they need and driving home your message with promotional products. Research shows promotional products create a more favorable impression of the advertiser 42 percent of the time. Establish goodwill by associating your brand with charitable or community events by handing out promotional products to highlight your company and its positive involvement.
Happier customers
Happy customers buy and come back. Hand out promotional products to make a situation right (an order mishap or long wait time, for example), or simply give them as a freebie to thank customers for their business. Receiving a gift makes people feel special and shows customers their business is valued and appreciated. Besides, everybody loves a freebie.
Higher direct mail response rates
For direct mail campaigns, bulky is best. Stuff a small, lightweight promotional product in your envelope to boost open rates. Not only will recipients be more likely to open your mail piece, but they will also have a more positive impression of your company and will appreciate the free gift. This is particularly effective if the promotional product you include is useful to them, so try to match products to your target market.
Soak up the buzz
Every business owner wants their company to be talked about (in a positive way, of course) and to drive more sales by word of mouth. Giving out promotional products is a powerful way to attract attention to your brand. This is especially true at tradeshows, where exhibitors are battling to attract attendees to visit their booths. There’s nothing like a cool freebie to break the ice with potential customers and engage them in conversation. Plus, they’re more likely to listen to your marketing pitch because you just gave them a gift.
Making a lasting impression
If your promotional product is useful or appealing to recipients, they’ll keep it and use it. Fifty-three percent of people use a promotional product at least once per week, meaning it gets repeated impressions from both the person using it and anyone who sees that person using it. Repetition is key to remembering a message. By handing out promotional products, you’re giving your audience repeated exposure to your brand, helping them remember your company and what it’s about.
Are you already using promotional products to market your business? If so, share your successes in the comments below. We are always looking for good ideas to share with the community!
Tekweld has a rectangular-shaped compact (MIR200), which is about the same size as a business card. I had my business card info printed on the mirror and currently use it when at networking events. When someone asks for my business card, I hand them a compact mirror instead, which always generates conversation and leads to inquiries about how our business.
That's a genius idea!
It made sense when you said that giving promotional products as gifts can help our customers feel happier by showing them that their business is valuable to us. During our meeting at my work last week, we were discussing ideas for how to increase levels of customer retention for our business. I'm glad I read your article because now I'm excited about having some custom car magnets and other products made that we can start handing out to our customers!
Great points, great way to describe what people are missing by not choosing the promotional products for brand awareness.
It's good to know that free gifts can help show customers that we value and appreciate their business. My brother mentioned that he wants to think of ways to up the customer service and satisfaction at his local service business. Maybe I'll suggest he have some custom promotional shirts made that he can hand out at an event soon!