Due to rocky economic
conditions, many businesses have been forced to dramatically reduce their
marketing budgets. Instead, many are turning to customized promotional products
to maintain marketing efforts without breaking their budget. These types of
products may include corporate gifts, merchandise, custom t-shirt printing or
any other product that can have a logo printed on it.
What makes promotional products so effective? People love free things. It really doesn’t matter if you’re giving out pens, water bottles or notepads; people will appreciated whatever it is that you give them. These items keep your business name on the person’s mind and your act of giving them a free item immediately leaves a good impression on the person.
As far as marketing strategies go, promotional products are long term. They can still bring in new clients or customers years after they have been distributed. This is a major reason why so many large corporations still hand out promotional products regardless of how prominent their name is in the industry. At the end of the day, it is a cost effective marketing strategy, especially when compared to other methods.
When these promotional items were used as a sole marketing strategy, consumer impression of the brand was increased by a staggering 84 percent and consumer interest in the brand was increased by 69 percent.
Similar research also suggests that promotional products:
- Are effective as a standalone or separate marketing tool
- Improve a consumer’s interest in and impression of a brand
- Motivate consumers to make a purchase
- Complement a company’s other marketing strategies and advertising campaigns
- Offer the consumer valuable information about the company or product
- Help increase customer loyalty
- Improve product recall
In addition to this, consumers enjoy receiving promotional items and are more likely to believe that the company cares about them.
There are a plethora of promotional items on the market today. Examples include: t-shirts, key-chains, mugs, pens, hats, water bottles, notepads and other inexpensive token items.
Here’s a great article on why t-shirts make such effective
promo products.
There are a few things to keep in mind when selecting the
promotional items you will use in your advertising campaigns:
1. What is the goal (or goals) of your campaign. Brand
recognition? Acquiring new customers? Improve existing customer relationships?
2. Plan ahead. It will take a few weeks to have customized
promotional products created, so make sure you get your ducks in a row well
before you want to start getting you items out to the public. Failing to plan
is planning to fail!
3. Get creative when it comes to the distribution of your
products, as this will make it memorable for the recipients and increase the
impact of the campaign.
4. Choose products that lots of people will see. You don’t want
your promotional items to be hidden away—you want them to be displayed, passed
around and shared. Paperweights and refrigerator magnets are two examples of
items that remain in site and get seen by others.
By following these
common sense principles—and maybe thinking outside of the box a little, you can
make a small marketing budget go a long way with promotional products. To get
your own custom made promotional products contact Merch Industries at www.merchindustries.com.
