The pens you’ve got on your desk, or in your bag. Grab them out. Lay them out in front of you. Good. Now get your keys and lay them out. Now check your bag for any napkins or those little moist wipe things you get at the drive through.
If you inspect those pens, your keyring, your napkins, you might notice they have one thing in common. Most of them have logos on them, sometimes a slogan and some contact details. They are promotional products.
You know how you go to places and borrow their pens and end up wandering away with them in your bag? There’s a reason you don’t get tackled by security for doing it. Businesses want you to have promotional products.
First, lets see what wikipedia has to say about promo products;
“Promotional items or promotional products refers to articles of merchandise that are used in marketing and communication programs. The items are usually imprinted or decorated with a company's name, logo or message. Premiums, incentives, business gifts and awards are also considered promotional products. Often distributed at trade shows, used in direct mail and as part of guerilla marketing campaigns, these items are also referred to by the slang terms "swag" and "tchotchke".”
So now we know what the experts have to say about promotional products. But what are they good for? For that we need to go back to the little spread in front of you. You should have at least a couple of logos in front you, I can count three or four on my desk right now. That means that I am a walking advertisement for those logos. In exchange, I get to have a pretty pen (I always need a pen), a keyring (it’s got Milhouse from the Simpsons on it!), or a napkin for those awkward moments, like eating ice cream in the car.
Promotional products shouldn’t be confused with merchandise, which is a whole other kettle of fish. Merchandise is basically the branded products you pay for, the action figures you get from movies and comics, the mugs you get from your favourite tv show or the t shirt from your trip to Hawaii. Merchandise can double as promotional products when needed, and serves the purpose of brand exposure as well, but you need an existing and desirably brand before you can expect people to pay you for the right to advertise your brand.
So what are the benefits of promotional products for your business?
Exposure
When your logo is on something useful, for example a pen or a key ring, it’s being carried everywhere, it’s being seen not only by the person carrying and using it, but by everyone they meet, everyone they loan that pen to or unlock that door in front of. This is the kind of exposure that buries your logo into the minds of everyone who sees it. Subtle, but effective, and it doesn’t make people shut down the way they do when the ads come on in the middle of their favourite show.
Association
Not all exposure is good exposure, so having your name associated with something useful or fun, like a lolly or a stress toy, is invaluable marketing for you, because it’s a direct association, and you don’t have to tell the people you’re reaching anything at all, the promotional products do it for you!
Customer Relationships
Always having a spare pen handy, or something funky to give to customers or potential customers is a great way of making a small, bug significant connection. People love free stuff, and enjoy seeing generosity in the businesses they deal with. Don’t you like the places that give a lollypop to your kids? What about the places that give a lolly to you? Doesn’t it make you feel like coming back?
So what kind of products are on offer?
There are literally thousands of promotional products you can try, but here are just a few…
Pens
Pens are perhaps the most tried and true promotional product in the world. They’re useful, they’re cheap, there’s huge variety and a high level of customizability, and people are always looking for more of them. The thing about pens is that you need to be careful when you choose them, no one needs their name associated with a pen that broke on the second day, so do some homework before you buy a set.
Keyrings
Keyrings are a promotional product employed heavily by the automotive industry and the property market. They have a long life and they’re almost always with their owner. People love keyrings, they can be any shape, any colour and almost any size (mine has millhouse from the Simpsons on it) and they’re cost effective.
Confectionary
This is a good one to go for if your customers often have children, or if you’re in an industry related to hospitality. Things like mints on the pillow, the lolly on the airplane, or the mint that helped to mask the garlic from lunch. Confectionary doesn’t have a very long life so it’s more of a tool for building customer relationships, however it’s cost effective and always results in a grin. It can also be combined with other items for a double hit of warm fuzzies.
Stickers, badges and magnets
Anything with a membership aspect to it can benefit from these sorts of promo products. My Dad has a BMW, and he belongs to the BMW car club. Guess what’s sitting on his windshield? A BMW club sticker. So everywhere my Dad drives his beloved car (he spends more time with it than he does with me), he’s helping out the club by showing off that he’s a member. Magnets are great because they get put up on the fridge, and stickers are also a great thing for kids, and they tend to last longer than confectionary. These products offer huge flexibility in design and shape, and are cost effective in proportion to their useful life, how old are the magnets on your fridge?
High End Items
When you’re selling something big and shiny, like a ticket to a big conference, a batch of expensive computers, or a new boat, you might want to look at higher end products, such as compendiums, technology or just really high grade pens and so on. Before you go spending a lot of money on these items you need to think carefully about the type of market you’re aiming for, and what kind of things are useful to them. If you’ve got a high portion of vegans in your customer base you don’t want to be handing out leather bound compendiums.
Some More Ideas…
- Get a mascot – A little fluffy toy that can feature on a keyring, a sticker or a pen is a great way of adding a dash of fun and personality to your promo products
- Why not send out little promo products with orders for clients? It always adds to the relationship and prolongs the exposure of your brand. People like value.
- Why not have a collection of promotional products, and with each order, a new part of the set is revealed.
If you have a loyalty program, try something a little funky with your memberships, maybe a kooky barcoded ring or a uniquely shaped card.
So what’s right for you?
Choosing the right promotional products is as crucial as actually having promotional products. To find the right items for your market and budget you need to ask yourself the following questions;
- Who am I targeting?
- What do these people like?
- What do these people do?
- How will they receive my promo products?
- How much do I make on average from each customer or sale?
- How much of that can I spare for promo products
- What will my promo products be used for?
- How often will they be seen?
- How long will they last?
Using this info, weigh up what the best option for you will be. Avoid low grade products, even if they’re cheaper, because having your name tagged to a broken pen is worse than having no pen at all.
So get out there!
Promotional products are the way of the future in building customer relationships and getting your name out there. Many small businesses have no need or budget for large marketing campaigns and targeting your market with promo products can be an ideal way to get your name where it matters most, into the daily lives of your customers and potential customers.
For a great range of promotional products, try www.premierproducts.com
- Bridget Hughes
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