How To Choose The Best Promotional Products For Your Campaign
By: MARK YOKOYAMA
Promotional products have been a successful marketing and brand-building tool for a very long time. You don't need to look further than your desk drawer to find an assortment of pens, notepads, and calendars emblazoned with the logos of companies you've been in contact with throughout the years. But are these promos doing their job? They've managed to avoid the garbage pail, but are they actually doing anything to improve sales or retention for the companies they represent?
Irrelevant giveaways won't make it easy for customers to remember who you are. If you want your products to do their job, they have to stand out! In the past, a limited choice of products meant hit-or-miss promo campaigns that relied on sheer volume to break through to qualified leads - definitely not the best way to spend your marketing budget.
The good news is that the evolution of promotional products now gives businesses a more reliable way of reaching out to genuine prospects. A wider range of product choices means that companies have more marketing tools and better ways to get their brand out in front of their target audience. With this explosion of promotional product possibilities, you're only limited by your imagination! If you can think it up, reputable suppliers can usually find a way to make it work.
So, how can you ensure that you choose the best products to promote your business? Here are some things to keep in mind when making a decision:
1. Practicality/Usability. You don't want to give clients something that they'll store away and never use again. Providing items that are likely to be used on a frequent basis is a great way to gain repeated exposure for your company. The more times your customer or prospect sees your brand name, the more you encourage them to do business with your company again.
2. Creativity. Do some brainstorming before you invest your hard-earned money in a promotional product campaign. Try to think of products that your customers will truly appreciate, especially coming from a company like yours. A creative promo item will get people talking about your company and do an excellent job of advertising your products to a captivated audience.
3. Relevance. Relevance is extremely important when deciding on a promotional product. Stick to items that correlate with your products or services, or even compliment or strengthen them in some way. If your company is in the music industry, gifts like music download cards and MP3 players are going to be a guaranteed hit with your customers. If you give out something less targeted like a calendar or planner, you are reducing the chances that they will actually use the product and remember your company.
Try to avoid "shot in the dark" marketing campaigns that waste time and resources. Instead, focus your efforts on a targeted promotion that is much more likely to build your brand, retain loyal customers, and gather new leads.
If you keep these principles in mind during your next campaign, you'll be able to get the most out of the products you decide on and leverage the full marketing potential of your investment.
Mark Yokoyama is Director of Marketing for ePromos Promotional Products, Inc., one of the largest promotional product and corporate gift distributors in the US. This article is copyright protected.
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