Modern businesses can’t survive without advertising. After all, you have to differentiate your business from every competitor out there with savvy marketing. So you always look for new ways to increase brand awareness and attract more sales.
You may have ads on billboards, buses and television, and you may even put them in the newspaper. But do you use promotional products?
These seemingly outdated items still play an important role in the 21st Century. Learn why you should still use promotional items alongside existing marketing efforts to build your business’s image.
Benefits of Using Promotional Items
1. They break the ice.
When you give out promotional products to passers-by or potential customers, they will more likely listen to what you have to say. The act of giving a gift, no matter how small, will also prompt the receiver to reciprocate the gesture. For that reason, over half of people who receive promotional products end up doing business with those companies.
2. They don’t cost much.
Promotional items cost little by design, so you can order hundreds of them and pass them out to scores of people. Use these economical marketing tools to spread your company’s reach far beyond the walls of your office.
3. They give customers something to touch.
No other advertisement medium provides a full sensory experience to consumers. Touch has the amazing ability to help potential customers better connect with a company.
4. They last a long time.
TV commercials only last 30 seconds. Billboard exposure gives you even less time than that. But your potential customers will use a truly worthwhile promotional item like a USB or a T-shirt countless times. This longevity ensures repeated marketing exposure, which is the key to customer conversion.
5. They increase brand awareness.
The beauty of a promotional product is that it often travels with its user. Give a key ring away to someone, and think about all the people who will see your company’s logo in that product’s lifetime. By giving away free materials, you essentially get a free representative of your company for as long as that person carries your product.
Promotional Products to Use (and Where to Use Them)
Name an item, and a company somewhere has probably put their logo on it. But as a small business owner, you don’t want to waste your money on items people will immediately throw away. Use the following promotional items as easy, economical ways to get your name in the open.
- USBs: Gift branded USB devices to prospective clients in the tech industry.
- CDs: Order and give away professionally made CDs to promote your band in coffee shops and independent music shops.
- DVDs: Pass out DVDs of your documentary to gain exposure at fairs or enter film festivals.
- Button badges: Create button badges to give away at trade shows.
- Key rings: Market your boutique or other small business with branded key rings.
- Fridge magnets: Send dental patients home with a fridge magnet to get repeat customers.
- Guitar picks: Put your personal logo on a guitar pick to promote private music lessons or your wedding musical group.
- T-shirts: Give away T-shirts to every employee in your company to remind others of your business. Even after an employee quits, he or she may keep the shirt for years to come.
- Power banks: Inspire your young target audience to retain your services with a power bank to charge phones on the go.
Whatever item you choose to order, team up with a professional promotional product business to ensure you create a gift potential customers will love. As a result, you’ll see