Do you know choosing the perfect promotional product is more complex than deciding to buy a few hundred random products to slap your logo on? That’s right! Choosing the perfect promotional product is more complex than deciding to buy a few hundred random products to slap your logo on.
Whether you are planning on using promotional products to increase brand awareness, promote your company more effectively, or to grow your sales and profits, it takes a strategic approach in order to receive a return on your investment.
Not only is it important to strategize your approach, it’s very important to know how to choose the right promo products for your company, campaigns and goals so you can feel great about your decision instead of walking away thinking you wasted your marketing dollars.
When it comes time to choosing the promotional items you plan to use, the following three tips will show you what to avoid to help you make better buying decisions.
Avoid…
1. Buying random promotional products without a purpose
Have you ever seen a promotional product that someone else had and wanted that same product with your logo? Sometimes, this can be a good thing. But, most of the time it is not the best decision because there is not a defined purpose for the item and you don’t know if the product will easily snap into your existing campaigns, let alone be worth your time to create a campaign around. Basically, you need to determine if it is a good fit for your company!
Before buying a random promotional item for your company, ask yourself the following questions:
- What do I want this product to do for my company?
- Will it be useful and used by my audience?
- What type of strategy can I put together with this item to help me get closer to my goals?
- Will I be able to track my return on investment with this strategy?
2. Items that will only be used once
Unless completely necessary, avoid promotional items that can be considered a one-time use product. You should always consider the objective of the promotional item and think about what you want the product to do for you before choosing an item that can be used once.
Some examples of items that will be used once are balloons, bottled water and chocolate or other food items. Considering your objective will help you determine if these items will work for you.
If you want to use them to create awareness of your brand or during an event, they are more effective here than if your goal was to generate leads or increase sales.
This is because lead generation and sales campaigns are all about the impressions. You want your audience to be able to hold onto the product and use it as often as possible to generate repeat impressions of your brand and message. If you give them an item that is perishable, it will be hard to generate the results you are looking for.
3. Choosing items that are not useful to your target audience
Promotional products are most effective when they are useful to your target audience. If your target market will not use the product, you will miss out on valuable impressions for your brand.
If you are looking to maximize the potential of your promotional marketing campaign, give away products your target audience will use on a regular basis. This way you will receive more impressions and your audience will think of you more often.
Avoiding these three concepts when choosing promotional products will help you use the items more effectively and make the most out of your marketing dollars.
Creating Memorable Impressions For Your Brand 