Many companies have the impression promotional products are “stuff” you buy with your logo…and that’s it. While this is one feature promotional items offer, there’s more to them than that. Promotional products are very powerful marketing tools, when used purposefully and strategically. Don’t see it? You simply need to look at them from a different angle.
When promotional items are viewed as “stuff” it hinders you from seeing their true value.
When promotional items are viewed as marketing tools, you start thinking how to use the products to get a return on their investment (ROI).
Don’t believe you can get a return for your investment?
Why not? It’s not completely unheard of to get ROI on the promotional products you buy.
Look at it this way: you wouldn’t purchase an online advertisement and not expect a return. Why not purchase promotional items and expect a return for them too? Promotional items are marketing tools, just like online ads.
As you may know, every marketing piece should give you results and provide the best ROI possible. Even (and especially) with your promotional activities.
If you’re asking how promotional products can give you the ROI you would like them to, know you need a plan.
Define your Goals
Think about what you are looking to accomplish. Are you trying to get more followers on social media? Are you looking to generate leads or increase revenue? Do you want more brand awareness? Or to drive traffic to your website?
Next step is to ask yourself “by how many/how much?”. For example, if you want more followers on social media, how many more followers do you want?
Once you decide on that number, decide a time frame. In this scenario it can look like “I want to gain 100 more followers on social media in 30 days.”
In this step, the more specific your goal, the better.
Plan how to track and measure results
In order to measure results, you need to have a call to action. You can use a hashtag, landing page, a QR code, a video or even use a dedicated number.
These methods are going to help you track and measure your data.
Describe your audience and choose your promo products
The first step is to describe your audience, fully. Then, you can find your promotional product. The more you know about your audience, the easier it will be to find a product that caters to them.
When an item is unique, useful and relevant to your audience, they are more than likely to keep it. You want your audience to hold onto the item so others can see it. Plus, if they like it enough to carry it with them, they are more likely to tell their friends about it.
All of these things give your brand and your call to action multiple impressions. The impressions can turn into conversions to help you meet your goal.
Are your promotional products giving you ROI?
After the time you specified (in our example, it was 30 days), take a look at the data and see if your achieved your goals. In order to determine ROI, you simply need to plug your numbers into the ROI formula. The ROI formula is: ROI = (Gain from Investment – Cost of Investment) / Cost of Investment .
Now you know how to determine if your promotional items are giving you ROI! When you start purchasing them purposefully to achieve your marketing goals, you’ll start to see how powerful they really are.
Creating Memorable Impressions For Your Brand 