Every business needs to advertise to acquire clients, but marketing can be a costly business. The Holy Grail of every company, big or small, is to discover marketing tools that achieve a great deal with relatively little cost and this is where promotional items can be used to effectively market your business.
What do promotional items achieve?
Promotional items educate potential clients and customers about the goods or services your business offers. They can be used to reach new target markets or remind existing clients how you can help them. The best, i.e. most effective, promotional items are objects that can be used more than once by your target market and so keep your brand image in the forefront of their minds.
Who should receive promotional items?
Deciding who should be the recipients of your promotional items is a big part of your marketing campaign. If you are attending a trade event or conference, then it may be that your target market is all the other attendees who have never heard of your company before. Alternatively, your target market for a particular campaign may be existing clients or new clients only. Determining who will receive your promotional items will help you evaluate how much money to spend on them.
Define your objective
It is important to determine what you want your promotional items to achieve. For example, do you just want people to know about your business or do you want them to take action and buy a specific product or service from you? Do you want to educate them about the benefits of your goods or services, or do you simply want to thank them for their past custom?
What type of objects make effective promotional items?
The ideal promotional item is one that will remain on someone’s office desk or person for a significant period. You want your company logo to be seen every day so that you are the first business a person thinks of when they need a solution to a particular problem. Common promotional items, but no less effective for being so, are branded pens, calendars and mouse pads. These have the advantage of being used or looked at every working day and less chance of ending up in the trash. There are also less conventional promotional items that may have more of an impact for being less common, and these include tote bags, T-shirts and hats. Wearable promotional items have the potential to reach a far wider audience as they do not remain in any one place.
Be creative with packaging
Once you have decided on the type of promotional item you want to send out, you need to consider the packaging. In some respects, the packaging is more important than the promotional item, because it is the first thing your recipient will see. If using a box to mail the promotional item, then ensure the box features your brand image and utilizes your brand colors. You could also make your mailing more personal by including a handwritten note with your signature.
Whatever type of promotional product you choose for your business marketing campaigns, there is one rule to remember: always include your brand image or logo so that you will be uppermost in the minds of your recipients and thereby effectively market your business.
