Marketing is an effective tactic that brings business to your front door. With marketing, you have to be strategic in how you do it and who you target for your marketing audience. Promotional products help to bring awareness to your company’s brand and are a creative way to promote unique products and services within your product line up. For promotional items to be effective, they have to be used in conjunction with other marketing tactics. Using them as a way to bait existing customers in and attract new customers is the most effective way to use promotional products.
Determine your target audience
Before you run out and spend a boatload of money on pens, coffee mugs and t-shirts, it is important to determine who you want to attract. It is also imperative you use promotional items that are in line with your company’s motto and business practices. If you’re marketing to a group of professional business people, you don’t want to use promotional items that have slang in the verbiage. Likewise if you’re marketing to a group of individuals who are in the record or entertainment industry you don’t want to use plain, simple and boring verbiage. It is important to fit your promotional items to attract your target audience.
Make the promotional items available to everyone
If you’re using your promotional items at conventions or showcases, it is important to make your promotional items available to everyone. In this type of setting, there will be different people from different walks of life. Just because they don’t fit into your existing customer base doesn’t mean they won’t need your services sometime in the future. Of course, you want to avoid handing out promotional items for the sake of handing them out. At the same time, the point of using promotional items is to attract new business. Utilize this as an opportunity to educate and inform individuals about the services and products you offer.
Test your promotional items
By testing your promotional items, you’re able to determine which promotional items are most popular and which ones work the best in certain situations. The best way to do this is to get input from the employees of the company.
While some employees may not express an opinion one way or another, others may provide helpful insight on which promotional items they feel would work best in certain situations. Their input is also beneficial in determining how to incorporate the promotional items into any event. Another effective way in developing and using promotional items effectively is to have employees provide input on the design of the promotional items. Often, employees are able to provide a different perspective on a coffee mug or t-shirt that others may not have considered.
Use a variety of products
Your promotional items should not be a one-trick pony. Simply having customized and personalized pens with the company logo may not be as effective as you’d like. It is important to incorporate different items in your promotional efforts. For example, it is nice to have pens to show appreciation to existing customers and attract new customers, but pairing the pens with a coffee mug or a t-shirt puts forth an additional effort to attract business. Promotional items are also best to use when they’re in combination with company signage that displays the company logo.
Choose an item that prospects will use
Making a lasting impression on an existing customer or prospective customers goes a long way. Using products that are environmentally friendly and recyclable is a great way to get the attention of your audience. Using quality products for your promotional items is also a key factor and presenting promotional items that will have a lasting impression.
Select promotional items for maximum exposure
Items that individuals can utilize long after an event has ended are items that make a lasting impression and also create maximum exposure. Items such as coffee mugs, mouse pads or even recyclable shopping bags are items that individuals will continue to use. As they continue to use the items, it provides more exposure for your company brand and business.
How you use your promotional items can make the difference in a successful promotional campaign or one that is humdrum. Promotional items are not to be used haphazardly. You have to focus on how to use them effectively to generate the most business for your company. Simply handing out a pen and a coffee mug to a group of people is not promoting your product. You’re simply giving away free items. Promotional items should be used as a way to bait customers in and generate conversations.
The conversations and the promotional items should be used as a means to provide education and information about the company and its products and services. Combining engaging conversation with attractive promotional items allows you to effectively promote your company’s brand.
