Summertime is a great season to distribute the most popular promotional products: sunglasses, stadium cups, towels and t-shirts, caps and visors, sunscreen, sports equipment, lanyards, caribiner clips, travel accessories, and gear for the beach. Customers and employees love receiving useful items, and everywhere they travel with these gifts will give your brand exposure in a positive light. Imprint a QR code on promotional products to drive visitors online in a traceable way. You’ll be able to track which products created the most response, and will develop a campaign to unite the message you brand on your promotional items with your website and other marketing materials for a truly integrated campaign.
Finding a product that is relevant to your business and desired by your customer base should be easy… in fact the hard decision will be narrowing down which item you want to invest in to promote your business. To browse through a huge selection of promotional products that are available for branding, go to our online store. You may also want to read our other blog articles for information and ideas on branding, promotions and integrated marketing. Remember, the more useful and desirable the item is, the longer it will stay in the hands of your potential customer. A banner ad on a website is seen for a few seconds – they can hang onto that handy flash drive or water bottle bearing your logo and compliments for months to come.
Consider these points when deciding on promotional products:
Brand, brand, brand: promotional products generate brand awareness and exposure. You can choose an object that relates to your enterprise itself or to a specific message you want your business to convey. For instance, if your emphasis is on helping clients solve problems, choose a calculator; if you want to highlight your timeliness – a dashboard clock or calendar. Promotional products should be ordered to match your exact brand colors and imprinted with your logo, tagline and other messages.
People Like Gifts: unlike a flyer, banner ad on a website or text message, branded merchandise has a physical presence and value. Promotional items are not thrown away, but often regarded as a gift. Their value and usefulness will keep them on your customers desk, in their purse, on their keychain… and that keeps your brand refreshed in their mind each time they see it.
Low Cost (and low minimum orders): when you order promotional products, you receive a price per piece that is far lower than the usual retail cost, and the selection is vast. Some items are very inexpensive, and others are much more high end. Test the waters with a low cost item, or reward valuable customers with a keepsake item for the holidays… all branded with your logo, contact information and message. Set-up charges are minimal and you will pay a discounted price per piece on orders. Most items generally have a minimum quantity requirement.
Creative relevance: with such a diverse selection of products to choose from, you have a great oppportunity to get creative. Work out a tagline that makes sense with the product and work it into your larger marketing campaign. A quick example: if you run a insurance business, you could give away branded rain ponchos or small umbrellas with the tagline “We’ve got you covered.” If you want to emphasize the your company’s environmental commitment, think about seed packets, herb garden starter kits, or products made from recyclable materials. You get the idea… get creative.
Check out the diversity of items you can incorporate into your marketing plan: frisbees to hot sauce, yo yo’s to surgery scrubs. The variety is eye-opening. Do yourself a favor and browse the promotional products catalog – you’ll get inspired with products that can get your business noticed and remembered.
For help? Rely on your printer for advice and direction in choosing and branding your promotional items. They should be able to provide you access to just about any item you can imagine. If they can’t, you have the wrong printer! The best advice, always, is to ASK YOUR PRINTER!
ImageSmith is a full-service print and marketing provider located in Arden, North Carolina. Contact us at ImageSmith for quotes on all your marketing projects, and more useful tips on how to create custom, effective, high impact marketing solutions.
