Promotional products as part of your marketing strategy

The extremely positive effect of promotional products on a company’s marketing campaign are well known. But with a limited marketing budget getting the maximum return on investment is essential. If you’ve been undecided about the best way to integrate corporate gifts into you marketing plan, consider these unique and budget conscious strategies.

Product Life

If you’re working on a tight budget, picking a product with a long shelf life is a great way to extend the marketing impact of your gift years to come. Forget notepads, bottled water and other disposable promo items. Instead consider a quality mug or mouse pad which will be used for years into the future.

Walking Billboards

Handing out corporate apparel to customers can be an expensive and not necessarily effective strategy with many people being unwilling to wear items emblazoned with a company logo. The same cannot be said of giving your staff apparel. Staff can be your biggest brand advocate and are very unlikely to throw away a good bit of corporate gear. Think about providing t-shirts, polos, caps and even umbrellas to your staff who will wear them with pride. Make sure to consult your guys to see which item would work best.

The Personal Touch

To get the maximum benefit from your corporate gift spend ensure the gift is handed out in person by yourself or your staff. The psychological impact of a physical gift means customers will be hard wired to listen to your pitch and give you a fair hearing purely because they feel they are in some way reciprocating the gift.

Consider The User

Give some serious thought to who will be using the gift. The right gift really depends on the recipient. As a drinks company you wouldn’t give your customer a mouse pad when a bottle opener would be more appropriate. Likewise you wouldn’t give a HR manager a bottle opener.

Choose a Gift That Reflects Your Values

A top tier law firm shouldn’t be giving either its customers or its staff cheap plastic pens. In the same way a charity street promotion shouldn’t be handing out $300 dollar engraved pens to solicit donations. It is very important to consider how the perception of your company will be affected either negatively or positively by the choice

A few good quality gifts can be far more effective than many low cost gifts. This sounds obvious but it is often not followed. Remember, too, that the value of any gift can be greatly increased by good packaging. The perceived value of a nicely packaged gift is way higher than you might think.

Bring your message to life

What makes promotional products so powerful is that they are physical and durable: the customer can hold your marketing message in their hands. Some of the best campaigns link the gift to the message in an interesting and entertaining way: umbrellas and “we have got you covered”. So don’t tag your promotional gifts on at the end: plan them up front so you can make them a core part of the campaign.

If you are having difficulty selecting the right product for your campaign please feel free to drop us a line. Our team has decades of experience and can help you pick the right product!