Promotional products have been a go-to marketing strategy for ages, and for a good reason. According to the Advertising Speciality Institute (ASI), promotional products are the most highly regarded form of advertising above newspapers, radio, magazines, TV, the Internet, and mobile ads.
Even if being regarded higher than newspapers, radio, magazines and TV don’t convince you to invest in promotional products, here are six other reasons why your business needs custom promotional products:
1. Increase Brand Awareness
No matter your industry, it’s important to stay competitive and help both customers and prospects remember your brand. This is one of the reasons why iconic brands like Nike and Apple are so easily recognized by individuals globally. They have spent decades building brand awareness and creating companies that people remember.
After you’ve established brand awareness, you can begin to build brand loyalty. 51% of people are more likely to do business with a company that gave them a promotional writing instrument. This brand awareness helps get your name out there, keeps you competitive, and builds trust.
2. Drive Conversions
Of course, brand awareness is an important part of promotional marketing, but did you know that promotional products can also drive revenue? You can use your promotional product as a special offer to get people to make a purchase. For example, let’s pretend you’re at a trade show. You pass out a promotional canvas bag with your company’s brand on it and inside the bag, there’s a coupon for 15% off your next order. Not only does this promotional product help with brand awareness (in a non-plastic bag era, having someone bring your brand’s reusable bag to the store is invaluable), but it encourages that person to make a purchase.
If you do decide to tie conversions to your promo products, it’s best practice to create a unique code so you can track where those purchases came from. For the example above, you could have the conference name in the promo code. That way, you know that someone received your bag and decided to take action. This promotional marketing is valuable for any business, big or small.
3. Keep Your Brand at the Forefront of People’s Minds
One of the main reasons to have promotional products is to help keep your brand at the forefront of consumer’s and client’s minds. A promotional pen will generate about 3,000 impressions throughout its lifetime. This comes out to about 1/10 of a cent per impression. In the case of promotional products, every impression matters because as people continue to see your brand, they will know to think of you when a need for your product arises.
4. Build Relationships with Prospects and Customers
When it comes to marketing, relationships are everything. Promotional products can help build relationships with both current customers and prospects, especially if they’re high-value items. For example, you could build out a promotional swag pack for your top customers that includes some valuable promotional items like name brand outerwear, quality tech accessories, or other appropriate pieces for your market.
You can also use unique promotional products to drive engagement with prospects. Use marketing strategies like social giveaways or contests to grow your social media following, with the prize being a desirable promo piece.
5. Competitive ROI
Compared to other marketing strategies, promo products are more affordable, especially when you look at the CPI (cost per impression). Pens have as little as 1/10 of a cent CPI, while even more expensive promo products like power banks, outerwear, and USB drives have less than a cent CPI. When you compare this to traditional ad dollars, you can quickly see the value of good promo products.
6. Promotional Items Are Often Regifted
Lastly, promotional products are a great idea for businesses because they are often passed around to others. 55% of people pass along promotional products to others with outerwear and polo shirts tying for most likely to be passed along. This is great for your business because more people will become familiar with your brand.
Types of Popular Custom Promotional Products
Now that we’ve discussed just a few of the many benefits of promotional products for your company, let’s look at some of the most unique promotional products:
Pens
We couldn’t have a list of the best custom promotional products without including pens and other writing instruments. As mentioned earlier, writing instruments are the most popular promotional item given out. In addition to their low CPI (cost per impression), they’re also effective. 51% of consumers state that they would be more likely to do business with the advertiser that gave them a custom promotional pen.
But, companies that decide to give out promotional pens have a bit of competition. According to the ASI study, 20% of consumers own more than 10 promotional pens. You can also use custom stationery products to mix it up and stay competitive rather than relying on traditional pens.
Drinkware
Drinkware is the second most popular type of promotional items. One of the reasons why drinkware is so popular is because they are easy to produce, there are a variety of options to choose from that fit your company’s branding and style, and they’re useful! Everyone loves a promotional item that they can use every day. In fact, promo drinkware is kept for an average of 12 months and 78% of consumers own a promotional drinkware product.
When considering your promotional options, think about your market and who will use the product. For drinkware specifically, 71% of Gen X’ers are more likely to do business with the advertiser who gave them the promotional piece. Likewise, 84% of Baby Boomers own promotional drinkware. With these stats, it’s clear that promotional drinkware is a hit for consumers of all ages.
Tech Accessories
There’s no denying the fact that we’re all on our smartphones more and more, which makes custom tech products that much more valuable. With things like power banks, phone chargers, and USB drives, your brand will be where your customers are anyway - on their phones! Although these promo products are more expensive than pens or stationary, they still come out to about a cent or less CPI.
Printed Apparel
Custom printed apparel makes for great promotional swag because they are items that people can use. From outerwear to hats to t-shirts, there are countless great options. Plus, outwear has the longest staying power out of all promotional product options with an average of 16 months of use. Quality is the most common reason why people keep their printed apparel, followed by attractiveness.
As you can see, custom promotional products are good for full-funnel marketing strategies and deliver results for cheaper than other traditional avenues. You can attract a wide range of audiences and ages and make sure your brand stays top of mind. Plus, you can use these products to drive conversions, grow your social media following, and build relationships with both prospects and customers.
