We know that promotional products are popular with customers. After all, who doesn’t like handy gadgets, useful bags or even getting something for nothing? But we wondered, what do marketers actually use them for?
Of course, marketing and promotion is all about raising your company’s profile, increasing awareness among your customers and ultimately, getting more sales. So how do marketers use promotional products to achieve that goal? According to the PPAI, these are the 10 top answers…
Brand Recognition
It’s one of the simplest reasons, but that doesn’t make it any less important. Just getting people to know who you are is never easy. Especially in a world where people are bombarded with new information constantly. Getting you brand recognised, even in a relatively small niche, means you need your logo to be seen again and again.
Ideal products to use: Shopping bags are a great example. They get used multiple times, in public places, which helps your brand spread further and faster.
Brand/Product Awareness
What is it your company does? How can you make a difference to your customer? Awareness helps answer both of these questions. And once a potential customer knows your company can help solve their problems, your chances of getting a sale start to go up!
Ideal products to use: A USB stick with your product catalogue pre-loaded on it. All the information your customer could need in a handy portable format.
Corporate Identity
Getting a group of people to look like part of a team, and even getting that team to send out the same message about the company, takes work. That’s where a great corporate identity comes in. When your staff look, as if they are all on the same team, it shows attention to detail. And if you can get tiny details right, the big things are more likely to go right too!
Ideal products to use: Branded clothing is a great boost to any corporate identity.
Public relations & Goodwill
Giving customers a handy thingamajig is a surefire way to make them feel positive about your company. As always, the product should be useful, and great quality. It’s no good giving away something cheap that breaks easily. Positive feelings can quickly turn to negative when things don’t work as they are supposed to!
Ideal products to use: Tea and coffee mugs are a great choice. Everyone needs a refreshment break now and then, and is there a better positive association than that?
Customer Retention and Appreciation
We all appreciate our customers, but a lot of our interactions with them can feel a bit standard or just for politeness. A gift can change that impression and let your customer know that your appreciation is more than just standard words.
Ideal products to use: A bottle of wine can be a great gift, just make sure you put it in a great looking gift bag, with your logo on it of course!
Generate Sales & Referrals
Promotional products can have a surprisingly long life. That’s because useful products get passed on to others when the original owner has finished using it. Every new user is a potential new customer. After all, they now know your contact details and that you are generous enough to give useful things to your clients!
Ideal products to use: Post-it notes and other stationery have spaces for your contact details and are always useful.
Employee Communications & Recognition
Rewarding your staff for a job well done is important. Nothing keeps morale up and and results good as much as having staff that feel valued and appreciated. A high quality gift could be just the thing!
Ideal products to use: A favourite beverage in a high quality gift bag would make anyone feel appreciated.
New Product Information
Getting out news of your latest product isn’t always easy. Something eye-catching and memorable makes an impact and can help get your customers interested and enquiring. If you have to pass on a lot of technical detail too, it can be even more challenging. That’s where adding in a promotional item to you info pack can make the difference between another page of data and a something really catches attention.
Ideal products to use: How about a bespoke USB memory stick in the shape of your new product? You can even upload the technical info so it’s readily available.
Motivate Behaviours & Incentive Programs
Getting your customers to return over and over again with an incentive program is a tried and trusted technique. But to really be effective, the reward needs to be something that your customers actually want. Making it a high quality gift, with your corporate identity prominently displayed of course, makes that much more likely.
Ideal products to use: Electronic gadgets can be a great product for this purpose. Headphones, webcams, phone cases, there are lots of options that could be perfect.
New Customer Acquisition
Getting new customers is the ultimate aim of any marketing campaign. You know your products are great, but you need more people to see them so that they can make the obvious choice! But how do you get them to take notice? That’s where promotional products come in. Try giving a free gift with every purchase, or even just a free gift with your logo and contact details. Either one can generate a whole lot of leads!
Ideal products to use: There are lots of different approaches for customer acquisition, how about a free bag with product and contact details? Pens and stationery can be great too. You could even try more out-there items, like fridge magnets, branded earbuds or almost anything else you can think of!
Conclusion
There are many more uses for promotional products, probably even some that no-one else has thought of yet, and we can help with them all. Our expertise in product branding and finding the right promotional product means that all you need is an idea. Then we can help you to turn it into reality.
Take a look at the Partridge Peartree product range. Then get in touch with us for more information or to discuss your ideas further.