The goal of every business’s marketing guru is to get the company’s name or product forever on the minds of the right customers. This could be an in-house marketing team of a major corporation or one lone entrepreneur working to turn his million dollar idea into something big.
One of the most useful ways to get and keep a customer’s attention is through promotional products. Check out these five ways your business can benefit from promotional products.
1. It Needs to Have Value
Promotional products must provide some value to potential clients if you want to get the most mileage out of it. If a business gives a potential customer a piece of junk, they will chuck it the same way they would a flyer under the windshield. This means that companies walk a fine line between keeping the marketing budget within reason, and giving a potential customer a bit of swag that can be used in everyday life. Things like pens, custom canvas tote bags, or keychains are perfect examples.
It is also easy to add a little extra value to some promotional items. Tote bags can be made insulated, for carrying frozen or refrigerated goods home from the store. Pens can have little-LED lights on the end, and function like a stylus for touch screens. Notepads can have magnets or adhesive on the back. The ideas are endless.
2. Make it Clever
Something that a person can use is always good, but making it memorable will help form an emotional connection to the product or service being promoted. Clever can even work with traditionally uninteresting items like business cards. A funny phrase or business name, or a thought-provoking design can make someone take notice. The material used can also be the hook, like a flooring company making promotional refrigerator magnets out of wood or laminate.
3. Link it to a Cause
There is a better than average chance that there is some cause which a significant majority of any business’s target market will feel strongly about. Promoting a business by hooking up with a good cause is called charitable marketing. One simple to do and a typical example of caused-based promotional items is to give out something made with recycled materials. A business being directly involved with a cause is another great way to do this. They could sponsor a charitable organization or fundraising event. Thing like 5K runs done for charity often have t-shirts made up for the event with the name of sponsoring businesses.
4. For the Kids
Sending a promotional message through a kid is often the fastest way to turn a parent to a customer. This could be anything from handing out free balloons, with a business’s name and number on it to bouncy castles and chaperone during open houses. The trick is making it so that the promotional item means that the parents don’t have to devote so much energy and attention to their children.
Tying in a promotional product to a popular toy, book, or cartoon is also a great idea. Kids are some of the biggest fans out there. Giving them a small figurine of their favorite cartoon character with a business’s logo stamped on the bottom can draw in the parents. Mind licensing rights however since copyright infringement can be costly. One last thing to remember, when it comes to mixing promotional materials and kids. Make sure that the items are safe and age appropriate.
5. Go Digital
More shoppers either buy online or check their smartphone to see if they are getting the best deal. They also tend to look at reviews and research products before making a purchase. This goes for millennials who see this sort of thing as second nature as flipping a light switch. If a business wants in on this digital age shopper’s good side, make it easy for them. An excellent way is to incorporate a QR Code on a promotional item. That way, all a smart device user has to do is point the camera at it, and they will learn everything they want to know.
Conclusion
Internet ads via AdWords can be overlooked, or misdirected because the wrong keyword was used. And how many times have we wadded up and thrown away a flier before even looking at what was on it? Promotional products, such as a custom canvas tote bag, put something in a potential customer’s hand that will make them take notice. To make sure that happens, steps need to be taken to ensure that the customer regards it.
