If you’re looking for a way to market your business that doesn’t involve using social media, writing captivating copy, or spending a ton on placing ads, you should consider creating some promotional items to distribute to clients and potential customers. Promotion is one of the aspects of Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) that works to inform, educate, and persuade consumers to buy your brand. According to Belch and Belch, IMC is:
Integrated Marketing is an approach to creating a unified and seamless experience for consumers to interact with the brand/enterprise; it attempts to meld all aspects of marketing communication such as advertising, sales promotion, public relations, direct marketing, and social media, through their respective mix of tactics, methods, channels, media, and activities, so that all work together as a unified force. It is a process designed to ensure that all messaging and communications strategies are consistent across all channels and are centered on the customer.
Promotional products, such as hats, calendars, notebooks, pens, etc, are persistent tools that not only keep your brand in the consumers’ minds but introduces your brand to others who see your brand on these items. If the promotional item is used by someone with clout, say a celebrity, your brand gets a bump from the association. For instance, Starbucks relied solely on celebrities photographed holding their cups to build its brand before adding advertising years later.
Whether you keep items like pens, business cards, and calendars at the office to give out during meetings or you take “walking billboards” such as t-shirts, hats, and bags with you to events, promotional gifts are one of the best ways to get your brand in front of people.
With that in mind, here are 8 top tips for creating promotional items for your business:
1. Make Sure You Have A Budget In Mind Before You Get Started
When it comes to creating promotional items for your business you need to consider your budget, especially as it’s easy to get carried away with all the cool options and the way order-taking involves some aggressive upselling tactics, such as offering to increase the order quantity with sizeable discounts or add-on items that coordinate with those you’ve decided to purchase.
The best thing to do is think about how much money you want to allocate to promotional marketing, then find items and quantities that fit your price range. Think about the impact of individual items relative to their cost. Are the items potentially valuable to your target market or trinkets they’ll throw away as soon as they leave your office or booth? Is the item something they’ll touch or look at every day or something that gets shoved in a drawer never to see the light of day? Will other potential customers see your brand on the promotional product? These are all things to consider when purchasing promotional products and you should balance cost relative to the benefit of a particular item. If you find that the one you’re considering is too pricey, you may rethink your ideas just a little to come up with a better item that meets your goals at a lower cost. For an idea of how much promotional items cost, you can visit this link.
2. Think About What Your Target Audience Will Like
If you want your promotional products to be successful, you need to think about what your target audience will like and what they will find useful. For example, if you know your target audience likes to travel and they’re always on-the-go, you may consider purchasing branded portable chargers they’ll use as they travel. If they like things that they can photograph and put on their Instagram, branded cupcakes are always a great choice. If your target audience tends to be in their car a lot, they may like a branded air freshener. For more information about custom car air fresheners, you can visit this site here.
3. Remember, Design Matters
When you’re creating your promotional items, you need to keep the design in mind, especially when it comes to your own personal branding. The best thing to do is think about what you can do to ensure it is clear that this is a branded product, without making it too overpowering. Whilst it may sound difficult, there are lots of ideas online that you will be able to use for inspiration. For guidance when it comes to designing your promotional product, you can visit this link.
4. Choose Something They Will Want To Keep On Their Desk
One of the best ways to ensure your promotional products are effective is to create something that they will want to keep on their desk, as this means they’ll be looking at your brand each and every day. Whether it’s a mug, a personalized pen, a USB stick or a stress ball – the more they want to use it, the greater the chance you have of being remembered.
Not only will having the item on their desk remind them of you, others visiting the office will see your brand and take its prominence as a tacit endorsement of your brand.
5. Make Sure It’s Something They Will Want To Photograph
If you don’t want to choose something that they will want to keep on their desk, make sure it’s something they will want to photograph and share on social media. If people start to share your promotional products online and everyone wants one, you may find that you have a surge in following or inquiries. Remember, the end goal is to promote your business and social media shares do exactly that.
6. Choose A Supplier That Is Trustworthy
When creating promotional products, you need to ensure you’re choosing a supplier you can trust. It takes a lot to create great promotional products and if you don’t use a trustworthy supplier you could end up with poor quality products that don’t position your brand effectively. The best thing to do is to meet with a number of different people to discuss your ideas and budget, as this will give you a better idea of which promotional provider is the right fit. If you’re still unsure, make sure you’re checking reviews and testimonials.
7. Consider Lead Time
Finally, you need to ensure you allow enough time before the product is needed for not only the production process but for a proof that allows you to see the actual product before the production run. This allows you to tweak the design or fix any problems before producing a bunch of products, at a substantial cost, only to have them destroyed later because they don’t meet your needs.
You should consider lead time, especially if you’re ordering products for an event or exhibition. From design to production, promotional products can take as long as a month to complete. If you want products creating quickly or you have no other option, you may find that you have to pay a high premium for both time and supplies.
8. Storing Promotional Items
Unlike many other elements of promotion, promotional products must be stored, which means more expense for storing, protecting them from damage, and inventory control so you know how much you have one hand.
Are you considering creating promotional products for your business? What do you need to think about before you get started? Let me know in the comments section below.
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