5 Reasons Promotional Products Remain Relevant in Global Marketing in 2018 and Beyond

A typical marketing conundrum for many companies is gauging how effective their marketing strategies actually are. Logo and brand recognition is at the very top of the tree for all businesses in all forms of marketing. All of us at some stage in our lives use something with a logo on it. Some of these items we use every day, some almost never, and some never leave the house.

So from a business perspective how do you know if your product placement is working effectively for you? Is your brand still at the forefront of your customers mind? Are you standing out from the competition?

Here we look at 5 marketing strategies and tips inclusive of custom promotional products as part of your overall campaign.

Create Long-Term Brand Awareness

Credit card Holders

The ethos behind any promotional item is the ongoing reminder of your brand, creating a long-term customer loyalty not just to you but also verbally through others and improve essential customer relations with the use of a promotional gift. It forms a positive link through gratitude. Credit card holders are a prime example of an elegant well-thought-out gift, that has longevity, be sure to include your contact details on the product, thus acting like an on-going business card that will outlast any standard paper-based business card that would be unlikely to be carried around on a daily basis.

Permanent Advertising Space

Coffee Mugs

The average worker in a developed country works around 8 hours per day, and a large percentage of these are office-based employees, many of whom occupy a particular space for the duration of their day, week, month and a portion of their career. With the use of a promotional gift to a corporation, you have just secured a long-term valuable advertising space, acting as an ongoing billboard sign for your company, continuously seen by many and a continual brand reminder within that workplace.

Perception and Profit

Bottle Opener Keyrings

When considering giving discounts on products, there is a fine line between looking at future profit margins from advertising a discount with a view of gaining return business but instead gaining that business right there and then.

An alternative to merely discounting a product that affects your bottom line is a gift item. If you ensure that the item is of less monetary value than the proposed discount you had in mind, while the gift is perceived to be worth more to the customer, then you have a winning strategy.

Let us take an example that instead of discounting let’s say a box of beer by $5 as a promotion, you gave a branded bottle opener keyring with the said box of beer instead. The item itself could cost you as a business $1.50 to produce. You are still enhancing your brand, with a durable, long usage gift while increasing your gross sales at the same time. The customer will always feel like they got a good deal, they already walked in to buy a box of beer, and now they have something useful, and a constant reminder of your brand, which is even more crucial in the consumable goods market due to constant turnover.

Think ‘Cool Collectables’

Stress Balls

Yes I know it doesn’t jump out at you; however, there is a method to this.

If you are familiar with your client base and their trends, adding a personal touch to your general marketing push makes sense.

Promo products are ideal for these situations. Especially if they are perceived as ‘cool’, that equates to people not only likely to keep the item but use it too. In many cases, it leads to consumers starting to collect the said items (due to this it makes sense to make more than one type and one colour!).  Large corporations are masters at creating and using ‘cool collectibles’, companies like Coca-Cola immediately spring to mind. Receiving an item that fits this description is excellent for brand awareness and appeal to your business.

Community Events and Sponsorships

One sure way of increasing brand recognition is in your local community.

Sponsoring events is a proven way not only for the recognition aspect but to enhance a very positive community perception of you and thus increase your market share.

There are a plethora of ways, and one winner is always looking at the local landscape of young children and teenagers sports in the area.  Dependant on what country you live in will vary in the kind of sport of course, but sponsoring the local team’s kits with your branding is a prime example.

Think about hosting a charity event and sponsoring a local group, while donating various branded goods; you are helping your local community while increasing brand awareness in a very positive manner, it is a win-win for both.

Digital marketing is making a massive impression in the visual marketing world of today and is growing at an extreme rate. However, the Advertising Speciality Institute reported that Industry distributors increased annual sales by 3.2% in 2017, resulting in a record $23.6 billion in total revenues. Moreover, as recently as 2016 the ASI indicated that consumers were 2.5 times more likely to remember a brand name through a promotional gift than through a digital advert.

Conclusion

Promotional products still have a very prominent role to play in global marketing strategies today, any campaign that leaves a positive lasting and tangible feeling with the consumer can even be considered more potent than a 2-minute on-screen advertisement. For sure we cannot discount the fact that online marketing is the way of the future but promotional products should always have a place in any businesses annual marketing budget.