With so many businesses focusing their efforts solely online, it’s easy to neglect other opportunities that are available to promote a company through more traditional means. This unfortunately could represent a large chunk of your target market that you aren’t tapping into if you swear it off altogether.
Business giveaways and promotional products are often simple, useful products or trinkets that could be used on a daily basis to remind the recipient of the company that gave it to them in the first place.
So, how much of an influence can a promotional product have on your target audience?
The Right Product for the Right Audience
From Branded USBs to bottle openers to stationery, promotional products come in all different shapes, sizes, and colours.
Whatever product you can think of, it’s almost always available as a promotional product, which means your options are absolutely endless when it comes to choosing your ideal item for a giveaway.
Promotional products have been a low-cost promotional strategy for hundreds of years – many believe the idea came about when George Washington handed out commemorative badges around the time of his election in 1789.
Everyone from start-up business to large corporate enterprises offers promotional products.
The Statistics
The importance of promotional products for businesses can be further understood when looking into the statistics collated by PPAI:
- 94% of people remember where they were when they received their product
- 85% of consumers will eventually do business with the advertiser
- 58% of consumers will keep and use the gifts for between one and four years
Another critical stat revealed in the study is that 89% of consumers said they could remember the name of the company two years after they were given an item. In addition to this, promotional products are capable of drawing 500% more referrals from consumers happy with their gifts.
Why Are Promotional Products So Crucial for Businesses?
Cost-Effective Marketing
Many start-ups and SMEs can only dream of the marketing budgets that many large corporations have at their disposal, which means more creative marketing strategies are required.
This is where promotional products can come into play, as a relatively low-cost marketing tactic that delivers bang for the buck in the influence and impact stakes.
Branded power banks, in particular, are a fantastic product to use as a promotional gift given our increasing reliance on phones and gadgets while out and about.
Brand Recognition
Creating brand recognition means that consumers can identify with your company, your products, or your services upon spotting your logo. Think how recognisable the Nike tick or the McDonald’s arches are around the world.
Your promotional gift to potential customers goes a long way in helping them remember and recognise your business over the long term.
The more useful it is for everyday life, the better. For example, if you were to receive a USB from a photographer pre-uploaded with your photographs, which is decorated with their logo; each time you use this USB, you’re reminded of that business time and time again.
Business Exposure
TV adverts or billboards capture your attention for only a few seconds. But a gifted promotional item is used at home, in the car, or is sitting on your desk in your eye line, whether it be an item of clothing, a thermos, or stationery.
According to the PPAI study, 76.1% of study subjects could remember the name of a company on promotional products they received over the last 12 months. Conversely, only 53.5% of participants could recall the name of the advertiser they had seen an advert for in a magazine or newspaper in the previous seven days. 
Your Businesses Calling Card
The idea of a business card is to introduce your company and your products and services to consumers. Promotional products follow the same theory, except they can achieve even better results.
When distributing your items, you are introducing your business to a new pool of potential customers.
According to an article on enterpriseengagemnet.org, 71.6% of tradeshow attendees who received a promotional product remembered the name of the company.
Promotional products also work hand in hand with social media campaigns. You could add QR codes to your products, or even feature your slogans and hashtags for further brand recognition.
Customer Loyalty
Ideally, you want your customers to be purchasing your products and services on a frequent basis. Using promotional gifts is a great way to drive customer loyalty in a short period.
However, this tactic relies on your offering being of a high standard. People will then begin to associate your brand with high-quality products. This goes a long way in capturing the attention of first-time buyers and ultimately keeping it in the long term.
A well-thought-out promotional campaign can tie in with your other marketing channels, thus building a stronger audience base for your brand.
If you’re interested in anything we’ve mentioned in this blog, or you’re looking for any of the products and services we offer, then don’t hesitate to contact us today.
