Recent research has shown us that a strong promotional products marketing strategy is one of the most potent and effective ways of advertising your business.
According to the research conducted by the British Promotional Merchandise Association, 96% of participants believed that promotional products increased their awareness of a brand, and 83% believed they increased their consciousness of a brand for up to 12 months.
With all this in mind, we’ve put together our guide to everything you need to know about getting started with promotional products in 2024, and how to create strong loyalty to your brand.
Why Choose a Promotional Products Strategy in 2024?
Firstly, promotional products offer a good return on investment, which makes them a highly effective marketing tool. If you’ve chosen a practical and quality branded product, it’s far more likely to be used again and again, which means the product can theoretically advertise in areas where traditional marketing simply can’t reach.
The likes of branded tech, clothing, bags, umbrellas, bottles and stationary are often popular, and cost-effective ways to spread the word about your brands and its USPs.
What Are Promotional Products?
Simply put, promotional products are branded with company logos, slogans and other important brand information. These products are given away to potential or current customers, which then boosts a brand’s advertising footprint, to draw attention to products, services and what those brands may stand for, which will continue to increase in importance in 2024.
Since promotional products are customised with brand identifying elements, they serve as physical reminders of brands and their marketing message. Oftentimes promotional products will be used for years at a time (statistics show that the average lifespan of a promotional product is two years) in the home, office or out and about.
Getting Started with Promotional Products in 2024
In this section, we’ll be walking you through some of the basics of starting up your own promotional products campaign.
We’ve also created guides in the past to give you some further inspiration too:
- Event Swag Bag Ideas Your Attendees Will Love
- Eco-Friendly Promotional Products To Consider For Your Brand
- Why Choose Promotional Business Gifts For The Summer Season?
- 7 Of The Best Back To School Promotional Items
- How To Use Promotional Products To Enhance Your Marketing Strategy
How Are Promotional Products Used?
Promotional products are usually given away for free for your target audience as a means to promote your brand. However, in some cases promotional products may also be given out internally as a gift or keepsake.
So long as you’re able to increase your brand awareness and promote brand loyalty, you can create and distribute products any way you see fit. For example, although promotional products are generally given away at no cost, they can also be used as a way of increasing revenue for those that wish to champion your brand.
This works for large multinational companies, like Starbucks, who sell their own branded serveware, to smaller niche brands such as the marketing tech brand SemRush with their range of clothing and accessories.
Brand loyalty really does go a long way.
Why Do Promotional Products Work?
Thanks to studies and research, we now know far more about the principle of reciprocity, which is vital to understand when it comes to promotional product strategies.
In a nutshell this means that the feeling we experience when we’re given a gift means that we immediately feel a sense of appreciation for those who have given us it, even if we didn’t ask for anything.
This principle can be applied to any free giveaways that a business might want to run to reinforce loyalty amongst current customers and also help create a lasting impression on potential customers too.
How Can I Distribute Promotional Items?
Promotional products are most commonly given away at trade shows, events and conferences, both to increase footfall to a booth as well as boosting brand visibility at the event itself.
They are also perfect as a means to follow up with potential leads after the show too, especially when your salesperson can ask them how they’re getting on with the products and if they require any help with them etc.
That said, this is not the only means to distribute promotional products, they can also be sent to prospects in some of the following ways:
- Direct mail
- As free gifts with purchases
- Social media competitions
- Experiential marketing campaigns
As we’ve already explored, some brands with a strong following, may also wish to sell their promotional products online through their website.
Which Promotional Products Are Most Effective?
Ultimately, this a very broad question, as this will largely depend on your audience base and then kinds of products or services you offer.
For example, if you’re an accountancy practice, offering a wide range of branded clothing may not be appropriate for you.
However, things that go hand-in-hand with working in an office, such as USBs, power banks, stationary, stress balls, laptop bags and desk accessories would be absolutely perfect.
Whatever options you choose, always choose those which fit within your branding and make sense to your customer and that which can be useful and effective over a long period.
Takeaways
Ultimately, promotional products are perfect for increasing brand awareness and giving your business a head start when it comes to making a great impression on your audience.
Promotional products must also help to keep your brand ‘front of mind’, so whenever a potential customer thinks about a brand in your industry, they immediately think of you.
In addition, promotional products can help solidify customer retention, by creating loyal customers who feel appreciated, special, and excited about what your brand does next.
If you’d like more info on creating promotional products in 2024, or you’d like to learn more about our extensive product ranges, why not get in touch with us today?
