The evolution of technology has indeed had a negative impact on how marketers and business owners view promotional products. Aside from now being considered less effective, it’s also perceived as more expensive – thus making this promotional strategy less relevant.
At the same time, technology has conditioned us to primarily internet advertising which is a quick way to lose touch with customers. We can’t argue that promotional products are key for businesses that thrive on good relationships with their customers. In a study conducted by BPMA over 70% of potential and existing customers who receive promotional products are likely to become repeat customers.
More so, over 90% of potential customers never forget the company that offered them a promotional product. Sunglasses are a popular promotional product as it is not only stylish but can be put to good use by your customers. Before giving them out, you should customize your company’s logo on them. Such practice is one of the ways to give your business publicity
While it’s clear that utilizing promotional products might be the unicorn you need to ride sales for your business, the challenge comes when you don’t know how to leverage it in the right way. Thus, we will be highlighting seven ways you can grow any business with promotional products.
How to use promotional products to elevate your business
While these seven steps have been designed for easy implementation, you want to quickly understand that marketing isn’t an exact science – what works for a particular business may not work for another, and what works for a particular business may not work for the same kind of business in a different location. At the same time, we’re giving seven proven steps that can work with a small, medium, and large-scale businesses to save you from all the guesswork.
Connect your Business with your Promotion Products
One of the easiest ways to grow your business is by gifting out promotional products that carry your business identity. This is one of the business strategies often used by business owners which you may not be privy to. By giving out items, you are not only buying loyalty but also making sure that when customers or even prospective ones come across promotional items, your brand is the first thing they think of.
How do you do that? Let’s say you are in the business of selling Nourishing Cocoa cream, you can add 50 gms worth of anti-dandruff hair cream. The most important rule is to let your promotional products breathe your brand’s values and beliefs.
Only use Products that can be useful to Customers
Before you pick an item to print your brand’s logo, image, or any of its identity, you want to make sure what you’re picking is something that’s actually going to be useful to your customers. While the first thought will be that you won’t be wasting money, it’s far from it. It goes back to the first point – choosing a product that will keep your brand firmly in the minds of your clients. There’s no better way to do this than giving them something that they’re likely to use often – at least till the next purchase where you give them something else again.
Use Products that Directly Connect with the Customers
Another important step is knowing the right product that really connects with the customers without sacrificing your business image. Sometimes, you might need to experiment but this may not be cost-effective. One of the best solutions is to use questionnaires to gather data from your target customers.
For instance, if you’re selling items that are predominantly for men between the ages of 18 to 35, you can attach anything ranging from a customized pen, a free key holder, a laptop bag, a customized notebook, to even a mini Bluetooth speaker – pretty much anything that’s commonly seen with people of that age bracket.
Initiate Employee Incentive Programs
While this is a very smart choice for medium and large-scale business owners, it’s not a wise choice for small business owners with very few staff. It involves drifting your direct focus from your customers to your employees – the people who help acquire and directly satisfy these customers. You can set up performance milestones in which when achieved, an employee gets a company-branded item – doesn’t necessarily need to be worth money, a branded award would do.
The model can be tweaked depending on the kind of business you run; for example, if your employees directly sell your products to clients, you can set up milestones in the number of sales, or if they directly offer services on your behalf, you can set up milestones in a number of tasks completed in a week, month or year.
Use Promotional Products that Leave an Impression
Every business owner probably knows them independently, now left for you to combine, and use to their full potential. While you’re prioritizing business image and identity to be seen, you want to make sure that the promotional product is something that the customer will familiarize themselves with over time – something that may provoke them to make another purchase.
Ideally, you want to use promotional items that are useful for day-to-day living or activities, instead of something that’s only likely to be used once a week or once a month. For example, you want to opt for a key chain or a pen over a wine opener or even a calendar because, in truth, nobody really looks at paper calendars these days
Know your Target Audience and Offer Different Promotional Items if Necessary
To better understand this model, you want to turn some attention to point two – only this time, implementing it in a broader spectrum. It’s possible to have a situation where people within a particular age range will not be interested in a particular category of item, even though they equally patronize you as another group that’s interested in that item.
In this case, you want to be able to detect the categories of customers you’re working with, provide the proper promotional item that will be useful to them, and create that connection you desire to promote your business.
Grow in their emotions
Most of the methods mentioned above are only sustainable for medium and large-scale businesses – small businesses would find it difficult to run them consistently for an extended period. However, with this last method, they easily get into the heads of their clients which is what the promotional items are for in the first place.
This predominantly involves maximizing the potential of your business through customer service such that your clients/customers have a sense of comfort when patronizing your brand. For example, you can attach a tailored handwritten letter of appreciation on the package of every product that’s bought from your business. While it may seem little in the eyes of many, it’s huge to your clients because you’re giving them a sense of belonging, not that you’re just there to do business with them and call it a wrap.
At the end of the day, you want to remember that the whole promotional products are used to create a more solid connection between a business and the customer – something that’s not achievable with modern-day methods of advertising. It doesn’t matter what you’re choosing to implement in your business (you can use all), just make sure it’s targeted toward establishing that connection.
4 Ways Promotional Products Can Help Elevate Your Business
1. It leads to an increase in brand awareness
If your brand is new, you will need to create awareness to gain some share of the market. One of the options available is to use promotional products.
Promotional products can be a very valuable way to increase brand awareness. End Users will not mind products that come with freebies and at the same serve their usefulness. Free items branded with your logo will leave a lasting impression. It can also be used to increase sales and also ensure customers are loyal to your brand.
2. A better alternative to a business card
How many times have you given out your complimentary card without being called back? It is because it mostly ended up in the bin. Promotional products are more likely to be kept.
Since promotional items have your business profile, it makes a better business card. Most promotional products will contain business information making it easy for old and prospective customers to contact you when needed.
Through the items, people will be able to know more about your product and even give wide publicity if the product is good. The testimony of one customer could make a great difference.
3. Builds customers’ loyalty
By providing promotional products for every purchase, you are imprinting your brand on customers’ minds. When customers are treated well enough, they are more likely to come back.
Offer something unique that your customers will love to keep. It could be a beautiful keyholder, a pen, or a towel.
4. Brand recognition
Promotional items can help you build brand recognition. On the item or product you give out, when people see your logo, they can easily connect it to your brand. The best item should be one that has the chance of being used for a very long time by your customers. What this means is that the more people see your identity, could increase the likelihood of your products or services being patronized.
For instance, if you are running a spa business, you can have your logo and contact inscribed on promotional items like towels, and nightcaps.
