Chances are high that right now you have a promotional item from a company in your possession. In your office, your purse, your car… somewhere you have a company’s logo and tag line on a pen, calendar or water bottle. Chances are also high that you have also tossed a fair amount of these type items away in the trash can.
Today we are going to talk about what you should and should not do when it comes to using promotional items to boost your business.
Before we begin, let’s talk about the point of using promotional items. Obviously, as the name implies, promotional items are intended as a promotion for your business, brand or a particular product or event. They can either be meant to keep your business on the top of the mind of a consumer or to as a short-term push for an event.
To achieve either of these goals people have to keep your promotional item, and preferably use the item regularly. If your promotional pieces end up in the trash, you’ve wasted money and opportunities to make a positive impression. So to have a truly useful promotional product is the true goal of every promotional item you consider.
How can you reach this goal? First, you need promotional items that people are more inclined to use. Unless you’re Nike, most people aren’t going to want your company logo on their shirt or hat. For that reason, clothing items are not a great idea for most companies.
Here are some other promotional item traps to avoid:
1. Cheaply made products make a bad impression for your company.
2. Putting too much text on an items makes it unreadable and unattractive.
3. Not every item makes sense for every company. Unless you’re a dentist, branded floss doesn’t make sense.
4. Avoid political or controversial artwork or slogans.
Now that we’ve spoken about what not to do, let’s look at some things that can help put promotional items to work for you.
1. Items that are of a good quality reflect well on your company. You don’t have to buy the top of the line, just avoid products that look and feel cheap.
2. Items that lend themselves to reuse are a good bet. Reusable shopping bags and water bottles
are examples of good options in this category.
3. Items that are useful are equally good ideas. Pens, notebooks, calendars and thumb drives are
all useful things that people are more likely to use than to throw away.
Promotional items can be a great tool to keep your company in front of the community, but they only work if people want to use them. Before you sink any time and money into promotional goods, take some time to consider all your options. Making good decisions now can offer you a return on your investment in the form of increased awareness and improved sales.