HOW PROMOTIONAL PRODUCTS CAN STILL IMPACT YOUR BUSINESS AND ITS GROWTH
Overall Promotional Products Industry
Some businesses have questioned whether promotional products make a difference in their bottom line, especially with the growth in digital advertising. This stirs up more questions. Are promotional products still relevant? With more focus on digital advertising and social media, should promotional products still play an important role in your business’s marketing strategies? What impact can promotional products have on your business?
We know that these thoughts have run through every company’s marketing team at one point or another. But a look back in time reminds us of the important role promotional products have played – dating back to George Washington. The first President of the United States of America knew that it was important to get his messaging and campaign across to the 13 colonies. He used what we believe to be the first promotional products to achieve his success. If George Washington could make it work, so can businesses – even 200+ years later. Promotional products are still the most effective way to promote your brand.
Consumers are 2.5 more times likely to have a positive opinion based on promotional products that were given to them. They view branded products as more authentic than Internet marketing through advertisements. A positive view of a brand and authenticity is hard, and even sometimes impossible, to generate. Positive views of your brand will always translate into more customer spending.
What Industries Use Promotional Products?
Traditionally, big companies and conglomerates were thought to be the only ones using promotional products to give a more positive view of their company and brand. It was more of a public relations statement than an advertising one. While it may be true that many large businesses use promotional products, many other companies and organizations also use them. It is safe to say that any industry trying to gain clients or consumers uses promotional products as part of its marketing strategy.
Here are some of the major industries that use promotional products:
- Financial Institutions – Banks are always trying to promote why you should trust their brand over other competitors. With digital banks entering this highly competitive market, it’s more important than ever for financial institutions to connect with their customers and keep their brands top of mind. Promotional items such as pens and mugs are classic giveaways for banks and other financial institutions.
- Insurance Companies – Insurance companies are also a dime a dozen today and facing fierce competition within their niche market whether that is health insurance or homeowners insurance. Promotional products help companies and even individual agents grow their client base.
- Real Estate – Real estate has always been a competitive industry. How do you get your name out there and get more clients to list with you or buy from you? Many realtors and brokerages use swag to keep their names present in customers’ minds. If you give a client a wonderful pen or other promotional items, they will remember you – especially while they are browsing open houses and other properties.
- Car Dealers – Businesses driven by sales have long known the benefits of giveaways. Whether it’s a branded key chain or license plate frame, automotive dealers routinely use promotional products to keep their name top of mind.
- Small Businesses – Small businesses need to use promotional products to keep their name and brand out there. It’s not easy owning a small business. Whether you’re a small business retailer, a mom-and-pop restaurant, or a plumber, you need to constantly have your name be spoken and be on people’s minds. While word of mouth is important for small businesses, promotional products often aid in word-of-mouth advertising. From t-shirts to mugs, small businesses need to have a budget for promotional products. Last year, small businesses alone spent $24 billion on promotional products
- Schools – Educational institutions for all age groups have been using branded giveaways for years. These items are given to prospective students and alumni alike. Items such as t-shirts, hats, and water bottles in school colors and featuring the school’s mascot are great for building school spirit regardless of age.
- Non-profit Organizations – Countless charities and non-profit groups rely on the promotional products they give away making impressions for years to come to maintain an interested group of supporters. As the fifthlargest buyer of promotional products, non-profits understand investing in logoed giveaways and swag is cost-effective.
How are Promotional Products Being Used in Larger Marketing Campaigns and Social Media?
Promotional products are seen as more authentic than social media advertising and traditional advertising. Big campaigns and social media marketing campaigns use promotional products to create an endless reach of impressions. This is like a ripple effect on water – you put a droplet in, and the ripples continuously spread and that spread becomes larger each time.
As you can imagine, tracking your return on investment (ROI) with promotional products is not perfect. After a promotional product launch or handing out promotional products, the best way to track how well that promotional product worked is to note an increase in sales. On social media, you will have an easier time trying to calculate your ROI from promotional products. You can track new followers, follower retention rates, and engagement through the tools available to you on each platform.
It’s important to spread the word via social media about new products and services, promotional product releases, upcoming partnerships, and so much more. Getting the hype up is an important part of your marketing strategy and process. 96% of consumers want to know ahead of time about promotional products being released. 85% of people end up spending money with the company that gave them a promotional product. These are huge numbers and nothing to scoff about! So how do you get the word out there?
- Contests are a great way to get the hype about promotional products out there ahead of time and a wonderful way to create engagement. Sponsor contests as often as you like and use your social media platforms to get the word out. It can involve trivia about your brand or products or you could do a giveaway for those who comment on a particular post and/or follow you on more than one platform. Use your social platforms to engage with followers about their favorite product from your latest line and then pick a random follower to give a swag box filled with promotional products to each week. Keep people on their toes and in tune with your social media posts and promotions by ensuring your team is responsive.
- Giveaways are a fun opportunity for your followers to get their hands on branded merchandise. So you could let people know in advance that there will be a giveaway in your next YouTube video, for example. Ask them to answer a specific question that you ask in the video and give the first 20 people to reply a gift. You could also make signing up for your email list an easy way to enter and measure engagement. Anything that grows your client/consumer base and promotes your brand is a win/win and the giveaway doesn’t have to cost your business a lot.
- Social media is forever. Once you post a photo, video, or comment, it’s almost impossible to get it to come down from the Internet. Creating videos and posting on your social media accounts and YouTube can be more impactful than a 30-second TV advertisement or a magazine/newspaper article which has a 5-second viewing rate, on average. Post contest winners or live video giveaways to grow your reach and get people excited about your promotional products.
- Influencers have taken the Internet by storm. Starting on Instagram and growing across all platforms, influencers can be a very effective way to promote your brand. Select a curated group of influencers that have a huge following and are reputable, send them a package with your soonto-be-released new products, and have them do unboxings of your products and promotional items and share information about your company. Ask them to post photos of themselves with your products, tag your business, share reviews, and create a whole new buzz for your business.
Tips Before You Launch a Promotional Product Campaign
Make sure that your handle is the same across all of your social media platforms. Make sure you are using this same handle for your campaign. Keep it consistent for the maximum effect. When working with influencers, ensure they are properly tagging your business on the relevant platforms.
Make sure your profiles are thoroughly built across all platforms. If you have something that is looking questionable, update it before the promotional product launch or promotional product event. Impressions should not be lackluster. They should leave your audience wanting to know more about your company and leave them with excitement over your promotional product.
What are Consumer and Employee Opinions of Promotional Products?
Let’s consider consumer information on promotional products. Did you know the average household owns an average of 32 promotional products? People keep these products for years! And if they decide they no longer need the item, they often regift it or give it to a friend, relative, or coworker. This means that the promotional product is now going to be seen by a new audience of more potential clients or consumers.
How do you know that more people seeing your promotional product will truly create a buzz? 60% of people look up brands online that they saw on promotional products. That’s a pretty good bet that you will be sure to get more attention even with the regifting of a promotional product.
As stated previously, 96% of people want to know about promotional products ahead of time. This is a great way to create more of a client list for your brand and company. You can use this to your advantage for email marketing now and in the future! This is critical for all businesses but especially for small businesses that need more impressions to reach their target audience.
Speaking of audiences, always keep your audience’s wants and needs in mind when choosing promotional products for your campaigns. Ask yourself what your audience will find valuable, useful, and keep long-term. These are important questions to consider when choosing your brand’s promotional products for upcoming giveaways.
Consumers aren’t the only ones who need promotional products. Promotional products are great for your employees too! Why?
- Feel Valued – Studies show that employees love to know you appreciate them and value their contributions. This might not come as a surprise to you, but when you give your employee a promotional product for their work anniversary, for a holiday, or even for their great work efforts, you’re sending an invaluable message to them about your appreciation. This leads to better attitudes on the job and longer employment at your company. They won’t want to leave if they feel appreciated.
- Company Culture – Company culture is incredibly important in a post-COVID world. With many companies working remotely, it’s not easy to create a hyped-up feeling of belonging with team members. One way to achieve this is by sending out company swag with a note expressing appreciation and perhaps excitement about what’s to come. It will unify your workers and create company pride.
- Creates Excitement and Friendly Competition – Employees sometimes get bored and need incentives. Creating contests and competitions between individuals or departments not only helps keep the humdrum away but also helps to create incentives for employees to do more or better work. This means you’re getting the most out of your employees, but in a way that creates comradery. And the prize could be an assortment of company swag accompanied by a gift card.
Just like you need to think about your target audience of consumers and what type of products they would want, you need to do the same for your employees. What would make their jobs easier? What would they value being given? Is there something that would be a good addition to their workspace environment? These are questions to think about when choosing the perfect promotional product(s) and apparel.
Trending Promotional Products
Here are some of the top promotional products that consumers are enjoying in 2022 for your consideration:
Travel Mugs – Let’s begin by stating the obvious – everyone loves a mug. Now that we can travel again and many workers are back at work on-site, travel mugs are trending.
Tote Bags – You never realize how badly you need a tote bag until you can’t find one. Consumers are excited about sustainability and using tote bags at the grocery store or when running errands.
Phone Chargers – With our increasing reliance on our phones, it’s always a good idea to have extra chargers on hand. This is something people will get excited about!
Hand Sanitizer – Keeping additional hand sanitizer in our bags or on our desks is always a good idea and welcomed.
Umbrellas – Everyone loves and needs a good promotional umbrella because everyone knows the feeling of getting caught in a downpour with no umbrella in sight.
Stress Relievers – Regardless of industry, businesses always get great feedback when giving out stress relievers. Add a custom touch by selecting a unique shape or color, and it will be a hot item.
Recently, we’ve also seen trends not so much about specific promotional products but the look of these items matters. Glow in the dark items are incredibly popular and well-received. Not all that glitters is gold but promotional products that glitter and shine are also increasingly popular. Of course, this doesn’t mean you’re giving away diamonds but think of ways that more traditional items can be jazzed up a bit.
Product Campaigns
Promotional products are intended to help grow your business’s reach so it is important to keep the many ways you reach your audience in mind when planning your promotional product campaigns.
Support Events - Promotional products at events that your business is associated with are not only smart but a great way to create growth for your company. For instance, if you are a sponsor for a local baseball team, throw out t-shirts, baseballs, and other branded items with your logo and information on them during breaks in the game. The fans will love it and your business will benefit. Will a local charity need sponsors for their upcoming walk? Get in on that and align your brand with causes that your community cares about.
Work Remotely - Working from home is something most people discovered can be done very well. Employers can also cut down on office building costs and employee maintenance by having their workers work remotely. However, it’s important to keep your employees looped in and consider promotional products and swag that will support their working from home needs. This is true to keep in mind about your clients and consumers who are working remotely as well. Maybe it would be nice if they got a new coffee mug, blanket, or an assortment of office supplies like notepads and pens from your company.
Other Campaigns - Any campaign that you launch should have its own promotional product and information attached to it. It can be an event night for your employees and clients or a simple social media campaign for a holiday. Whatever it is, it’s important to consider all angles when planning for promotional products around these other campaigns.
In Conclusion
Promotional products are intended to help grow your business’s reach so it is important to keep the many ways you reach your audience in mind when planning your promotional product campaigns.
Promotional products are thriving! If you have been searching for new ways to get your brand’s name out, consider the tried-and-true exposure that comes as a result of carefully chosen promotional items. It is a reliable and affordable way to market your brand and ensure consumers and clients remember you.
When you’re ready to plan your upcoming promotional product campaigns, contact the local experts at Fully Promoted for guidance. With years of experience helping businesses select their swag, our local experts can help you stay within budget while meeting your goals. For your convenience, you can also shop online 24/7.