Not all companies are alike. That's a given. With the evolution of different sales channels, some have taken the power of promotional products for granted thinking it has no place in their marketing strategy. Whether your company runs a brick-and-mortar retail chain, is based online or connects with clients via mail or telephone, promo products are essential marketing tools that could help you reach out to your target market.



Brick-and-Mortar Companies

There are different way to use promotional products for companies with a physical location. You can start by creating awareness about your company. According to Promotional Products Association International (PPAI), 20% of recipients of promo products keep the item for more than a year, while a staggering 35% keep them for more than 2 years. Even better 76.1% of the respondents recall the advertiser's name and 52% even did business with the advertiser after receiving the product. To do this effectively, remember to imprint each item that you give out. If your goal is to have people visit your site, then it would be wise to add your address to the promotional product.

Online Venture

The Internet is a very competitive arena. Anyone can create a company that may be in direct competition with yours in a matter of days. HTML knowledge, some copywriting skill, and a unique (or so they think) product are all it takes to put up an online company. As such, it is vital for the survival of your dotcom to come up with innovate ways to capture your market.

While a good website design, compelling content, online marketing know-how and an outstanding product are enough to get you noticed, promotional products can push your traffic up even more. These can be a tangible reminder of the services or online products you offer. Start by finding a product suitable for your industry. In picking one out, make sure you're getting a product that stand for what your company is about, this way your clients will be able to associate your name with it easily. Now, comes the most important part. When having your logo imprinted, make sure it's not just your business name and phone number on there, get your web address printed on the item as well. Affiliates and clients can be a source of increased traffic, so try to target your distribution to both.

Mail and Telephone Order Business

Let's face it, the nature of your business makes it difficult for you to engage your audience. Research provided by PPAI shows that promotional products, when used in conjunction with sales letters or as an incentive to respond can make a significant difference in direct mail response. Adding promotional products to a mail promotion increase the response rate by 50%. Meanwhile, the use of promotional products as an incentive to respond generated four times as many responses as a sales letter alone.

If generating sales leads is not a problem for your company, client retention can be a potential road bump. Here's where promotional products can also play a starring role in your marketing efforts. Known as an effective means of creating goodwill (positive feelings and attitudes) towards your company, promotional products can help you establish stronger relationships with your clients.