Choosing a promotional product for your marketing campaign depends on your objective, theme, and budget. The Internet is replete with a range of promotional product ideas, and it is easy to be overwhelmed when you see a 7,000-plus catalog. Indeed, how does one choose from 600 different key chains or a thousand gel pens?



Knowing your marketing objectives will save you the headache in selecting a promotional product. Are you shopping for holiday gifts or simply working on brand visibility? Are you looking for corporate gifts or small presents for loyal patrons? Are you in search of lightweight direct-mail giveaways with practical value? Or do you want to see the hottest items in the promotional product industry that will get your recipients talking? Custom shirts will help you reach out to more people, while reusable bags, key chains, pens, notepads, and sticky notes are often used to build traffic in trade shows and conventions.

Finding a promotional product that reflects your theme will further assure that you'll see this marketing effort through. Are you launching a store promotion in time for Halloween? Custom pens, stress balls, shirts, toys, and promotional product selections that come in orange and black will fit the occasion, as will giveaways in skeleton, vampire, bat, cauldron, or witch designs. Christmas is not always green and red?these days, color motifs change as often as the season's shades. Instill some patriotism in your recipients with personalized items carrying the colors of the American flag?these are suitable choices for elections and Fourth of July.

Finally, consider your budget when choosing a promotional product. The best and effective ones aren't necessarily the expensive items, and you can achieve optimum visibility with key chains as you can with T-shirts. Also, study how product prices vary according to order quantities. Knowing this will enable you to save more and get your money's worth.