What are Promotional Products?

Promotional products can be any product that's given away – usually for free or at a reduced price – to achieve a certain result.

Uses or Benefits for Promotional Products

Creation and Retention of Interest – If the promotional products you're giving away are useful and durable, recipients would no doubt be able to use them for a long time. Consequently, they can become your customers in the future because the imprinted logo or brand name on the promotional products constantly reminds them of how they got the product in the first place.

Trade Show Traffic Generation – If you are joining a trade show, one way of encouraging people to visit your booth is to offer promotional products. And to make sure that the benefit's mutual, make sure that you attach a pamphlet to the product or require people to listen to you first before allowing them to proceed to the “next step” and accept their “reward”. When others see people flocking to your booth, curiosity will usually prompt them to join in and the cycle goes on and on.

Free Samples as Promotional Products - If you've got a new product to introduce to the market, you can give samples away and allow prospective customers to experience for themselves the benefits of your latest product. This can even be a more affordable marketing solution since you don't have to make use of the services of another manufacturing company. In this instance, it's your own factory that's manufacturing the products you intend to give away for promotional use.

Promoting through Corporate Giveaways – Whenever your company celebrates an important milestone – anniversaries, acceptance of any award, or achievement of a special goal – you can use the occasion as another opportunity to “subtly” market your products and services through corporate giveaways.

If you don't know, corporate giveaways are just another synonym for promotional products, and by imprinting the product's name or logo, you'll be able to effectively create and sustain interest once more.

Incentives for Your Sales Force – Contrary to popular belief, promotional products are not for customers alone. They can also be given to your sales team, for instance, to encourage them to work harder in the future.

Possible Problems When Using Promotional Products

Area of Space – When choosing what product to give away, consider the space for printing provided. Will you be able to imprint the complete name or logo of your company or will you have compromise quantity for quality?

Economies of Scale – The manufacturing promotional products will only lower if you order for a higher volume or quantity, but what if you only need less than a hundred?

Distribution Method – If there's no trade show or corporate event that allows you to meet old, new, and prospective customers, you not only need to formulate a production plan for your promotional products but a distribution plan as well.

Production Time Required – How much time is required to have the promotional products manufactured? This might hamper your plans so be sure to take care of such details before signing for anything.