Deciding to use promotional items is only the first step in getting your advertising message out to the public. You've then got to choose the types of items to use, and even then there are more decisions to make. If, for example, you decide to buy promotional pens, one of your very first decisions will be choosing between plastic pens and metal pens. This might seem like a rather unimportant decision, but in fact the design choices you make for your pens can have important consequences for the success of your promotional efforts.

When choosing between plastic and metal, it's important to keep in mind not only how much money you have to spend on promotional pens, but also the ways in which you plan to use them. With that said, here is a quick run-down of some of the most important features of each type of pen, together with some of the most effective ways of using them.

Plastic Promotional Pens

Choosing plastic pens is usually the best option when your budget is limited, or you need a large number of pens for distribution at industry events such as trade shows and conferences. With plastic pens available for as little as ₤0.09 per item, and many options for ₤0.10 to ₤0.50 each, you have a great variety of pens to choose from even when your budget is fairly small.

The great advantage of plastic pens is that they're so inexpensive that you can hand them out as often as you please, on a wide variety of occasions. In addition to using plastic pens as give aways for industry events, you can give them to your employees to use (an effective way of building brand awareness from within the company), hand them out to clients and employees, and even drop them around various places that you visit?for example, leave a promotional pen or two when you eat at a caf? for lunch, so that they're there for staff to find and keep, or for other customers of the caf? to pick up.

Metal Promotional Pens

Metal pens are ideal for situations where you want to create a slightly more stylish, classy or even serious business image. Metal pens range widely in price from as little as ₤0.50 to ₤0.60 each, up to several pounds for the most expensive varieties. Pen sets that include two or more pens are also available, ranging in price from just over ₤3.00 to more than ₤17.00 per set.

Inexpensive metal promotional pens can be used for giveaways similar to those described above for plastic pens?they'll just cost you a little more per item, so they're best suited for slightly larger budgets. In addition, the more expensive and high quality pen sets can be used for executive gifts for business associates and employees. One particular advantage of metal pens is that some can be engraved, rather than printed, with your promotional message. This creates a very stylish and elegant feel to your promotional pen, and provides a message that will last just as long the pens do, keeping you and your company in the minds of the recipients of you pens for a long time.