Promotional Product Marketing – Looking Below the Surface
If you recently opened up your business, then you have seen every salesperson selling everything available on planet earth. Most salespeople are pushing marketing on you in the form of both products and services. While promotional product marketing services can be an extremely valuable resource, let’s take a quick look at the idea of using these services for your small business.
Schwag, chotskies, or whatever you want to call them, giving away promotional product marketing items to customers and clients have been used for decades as a way to create name recognition for businesses. In fact, I am sure that some of the salespeople who visited you left an ink pen, mousepad, or even a calendar for you to create their own brand awareness. Promotional product marketing can make an impact if used correctly, but how do you know if your business should invest in them?
Some businesses purchase promotional items simply to hand out to customers or potential customers. They fail to see the promotional value in the product and do not use them effectively. To take advantage of this type of marketing, you must present the right products to the right people.
For instance, if you are a food delivery company, the right product for you would NOT be an ink pen or Frisbee. However, giving away refrigerator magnets would be a great investment. After all, people are likely to put magnets on their fridge where they go when they are hungry. Having your name and phone number in front of them is effectively reaching your target market.
You must have the right product to match your business. For example, a food and beverage company (distributor, retailer, etc.) can provide small coolers, bottle wraps, and anything that can be associated with its product. That way, people are reminded of the products when they go to use the item.
You also need to take into consideration the writing you use on the item. A pizza place can probably get away with their logo and phone number on a magnet, while service companies will need to list their services on the item they give away.
Some additional considerations to keep in mind are who to give the items to and when to give them. A realtor I know gives away a calendar on a yearly basis. She only pays once per year to market to me with this type of product; however, after receiving the calendar in the mail for five years in a row, she was the first person I reached out to when contemplating selling my house.
Cost must always be a consideration for you as well. If you can get more return on your investment through small business marketing services as opposed to using products, then you need to focus your money on the service. After all, it is about how much return you get for what you spend your marketing budget on.
In the end, promotional products can be a good idea for a small business. Remember, though, that you must choose the right product for the business, have a plan on who to give them to, and consider the cost versus the return. If all come together, you are likely to see an increase in business from your marketing efforts.
