When sourcing promotional products its important to consider some factors beforehand to ensure you’re distributing products that will appeal to your clients. Your business will want to utilise unique products that recipients can find useful, and this will allow you to stand out amongst competitors. Putting some time aside to think creatively and outside the box can really increase the response to your marketing campaigns and impress at tradeshows.
Distribute promotional products that appeal to your industry or use your branded gifts to create a personal touchpoint. From our experience, the more personal the item is to your clients, the more memorable the impact of your promotional giveaways. If your client enjoys golf perhaps source some promotional golfing accessories. This will be much more impactful marketing than a promotional pen.
Sourcing promotional products can also be influenced by the time of year and following such themes and trends can really boost the interest in your promotional campaigns. Ensuring your merchandise is high quality and reflecting your company’s image positively, will be key to advertising your brand in the best light possible. Below we share with you five things to consider before sourcing promotional products for your business.
5 Tips For Choosing Branded Merchandise
1. Know Your Client And Ensure Products Are Useful To Them
It’s important when distributing promotional products to know your demographic as to gather an idea of what gifts they will find useful and beneficial in their day-to-day life. If your recipients aren’t using your promotional giveaways, then you won’t be getting the most out of your promotional marketing.
Begin sourcing promotional products from your clients’ interests or choose products that best reflect your brands image. BPMA studies show that buyers of promotional products think usefulness is the top factor alongside price when choosing an item. Making sure this is considered before sourcing your products will ensure your promotional giveaways are not wasted or thrown away by recipients.
2. Set Aside Time To Think Creatively
When sourcing promotional products make sure to set some time aside so that you can allow yourself to come up with unique and innovative ideas. There are so many options when it comes to promotional gifts, and it is a great opportunity to get creative with your marketing! Let’s be honest, this is what’s going to turn heads and get clients talking about your brand and marketing campaigns.
For example, when attending tradeshows and events, attendees are often bombarded with the same promotional items, which means to stand out from the rest creative ideas are a must. With 92% of people visiting corporate tradeshows to discover new products, handing out something different goes a long way to get your brand recognised and remembered.
When planning your next marketing campaign and sourcing your promotional products, aim to be memorable in the eyes of the recipient. Choose products that will stand out in a crowded market and create a more lasting impression. This may mean venturing away from standard pens and bottles to something more unique, or items made from new more sustainable materials, to represent your brand.
Take a look at our ‘Spark Ideas’ page where we upload new ideas monthly.
3. Keep Your Merchandise Quality High
The quality of your promotional products reflects your business and so it’s important to keep merchandise quality consistently high. Your promotional giveaways are branded and so associated back to your business. Poor quality and cheap products will create a poor brand image.
Additionally, the durability of your promotional merchandise will determine how long consumers hold onto them and in turn how much marketing your brand receives. Investing in higher quality and more durable items will be more cost-effective in the long run as your promotional products will advertise your brand for longer periods.
Studies show that 72% of consumers believe that the quality of promotional products is directly related to the reputation of the company. This means it’s incredibly important to be distributing products that wont tarnish your brand. High quality promotional products will generate much more interest in your business and build stronger relationships with your clients.
Click here to see our premium promotional products.
4. Consider Sustainable Options
It’s now more important than ever when sourcing promotional products to consider more sustainable options. Millennials make up the largest portion of the world’s population and are often looking to reduce their carbon footprint. This means that distributing more eco-friendly promotional merchandise will reach a larger audience of environmentally conscious consumers.
Incorporating sustainability into your promotional marketing will influence customers purchase decisions and often consumers will actively choose environmentally responsible brands over competitors. Gifting sustainable products will also enable recipients to feel good about their environmental impact and see your brand in a positive light. As your logo is at the forefront of your promotional items you will want to be advertising on products that best represent your business. Eco-friendly merchandise will achieve this by promoting a positive brand image and showing that you’re environmentally responsible.
Click here to see our eco-friendly promotional products.
5. Ensure That Merchandise Reflects Your Company Image And Isn’t Overbranded
Sourcing promotional products isn’t always as simple as grabbing some branded pens to distribute around tradeshows and events. Often choosing promotional merchandise that better reflects your brands services will be much more effective at targeting your consumers.
Think about your sector and consider your clients interests such as if your services revolve around fitness reusable water bottles or sports products may be the way to go. Whereas if your business resides in the hospitality industry brandable bar accessories could reflect your company’s image.
Once you have sourced promotional merchandise in line with your brands image and services it’s important to ensure the branding is subtle and doesn’t deter recipients from using your promotional gift. With studies showing 85% of people who are given a promotional item remembering the advertiser that gave it to them a simple logo sometimes works best for promoting your business.
Conclusion
There are plenty of steps to consider when sourcing your promotional merchandise from knowing your clients to incorporating creative ideas. To stand out in such a crowded market it’s important to go the extra mile and research what products will work best for your industry. Once you know your target demographic and have sourced high quality products from a reliable source, your business should be on the road to advertising effectively through promotional merchandise.
It’s important when sourcing promotional products that they are high-quality items as these will determine your brands reputation. Research shows that 72% of people say that a brands reputation is reflected in the quality of the promotional products they receive. This means your business should be striving for quality promotional products targeted towards your clients’ needs and interests.
Not sure where to start? Please get in touch and we can help you get your message heard with promotional products.
Leave A Comment