In a world where digital marketing dominates, the tangible impact of promotional products should not be overlooked. Promos are powerful tools, with influence that extends beyond brand exposure. Did you know that 85% of people who receive promotional items remember the advertiser's name? Or that promotional products have an astounding 50% higher recall rate than traditional advertising?
With a 73% chance of positively affecting consumer buying behavior promotional products extend beyond being mere giveaways. In this article, we will explore eight ingenious ways to employ promotional products for a transformative impact on your marketing strategy.
1. Bring Awareness To a Cause/Support
Using promotional products to bring awareness to a cause or support an important position is a highly effective strategy because they will serve as tangible reminders for your message, increase reach and visibility, help build an emotional connection, spark conversations and create long-lasting impressions.
Here’s a story of how Susan G. Komen increased their brand awareness by 44% using promotional products in their campaign. Check here for details.
2. Acquire Customers
Acquiring customers at in-person events can present unique challenges, but it’s also an opportunity for direct, personal engagement with potential customers. At trade shows or expos, promotional products can help you easily capture the traffic, create excitement and preparation for following-up with your leads after the show.
Google proved that using promotional products and branded swag could generate more leads and create long-lasting impressions. Check here for details.
3. Retain Customers
Every business strives to avoid losing customers, seeking instead to foster long-term, enduring relationships. Promotional products play an important role in helping you retain customers. Enhancing the customer's shopping experience, reinforcing your brand identity, encouraging repeat business and showing customer appreciation with something tangible are all ways you can use promos to help retain customers.
Loyalty programs are one of the best ways to achieve this and Coca-Cola's world famous customer loyalty program showed what a difference promotional products could make. Check here for details.
4. Rewards and Employee Appreciation
When your employees reach milestones, achieve yearly goals, or exceed expectations, it’s your job to show recognition and appreciation to make them feel valued. Using promotional products is one way to enhance employee morale and job satisfaction. Use promos to foster a sense of belonging and pride in the company and encourage employees loyalty. Both of which are crucial for long-term employee retention.
Deloitte used a comprehensive approach to recognizing its employees’ achievements and contributions to successfully improve employee retention. Check here for details.
5. Throw a Company Party or Internal Event
Creative promotional items are always big contributors to successful company parties and events. Serving as tangible event participation incentives, employee appreciation gifts and party favors make your event more memorable, boost employee engagement and foster team spirit and unity.
Zappos always delivers the WOW to employees and meeting attendees. Their creative use of promotional products is always very memorable. Check here for details.
6. Expedite a Decision or Create a Touchpoint
Due to some industries’ nature, businesses often face a slow customer decision-making process. To accelerate this process and convince customers to make long-term commitments more easily, you can provide value through practical or educational promotional items, build personal connections with customers with customized branded items, or offer high value promotional products as rewards.
State Farm has perfected this strategy and successfully reduced the time from initial inquiry to policy purchase by an average 27% using promotional items. Check here for details.
7. New Team Member Onboarding
Retain your employees from Day 1! Company welcome kits can make new employees feel welcomed, foster a sense of belonging and unity, and break ice among team members. A thoughtful welcome package can create a lasting positive first impression, aiding in long-term employee satisfaction and retention.
Deloitte has created a lasting impact through a one-day initiative that strengthened team unity and significantly boosted team morale. Check here for details.
8. Build Relationships And Get Referrals
Promotional products can be a strategic tool in building and maintaining business relationships. They help increase brand visibility, create goodwill, encourage reciprocity, and foster loyalty, all of which are essential for referrals and strong, lasting business relationships.
High quality branded items helped Coca-cola encourage more customers to refer their family and friends to join and grow their loyalty program’s memberships. Check here for details.
Promotional products are a powerful tool in various aspects of business, offering unique advantages in building brand visibility, fostering relationships, and enhancing marketing strategies. Whether used to create goodwill, encourage reciprocity, or add a personal touch to business interactions, promotional products are an invaluable asset in creating and maintaining strong, memorable business connections.