Promotional products can support many of your brand’s marketing objectives. They can grow your business through customer retention, lead generation, keep your employees happy and build brand awareness for your organization. But how do you buy promotional products to get the best results? A quick search will lead you to a lot of online purchasing websites, where you can get lost in thousands of options in each product category and… quickly burn through your marketing budget… There is a better way. How To Buy Promotional Products And Get Results

In this blog, we will discuss how to buy promotional products and get results. Choosing the suitable promotional products company to PARTNER WITH is the first step. Second, we’ll give you tips to make sure you spend your time and marketing dollars wisely. You will be able to download a CHECKLIST to use as your go-to marketing tool, whenever you are starting a new promotional campaign for your brand.

Finding The Right Promotional Products Supplier

Buying promotional products may seem like a straightforward online purchase but if you treat it as such, you may be setting your promotion up for failure. Online outlets try to make purchasing exciting and easy but is there someone to guide you through the process of WHY you are buying the products you are so easily adding to your cart?

Only a promotional marketing consultant will be able to answer questions — even those you might not think of or didn’t know you needed to ask. He or she will know unknown risks, like product quality and recalls. They will guide you through the most effective products for your marketing objectives so that they have the largest reach and recall with your target audience. And they will be there every step of the way to make sure your promotion is a success long after you make the purchase.

So how do you find the right promotional products distributor to deal with?  Check out the websites of all potential distributors and see what their company is about. How To Buy Promotional Products And Get Results

Instead, contact companies that emphasize team expertise, culture and show case studies of past projects. In today’s economy no company can afford wasting marketing dollars on suppliers that are not EXPERTS in what they do.

Clarify Your Marketing Objectives

Part of the magic of a successful marketing campaign is making sure that the promotional products used in it are specifically tailored to its objectives. The reasons WHY you need promotional products will greatly affect WHAT promotional products you should purchase. This is the first step that is easily bypassed by inexperienced purchasers or business owners who search online and base their decisions on price.

Below we’ve outlined just some of the common campaign objectives and potential ideas that might be suitable for them.

Lead Generation – some of the best products in this category would be things that are USEFUL to the recipient. This ensures your brand will stay top of mind every time he or she reaches for the item.

Employee Retention – choose SWAG that makes the employees feel appreciated and valued from the moment they are hired with onboarding welcome kits, throughout their career span with event apparel and holiday gifts to milestone awards and retirement gifts.

Events & Tradeshows – similar to lead generation ideas, give away SWAG that will be useful long after the show’s over and products that connect back to your brand. Plan ahead and possibly use promotional products along with the invitation to encourage attendance and don’t forget post-show gifts. Sending a small gift from the show to clients who could not attend will show them you’ve not forgotten about them and will let them know you value their business. How To Buy Promotional Products And Get Results

Brand Awareness – products that offer full-color capabilities to really make your branding stand out are very popular with this type of promotion. Any product that can have a social media aspect attached to it will also create more engagement for your brand. Another favorite would be a completely custom product or industry-specific product, for example, a tire drink koozie for Fountain Tire.

Customer retention – customers love free gifts! If you’re in a professional services business, reward your clients for visiting you, for engaging with your brand on social media, or for coming to your event. In retail, SWAG really works as a way to maximize sales especially when customers are aware that they will get something extra if they spend more. Promote your purchase incentives via email marketing and social media to engage your existing customers to reorder or prospects to try your product for the first time.

What Is Your Budget Limit?

This one is the most obvious, and perhaps also the most convoluted. It can be as complex as a predetermination of allocating company budget. Let your promotional expert know if your budget is an absolute number or if there is room in it for situations when a better product with more perceived value is available for a slightly higher price.  A budget can also be as simple as “here is how much we have left, so let see what we can get out of it”. Regardless of how a project budget is defined, that specific dollar value is an important factor when it comes to product selection.

It can be structured in the form of a lump-sum total or based on a per-person value.

Artwork And Logo Files For Promotional Products

If you have been in the marketing field for a while, you probably heard this question before: “Do you have your logo in vector?” If you are new in your field, you are now probably scratching your head… Vector format is a standard digital file format needed to reproduce your logo in high quality. Most common file types in this format are AI and EPS files. Those are the files that any art department would need. There are instances that those files might not work, but in 95% of cases you’ve got what graphic designers need 🙂

Another file type that possibly could possibly contain vector artwork is a PDF file. A graphic artist will be able to determine if your PDF file contains usable artwork.

We will discuss artwork, product decoration and brand consistency in greater detail in our upcoming posts so stay tuned.

Can’t find any artwork files or need to create custom artwork for your campaign? Your promotional products supplier should have a creative services department to assist you with this step. Another good reason to deal with actual humans you can talk to vs. online sellers!

Determine Your Project’s Deadline

There are certain things that money can’t buy, and in the case of ordering promotional products, that factor is TIME. Providing the absolute in-hands date can help with the selection, budgeting, graphic creation, and the logistical phase of a project. The in-hands date also becomes one of the benchmarks for the promotional experts during idea generation. They can ensure to involve specific suppliers who can complete your project on time.

No two promotional campaigns are alike. Be sure to ask your promotional expert to see what is possible.

Successful Promotional Campaigns Don’t Happen By Chance

In a world where consumers are bombarded by advertising messages, promotional products stand alone. A print ad, an internet pop-up, a television ad or a radio spot all interrupt and distract consumers. But a promotional product engages and is welcomed by the consumer and then integrated into their lifestyle. In fact, it’s the only marketing medium that the consumer says thank you for and the only one with 100% readership of its advertising message!

To realize goals, promotional programs must be carefully planned, taking into consideration the audience, budget and, of course, the ultimate result to be gained. While it’s true that you can buy a product anywhere, an experienced promotional consultant can help you solve problems, plan programs and GET RESULTS.

Ready to move forward with a promotional product that WORKS and one that your customers will thank you for?

Contact us here and we’ll match you with the RIGHT expert for your brand!

780.988.0015 // hello@acreativeagency.ca