The Importance of Investing in Promotional Products - Part 2

Earlier this week I discussed how influential promotional products can be, particularly here on campus at University. The first point I raised was about brand awareness, and how by making people aware of your brand through promotional products such as cotton tote bags, you can expect your sales to increase over the long-term due to the longevity of the promotional goods. I want to continue on with a few more reasons why I believe it is fundamental to a good marketing plan to invest in promotional products.

Customer Loyalty

I would struggle to believe that if you were given a free gift you wouldn’t be happy. It’s a fact of life that people love to receive free things, from free food to a free pen. What happens when you gift a person with a present is that they experience a rush of happiness to the pleasure centres in the brain which will then form an association between you and your brand (the gift giver) and the feeling of happiness. Therefore, a positive emotion will be associated between the recipient and your brand.

Further, when you gift a useful item such as a notebook or a pen, it is likely that it will remain on their desk and as such it will be close to the consumer. Therefore, your brand will always been in front of them which increases the likelihood of the consumer using your services or purchasing your product again as they will be constantly reminded of your brand.

Cost of Investment

Of course, there is often a tight marketing budget but when you calculate the costs from investing in promotional merchandise (which is often considerably less than many other forms of marketing) it becomes clear that you can yield a high return on investment. As we mentioned in part 1 of this article series, people tend to keep promotional products for one year or longer, providing longevity to your investment – far more longevity than a bus-stop poster or TV advert.

BPMA Findings

The British Promotional Merchandise Association (BPMA) released an infographic with some statistics they curated about the power of promotional merchandise and I want to share a few with you…

• 79% of people who receive a promotional gift feel appreciated
• 50% of people believe that a useful gift is the perfect promotional gift
• 66% of people use promotional products as trade show giveaways
• Nearly half of respondents have a staggering 4 or more promotional products on their desk at the time of asking… 89% had 1 or more.
• 30% of people continue to use their regular promotional merchandise supplier because of the good service they provide.

Do you have any promotional products you think would suit your consumers?