What is it that makes your business grow? Your customers. If your service or product is as great as you know it is, then your customers know it too. But how do you expand your customer base and become more visible to others? A great option is a promotional product. According to the American Marketing Association, “more than 80% of promotional products are used for more than a year, and 8 out of 10 consumers pass along promotional products versus throwing them in the trash.” But what kind of promo items would you need? Here are a couple of steps.
1) Set a budget
And stick to it. Promotional products come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and quality. Don’t go hog wide on something that isn’t going to be in the best financial choice of your company. Instead, have a set limit, then figure out if quality or quantity is more important. Higher quality or name brand items are going to be more expensive.
2) Is it reaching your target audience?
If you’re a bank or financial group, it makes ‘cents’ to have piggy banks as a promotional item. That same piggy bank would be confusing coming from a bar, plumbing company or a hospital. A floating key chain is perfect for your audience if you’re in the boat industry, or your customers’ hobbies include boating or spending time in the water. This same product is not ideal for a funeral home. Make sure you know your target audience.
3) Try long-term, useful and if possible, ‘in style’ products
Try things that are used every day for your business, pens, business cards, notepads are a good start, or even the piggy bank from the previous point. But try to make choices that are geared toward what your service or good is. If the product looks ‘cool’ or ‘cute’ it may get shared on social media, spreading your brand out to an even larger audience.