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When planning your investment in promotional products, first of all you should consider
your promotional objective. Here are a few
examples:
- Attract new customers to your place of business or website.
- Express your appreciation to a customer for a purchase made.
- Keep your name in view.
- As a memento to commemorate a special occasion or event.
- As an award for excellent service of continuing loyalty.
When making your promotional product selection, impulse, personal favorite or
what you've always bought, may work just fine however you may want to try adding a
little more objective thinking to the process. Here are a few things to
consider.
- Impression - Does your selection project your organizational
"image" adequately for the planned promotion.
- Utility - Will the customer actually "use" your
selection. Will they be using it when they are thinking of
your service or product. Mouse pads are great, they can support your message
well, there is room for artwork that will produce "desire" to
retain the mouse pad (and your message), however it may not be the very best choice for a business
specializing in kitchen renovation or a garden club. You may choose to
select an item more related to those areas or activities. Bumper stickers are also
popular promotional items but it usually takes some special incentive to get
someone to put them on their brand new car (special recognition or contest)
- Retention - This is where a little creativity is most important.
The variety of available promotional products is huge. Pens and calendars
are great and everyone gets them each year. The important thing is to
choose pens and calendars that offer a special attraction to your market or
are unique and build
"desire" for the client to retain and use that item and not just
throw it in the drawer with the others.
- Longevity - What is the life expectancy of your selection. Balloons
are a big hit at all sorts of gatherings, they are high impact, attract a lot of attention,
and are inexpensive, on a good day they last a few hours. Calendars are
typically good for a year, inexpensive pens may be expected to last until
the ink runs out, and a paperweight could last forever ( at least for a very
long time). These time proven promotional products all represent a
good value for your investment, and in the proper setting can produce surprising
results. But longevity is something to consider when making your choice. If your promotion has a target date, you may choose a product with a
life expectancy up to that date. Example: You are having a big sale on
Saturday. Direct mail imprinted balloons to your prospective market with an
invitation imprinted on the balloon. Most people cannot resist blowing up
that balloon - and are surprised with an invitation to your sale. This is
an example of an inexpensive short longevity product used to produce a lot
of impact. Your
customer will have a little fun with the balloon and will be impressed with
your creativity. Edible items (especially chocolate...) have a very short
life, but wow what an impact!
- Appropriate - Try to fit your selection to the occasion. It would probably not be appropriate to hand out
paperweights at the county fair "just because" they last longer
any more than you would award dedicated employee a balloon because they
are inexpensive.
- Cost - Cost is important to everyone, however be careful to insure that
you fund your promotion adequately to achieve your promotional goals and
enhance your organizational image. Promotional products may be focused
directly on your target market and compared to other media, you can
get a lot of advertising value for your investment. By carefully
adjusting your purchase quantity to fit the size of your potential market,
you may find funds to upgrade your selection.
Get creative, take a few minutes and browse our online
catalog
Need more help? Give us a call...
(Revised 11/8/03)
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