Companies have been making use of promotional items and merchandise for a long time, and the impact of such a marketing tool can indeed be significant. There is no denying that most – if not all – people love to receive free things – whether it’s a pen, a mug, a USB drive, a tote bag, a baseball cap, an umbrella, and so on – but more than this, your products may well motivate and encourage your customers to take proper action.
According to the experts, a good number of customers (around 76%) should be able to remember your brand better if they receive a promotional item from you, whilst a mere 53% will remember an advertisement they saw on television or print. It’s even worse for online advertisements – a mere 27% will remember an ad they saw online. It’s no surprise, then, that promotional merchandise and giveaways are still widely used by numerous companies today, especially those who would like to broaden their customer base, establish better customer loyalty and retention, and get the right exposure for their brand. So what else should you know about the real impact and usefulness of promotional items for your brand? Let’s find out.
The numbers don’t lie
In the US alone, billions of dollars are spent on promotional giveaways and items, and companies are investing a lot in the variety and quality of promotional items they can provide. Even the simplest promotional products such as magnets, keychains, mugs, and pens can already increase the loyalty of your customers, and the numbers don’t lie. For instance, about 73% of people who have made use of a promotional item have said that they use the item approximately once every week, whilst an astonishing 45% have stated that they use a promotional item at least one time per day. The numbers are quite amazing, and any business which knows about these numbers and doesn’t take advantage will be on the losing end. Whatever your goal may be – whether you are looking to attract customers and increase your prospects, retain and enhance loyalty, or introduce your brand to a broader market – promotional merchandise will work hard for you with the least amount of effort (and expense) on your part.
The best and most effective kind of exposure
The message of any particular brand is always most effective if it is done repeatedly – which means that if your customers see your message every day or at least once a week, they will be able to retain it and remember your business and brand the next time they need your product or service. Just imagine how many times you have to ‘show off’ your brand to customers with a TV ad, a banner ad, a social media ad, and so on – and this isn’t even guaranteed to work. But with a promotional item, all you need to do is give your customers something they can use (preferably every day), and they will be reminded of what you offer just by using your item. The exposure you can get with a promotional product is long-lasting and repetitive without serving to annoy or exasperate your customers – and this goes a long way indeed.