Marketing is all about convincing consumers that your product or service is something that they need in their lives. Often the biggest factor in determining the success of a particular marketing strategy is how much visibility it manages to achieve for your brand. The logic is simple – the more people who see your brand, the more likely you are to make sales.
Although corporate marketing plans are constantly evolving to keep pace with modern technology, there is one tried and true advertising method that has yet to be challenged in its marketing power by the gadgets and gizmos of our era –promotional materials. Promotional items remain the easiest and most cost-effective way to boost brand visibility and augment your customer base.
The Secret to Promotional Material Success
- Decide on a message. Before you place a single merchandise order, you need to have a clear vision in terms of what you want to accomplish with your promotional materials. Do you want them to strictly serve as advertisements for your business? Do you want them to educate your customers about the industry? Or do you want to thank customers for their continued loyalty?
- Develop a plan. Once you have a message, you must determine how you will distribute your promotional materials. Many companies use a tiered approach to promotional items. For instance, a smaller, cheaper item is given out to all potential customers while larger and more expensive items are reserved for only exceptional customers.
- Catch their eye. Promotional materials are certainly an area where attractiveness does matter. If your item is dull and nondescript, it won’t be effective in drawing attention to your company. Don’t shy away from bright colors and bold prints – they stand out and make a statement.
- Flaunt your brand. The whole idea of using promotional materials is to draw more people to your business. You can only accomplish this goal if the items prominently feature your company information. Be sure to include your company name, address, phone number, and website.
- Add some variety. Variety really is the spice of life and people tend to have relatively short attention spans anyway. You should keep things interesting by changing up the types of promotional materials you use periodically. Consider changing them seasonally. For example, you might use promotional thermoses in the winter and promotional visors in the summer.
- Buy in bulk. Since it is highly unlikely that your company information will change anytime in the near future, it is usually most cost-efficient to order your promotional items in bulk. That way, you don’t have to worry about having enough items to hand out at the next event.
- Go for quality. This is extremely important. In order for promotional materials to be successful, they can’t be something that people are just going to toss in the trashcan at the next available opportunity. Items like match books or mints will be used up quickly and then discarded which means they cannot benefit your company in the long run. Likewise, if you purchase very cheaply made items they will fall apart and be thrown out.
Instead, you should invest in good quality items that will be used over and over again by customers like pens, magnets, shirts, tote bags, and mouse pads. You should reserve really high quality items like a Carhartt jacket as a reward for your best customers.
- Take them on the road. Once you’ve designed, ordered, and received your promotional materials, they should travel with your company everywhere. Take them to conventions, concerts, and any event where your business has a presence.
When used judiciously, promotional materials can dramatically increase your brand visibility, which translates into greater profits for you.