Time is money says the proverb, but turn it around and you get a precious truth. Money is time.

- George Gissing

Promotional products can be very helpful in assisting your already well-crafted marketing strategy. When used the right way, they can successfully increase brand awareness and set your prospects on track to use or buy your brands’ products or services.

1: Choose a purpose

Do you want to increase traffic to your website, encourage mailing list sign-ups, or simply increase brand awareness among your key demographic?

Don’t instantly relate promotional marketing to the act of simply handing out freebies. Sure, there are plenty of occasions that require sheer brand awareness, but always keep your ultimate goals in mind. Not only embrace the buzz that you have created, but react to whatever happens because of the buzz. Determine a concrete way your brand will be engaged positively and let that be the start of a successful marketing campaign.

2: Lay-out your distribution plan

Imagine receiving two thousand custom keychains, only to turn to your business partner and say, “Now what?”

So you’ve determined your marketing campaign’s purpose, now it’s time to decide how you are going to distribute your promotional items to your recipients. Let’s say your goal is to encourage repeat business, then including a promotional product in each customer’s purchase is a good idea. Another goal could be to attract new customers, what could be endorsed by giving out free gifts at a trade show. Some companies buy marketing items before they even know what to do with them. Be smart and think about what you are doing first.

3: Tailor for your audience

Selecting a promotional product that you like, rather than one your audience will like. A common mistake to make!

Make sure you think from the client’s point of perspective. A common mistake to make is distributing a promotional product that you really like, without having a good thought about the needs of your recipients. Consider what will be well received before you start the production of your freebies.

4: Brand or generic design

Most of all business owners would firstly want to display their company logo on the promotional products their giving away. Although we always encourage our clients to do this, you might want to be careful with displaying your logo/brand as big as possible. Although this might be a safe game plan for sheer brand awareness, but a good bet is that your promo will not be used that much.

People don’t like to be used as advertisements for companies (except if you are a fashion brand) wherefrom they receive promo products. So instead of displaying your brand as big as possible, think of a neat quote or picture that your recipients will enjoy to be seen with.

5: Don’t come across as a cheap brand

Don’t disrespect your brand’s image with a cheaper version of a more expensive item.

 For instance, if you have a budget of £1 per promo, buy the highest quality product there is for £1 rather than buying a cheaper version of that item so you can save a little money. There will always be cheaper versions of the same item and will result in almost the same outcome. Don’t be fooled though, your recipients will notice the difference.

6: Take your time

Time is money says the proverb, but turn it around and you get a precious truth. Money is time.

- George Gissing

Many promotional product factories, like ours, can handle rush orders with ease. But waiting until the very last moment can heavily affect the outcome of your marketing plan (or at least a part of it). Rushing orders give you less opportunity to properly manage the idea and creation process of your promos. So make sure you plan ahead and have a clear idea of what your marketing plan should look like.

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