How to Choose a Promotional Products Marketing Consultant
When choosing to buy promotional products for your business or organization, it is important to know that all distributors are NOT created equal. The majority of promotional product distributors are simply “order takers” who will take your money and offer you no real guidance to help make your project or marketing campaign more successful. I have a few pointers to help guide you in the right direction of choosing a reputable and knowledgeable promotional products consultant.
1) Check out the distributor’s website. Is it a well-designed website? If not, that may be a good indication of their quality. A site with lots of misspellings, poor grammar, and poor content should raise a red flag. If the distributor does not even have a website, that too could be a red flag. This is the 21st century, and if the distributor is not online, chances are he/she doesn’t know the current trends of the industry. Without knowing these trends, they won’t be able to offer much guidance to help your campaign be successful for the current times.
2) How long has the distributor been in business? There are many fly by night distributors that are here today and gone tomorrow. Make sure you choose one that will be in business the next time you are ready to order. Also, a distributor with many years of experience has withstood the tests of time and most likely has a lot of knowledge that could be useful for you.
3) Is the distributor part-time or full-time? Many of the promotional products distributors are part-time distributors which means they earn their bread and butter doing an unrelated job and the job as a distributor comes second to their primary career. This means you would also come second. This also means that they don’t have as much time to keep up with the current trends of the industry. They are not able to offer you the freshest advice on how to improve your campaign.
4) Check with the Better Business Bureau. You can search the BBB online database and check for complaints. Specifically, check for the resolutions. If a company consistently doesn’t respond to their complaints in a positive manner, I would steer clear of that business. If a company is not listed with the BBB, that should also be a red flag. They are probably not listed because they are afraid or they were not approved due to too many complaints.
5) Trust your gut! When you speak with the distributor, do you get a good vibe or a bad one? If it is a bad one, trust your intuition and call the next distributor that seems reputable to you. Keep searching until you feel comfortable with your choice. Promotional products distributors are a dime a dozen, but knowledgeable consultants are harder to find.
Using a reputable and knowledgeable distributor will help ensure that your next promotional products marketing campaign is more successful.
Perfect Imprints. Copyright 2009.
Make Your Tradeshow Display More Successful
Have you had mediocre results with your tradeshow booths in the past? Have you spent hundreds or thousands of dollars on your tradeshow display with little to no return on your investment? Research has shown that promotional products increase your tradeshow traffic to your display and that promotional products of great value generate more sales leads than products of lower value. In plain English please…If you give someone a $0.41 cheap pen, they probably won’t remember you. If you give them something of value such a personalized USB flash drive, then not only would that tradeshow attendee remember you, but they would be more likely to do business with you. In addition, the flash drive would be used over and over again yielding repeated advertising for your company. Here are a few statistics:
• 72% of tradeshow attendees who received a promotional product emembered the name of the
company that gave them the product.
• 76% of attendees had a favorable attitude toward the company that gave them the product.
• Including a promotional product with a pre-show mailing increases the likelihood of an attendee
stopping by the booth.
• As a rule, promotional products of greater value generate more sales leads han products of lower
value.
If you are able to get the names and addresses of the show attendees, be sure and send them a promotional product and tempt them to visit your booth to receive a FREE gift. When they get to your booth, you can give them a promotional item of value so they will remember you increasing your chances of closing a sale.
Source: 2004 study titled The Effectiveness Of Promotional Products In Tradeshow Settings conducted
by Georgia Southern University
Research provided by the Advertising Specialty Institute, Copyright ©2008, All Rights Reserved.
Top 10 Buyers of Promotional Products in 2008
Here is a list of the top industries that bought promotional products in 2008.
- Education
- Financial
- Non-Profit Organizations
- Healthcare
- Construction
- Trade & Professional Associations
- Real Estate
- Government
- Professionals: Doctors, lawyers, CPAs, etc.
- Restaurants & Bars
Do you fall under these categories? If so, and you used promotional products marketing in 2008, then you are ahead of the game. If not, you are falling behind your competitors, because research has shown that recipients of promotional items have a warmer feeling for companies that give them a useful promotional product. Consult a promotional products distributor with experience that can help guide you on a successful marketing campaign.
Website Marketing
Whether or not you sell products or services from your website, you DO need to have a website and market it. The key to marketing your business is with visibility. That is why websites are so great. I am writing this post because I have run across a few prominent businesses in my local are that do not have a website. I hae also run across a few that have websites but do not promote them. With the busy society that we are in, websites are the single most useful tool for clients and potential clients to get information about our company. We have as much as possible on our websites to answer these questions so our clients can get answers at any time during the day or night.
Once your website is up to speed, you need to market your website. You should include your website on ALL correspondence. This includes letterhead, business cards, email signatures, signatures if you post to forums, and promotional products. Inexpensive promotional items such as personalized pens and magnets are great ways to mass distribute your website to people for a minimal cost. The idea is to create awareness of your business so that potential clients will think of your company when they need your services as opposed to visiting your competitors. If your business cards or letterhead doesn’t have your website printed on it, shame on you. Have them reprinted right away and begin marketing your website which will bring you much more exposure and help you land more sales. Promotional products marketing is one of the least expensive AND most effective forms of advertising proven by multiple studies. To be the cheapest and the best is gold. Why not take advantage of this form of marketing right away?
Shocking Promotions
I wanted to talk about shocking promotions. What I mean is promotional marketing that causes a shock to people. With this type of marketing, you WILL offend a select few people; however, you will capture the attention of many others. The few offendees are not significant though compared to the amount of new business you can bring in.
I found this hilarious picture online from Versión subtitulada Blog which has a lot of shock value.
Although these are not promotional items, the same principle can be applied to promotional product marketing. Think of something that is related to your product that would have shock appeal. You don’t want to be too graphic though. The sky is the limit. Be creative. Be bold. Employ the help of a promotional products consultant to help with ideas. There is a plethora of promotional products available to help you be successful with a bold and creative marketing campaign. If you have used any type of shock marketing, I would love to hear what you have done. Please comment below and share your past experiences.
What is the cost per impression for your advertising?
What type of advertising media do you think has the lowest cost per impression? It’s not television ads. It’s not radio ads. It’s not newspaper or magazine ads. From a recent study by The Nielson Company, promotional products marketing has the lowest cost per impression. The average cost of promotional products is $0.004 each. Don’t get that number confused with $0.04 each; it’s not even close to the same. That is less than a penny per person that is exposed to your logo.
You may be unsure of what cost per impression is so I will explain it. This is the cost broken down per person that views your ad. Think about a hat or a shirt: How many people would see your logo if you wore it one day to a mall or to an event with lots of people? Hundreds or thousands of people would be exposed to your custom advertising imprint. And that is just 1 day of wearing it. The idea is that if you give away a quality item that people will use over and over again, the cost per impression would actually go down from the numbers in the chart below.
Source: Counselor Magazine, December 2009, “Hard Evidence For A Soft Economy”
Compare the tiny numbers above with the numbers below and you will see the real value of promotional products.
Source: Counselor Magazine, December 2009, “Hard Evidence For A Soft Economy”
A fraction of a penny for each impression is an amazingly low cost to market your business during these times of economic hardship. Take advantage of the many businesses failing on a daily basis and grab more of the market share. Talk to a promotional products consultant to assist you with your marketing campaign.
USB Flash Drive Bracelet
Here is a cool product that can be useful for seminars, conferences, and employees. These bracelets are actually USB flash drives that can store digital data such as forms, handouts, manuals, ebooks, photos, product information, or any other documents you would like. It is always great to give out unique items that are different from the standard pens, koozies, and key chains that everybody gives out. The Bracelet USB flash drives come in several different storage sizes such as 256mb, 512 mb, 1gb, 2gb, 4gb, 8gb, and 16gb. These are also great items to sell to students in school bookstores.
State of the Promotional Products Industry
So, have you ever wondered if you should buy promotional products for your business? Have you ever wondered if you are one of the few business that doesn’t use promotional products marketing strategies? Well, you would be in the minority. The benefits of using personalized products has been proven year after year to be an effective form of advertising. In fact, just look at the total sales for the industry over the last few years:
Industry Sales Volume In Billions
Photosource: PPAI
The numbers for 2008 should be available before too long. Businesses spent 19.44 billion dollars on promotional items in 2007, and since 1991, the numbers just keep increasing. Do you think businesses would continue to increase their spending on this form of marketing if it didn’t work? Not a chance. The bottom line is that marketing with promotional products works. Don’t leave out this important form of advertising. Get on board and increase your sales starting today!
How to Market in Down Economic Times
We have come to a time that customers are afraid to spend their money, which for many companies has resulted in poor sales. With business, it is critical to begin the year strong, but how can we do that in such tough times. Creative marketing is the answer. Using promotional products in a creative way can help stimulate your clients to pull the trigger and purchase from you. Sometimes you may need to do something out of the ordinary though and really cause a shock. Is it worth offending 3 or 4 people if you get your message across to thousands of people? I think that it is. An example would be the NBC commercial during the Superbowl. While the acronym LMAO doesn’t offend me or most people, the idea of what the acronym stands for will offend a few. However, those are probably the few that aren’t going to be buying from you anyway. And if they are, then they are probably not the kind of clients that you want. They are the kind of clients that are going to spend the smallest amount and complain about a perfectly good product.
If you can capture the attention of your clients and potential clients, you will be much more successful in increasing sales. Now, you don’t have to spend $3 million for a 30 second Superbowl ad, but you can do a direct mail ad campaign and include a related promotional item in the mailout that compliments the theme of your campaign. That’s where you have to get creative. Don’ be afraid to be bold. Let go and give it a try. Use the knowledge of a promotional products marketing consultant.
NBC Superbowl AD
Common Myths About Promotional Products Marketing
There are many myths regarding the use of promotional products, the effectiveness of promotional products, and who from whom to buy promotional products. In this article, you will learn the truth about promotional products so that you can discard the many common myths about promotional products marketing.
Myth # 1: All promotional products distributors are created equal. This statement is definitely false. The majority of promotional product distributors are simply “order takers.” The simple truth is that they. . . (See the full article).
Myth # 2: Small businesses can not afford promotional products. This statement can’t be further from the truth. The purchase of promotional items is an investment and NOT an expense. However, your promotional products marketing campaign must be. . . (See the full article).
Myth # 3: You can’t track the results of a promotional products marketing campaign. This statement is also false. Keep in mind there is a difference between promotional products giveaways and promotions. Giveaways are intended to be. . . (See the full article).
Myth # 4: During tough financial times, promotional products marketing should be cut before other forms of marketing. This is a classic misunderstanding and a big marketing mistake. Research has proven that promotional products . . . (See the full article).
Myth #5: Cheaper is better. This is usually false when talking about promotional products. Cheaper is typically not better simply because when a recipient receives a “cheap” promotional item, they usually discard it almost immediately. However, in contrast, when they receive something of value and something useful, they will . . . (See the full article).
In summary, promotional products can be a very beneficial marketing method if used properly. It is paramount that you speak with a promotional products marketing consultant who is knowledgeable and helpful. These professionals can help send your marketing campaign over the top and help increase your sales and grow your business. Remember that promotional products should be an investment and not an expense.