29 Jun 7 Ways To Save Money Buying Promotional Products

Many people think buying promotional products is an expensive venture, but at Perfect Imprints, we believe it is an investment, if done properly. Our expert consultants help you to do just that. There are many pieces of the puzzle that must fit together to have a successful marketing campaign and you have to go in with all guns loaded. With the wrong distributor, your campaign may be a bust. We have put together 7 ways that you can save BIG when buying promotional products.

1. Plan – The planning phase is essential. You must know who your target audience is and how you are going to get the items in their hands. You have to buy a useful item that is appropriate for your target audience. If your main audience is the elderly, you have to buy items that generation will use. It wouldn’t make sense to giveaway any kind of technology item to nursing home residents. That generation as whole is not as big on technology as say college students. Also, if you plan on mailing your item, it would make more sense to buy a promotional item that is lightweight and will fit in an envelope to save money on your postage. We have over 1,000,000 promotional products in our database, so we can recommend items that would suit your clients and your campaign.

2. Minimize Imprint Colors – With the exception of Full Color printing which is becoming offered on more and more promotional items, pricing is often affected by the number of imprint colors printed on the items. With our in house graphic artists, we can turn a multi-color logo into a 1-color design that not only looks good, but saves you some dough. Now, there are times for branding purposes that you need your logo and imprint in multi-colors. We understand that and can help work with you to find the most cost-effective option for your marketing campaign.

3. Use A Reputable Distributor – I can’t say enough on this topic. As with any industry, there are always those looking to make a quick buck. They will sell you the cheapest item at the highest possible price and never worry a bit about the outcome of your project. There are many that could sell you your own shirt off your back and make you feel like you got a great deal. It is vital that you use a distributor that focuses all of his/her attention on their customers, and not one that sells promotional items as a part-time gig. It is important to use a company that has been in business for a long time and has weathered the recessions. This shows that their customer base is loyal which means they take care of their customers. Make sure the distributor has a good rating with the Better Business Bureau. Check out the distributor’s website and make sure that is reputable. The bottom line is to make sure you are comfortable and trust your distributor. You want to make sure they have your best interest at heart and not just trying to meet a sales quota.

4. Buy In Bulk – Everyone knows that buying in bulk is a great way to save money. It works the same way in the promotional products industry. If you buy the minimum quantity, you pay the highest price per item. As you increase the quantity purchased, the unit prices gets cheaper. This goes back to Step 1 and planning. If you have an estimate of how many items you use in a typical year, maybe you can purchase for the entire year and save a few hundred dollars. You can see substantial savings by increasing your quantity.

5. Co-Op Buying – Well, buying in bulk may sound like a great idea to you unless you don’t have the budget all in advance to do so. Perfect Imprints can offer you Co-Op Pricing on many promotional items. Here’s how it works. Let’s say you need 5,000 items over the course of a typical year, but with budget constraints, you can only buy 1,000 at a time. By buying 1,000 at a time, you receive 1,000 piece pricing rather that 5,000 piece pricing. We can offer you the 5,000 piece pricing through an agreement allowing you to buy 1,000 pieces at a time. We setup up automatic shipping dates of the remaining balance and you save money on each order but only pay for the smaller orders in advance. It’s a win-win situation if you can do a little planning and of course make the commitment.

6. Group Buying – Another way you can save money is to combine your purchase with other departments. For example, if your department needs 500 pens, let other departments in your company know what you are ordering and see if they want to order as well. As other departments add quantities to the order, this saves all departments money. It also allows for some departments the ability to order smaller quantities that would normally be less than the minimum allowed to order. Your boss will thank you for taking the initiative and saving the company money. Maybe it will even lead to a raise or a promotion . . . well, maybe not, but it was a fun thought anyway.

7. Make Money With the Promotional Products – How do you make money on these marketing products since you are not selling them? Well, if you execute your campaign correctly, it will drive customers to your business. It also keeps your company at the top of their mind so when they do need your services or products, they will remember your company first. Another great thing to do is to print some kind of Call to Action on your products such as a Coupon or “Bring This Product In For A FREE Gift” or anything else that brings them back to your business.

Promotional products are designed to market your business; therefore, they should bring in new clients and sales for you. In order for this to happen, you have to do a little planning and make sure you cover all areas of your campaign to be successful. Perfect Imprints can help you with any promotional products marketing campaign through our years of experience and our expert knowledge of the industry.