Promotional products are sometimes overlooked or dismissed, but they are an essential part of any complete branding or marketing plan. The cost is very low comparatively and the impact is more than you would think. Brandwatch has some pretty astounding statistics that show that you can’t get a better bang for your branding dollar with strategic and purposeful promotional products. These are just a few:

• 66% of participants claimed they could recall the brand on the promotional product received with the past 12 months.
• The ROI on promotional products delivered a better return on investment than radio and outdoor advertising, and is equal to TV and print.
• 79% would be likely to do business with the company again.
• Most participants (87% ) kept a promotional item for longer than a year!
• About half (56% ) said their impression of the company improved after receiving a branded promotional gift.

See the original article here – Brandwatch Article

Swag Horror Stories

Conducting a successful promotional product campaign is more than just coming up with a creative idea and letting it fly, though.

We’ve all heard stories of swag gone bad – cheap pens, typos in the artwork, scratchy t-shirts – and it’s a valid concern. All the positives from an effective campaign turn into negatives real quick if the item you’re using to represent your brand doesn’t live up to the expectation. And if cheaply made promotional products are being tossed, it’s certainly not building positive brand equity. You’ve spent a considerable amount of time and money asking the hard questions, determining the course, refining the message, agonizing over colors and fonts and editing the creative elements. A bad promotional product can not only take away from your brand equity, it can cause a brand disconnect that makes communication more difficult in other channels. The item you choose is just as much a part of your message as the artwork you put on it. The last thing you want to see is a trash can full of stuff with your name on it.

Accurate Brand Representation

No one wants to feel like they are only worth a 31-cent pen, and any executive I’ve ever met doesn’t want to be represented by an easily-broken and forgettable trinket. Any physical representation of your company should say the right thing.

Give yourself enough time to find the perfect item. Many marketers disregard promotional items until the last minute, limiting options and raising costs. When giveaways or gifts are central to the strategy rather than a last-minute decision, the brand equity and impact can increase considerably .

If budget is an issue, consider using your limited marketing funds to give away a smaller number of higher quality promotional items.

Follow these tips to ensure that your campaign reaches its potential impact.

• Determine your overarching goal for the campaign. Are you simply looking to generate brand exposure, or are you moving prospects through the pipeline? Establishing the campaign’s goals will help guide your promotional product strategy.
• Know your target audience for the campaign. As with any campaign, understanding your target audience is key. You want to put the right item in the right hand with the right message.
• Plan ahead. Leave yourself plenty of time to order promos, receive samples and proofs with a little buffer for unexpected delays. Shipping can be a little unpredictable, especially right now.
• Establish a message. What do you want your audience to hear? How will you say it? Do you need some custom artwork created?
• Plan for distribution. Are you visiting with customers personally to give them the promo as a leave-behind? Are you sending these items in a direct mail campaign? Sometimes it helps to think about the last step first and work backwards.

Don’t be afraid to ask for help. We have pros that do this every day. If you’re stuck, you have a resource that can help.