An Effective Marketing Campaign In 5 Easy Steps
Gifting a promotional item is an effective way to market your business. According to the Global Ad Impressions Study by the Advertising Specialty Institute (ASI), promotional items are one of the least expensive ways to market your business. In the U.S., branded gifts have a lower CPI (Cost Per Impression) than ads on prime-time TV or ads placed in a national magazine or newspaper. In fact, promotional items have a similar CPI to radio and internet ads. Promotional gifts boost brand recall. According to sageworld.com “89% of consumers can recall an advertiser two years after receiving a promotional gift. 63% of consumers stated that they gave away their gifts when they were no longer needed, effectively sharing a brand with someone else.”
The key to selecting the right promotional item is how relevant and useful it is to your audience. For instance, if you’re a grocery chain, give away a shopping bag. If you’re a chiropractor, give away a yoga mat. You get the picture.
Step 1: Define your goals
What do you want to achieve? Take some time to decide on what you want to accomplish. Do you want to:
- Increase brand awareness?
- Give a reward to retain a current customer?
- Attract new prospects?
- Entice new employees?
- Motivate your audience to take an action?
- Offer a gift with a purchase?
- Launch a new product/service?
- Increase traffic at a trade event?
Step 2: Identify your audience
You may probably know your audience. If not, ask yourself these questions:
- Who opens your emails and clicks on your content?
- Who makes the most purchases?
- Who hasn’t purchased a product in the last year?
- Who asks for quotes/pricing, but hasn’t converted?
- Who likes your content on social media or who follows you, but isn’t a current customer?
- Who lives within 2 miles of your business?
Step 3: Use various ways to promote your gift
Once you’ve established your goal and audience, don’t limit your campaign to one single facet. Use social media, direct mail, custom signage, printed collateral, advertising, blog posts, and your web site to help spread the word about your free gift.
Step 4: Understand effectiveness
The usefulness and relevancy of a promotional item is very important. According to the Global Ad Impressions Study, the longer a promotional gift is retained the more marketing impressions it makes. “Data shows the average household in the U.S. owns 30 promotional items. Gen X-led households own an average of 34 items, followed by Millennials (30) and Baby Boomers (28). ASI data indicates the overwhelming majority of promotional products aren’t ending up in the trash. Quality and utility are why people keep promotional items – they’re being used on a daily basis, helping people at work, in school, on the field, on the go, or at home. As a matter of fact, the average length of time a consumer keeps a promotional product is about one year.” Press play to see more stats.
Step 5: Select the right partner
Don’t spend hours online trying to select a promotional item in the right size, color, or style. As your single-source print specialist, we take the time to understand your requirements, business, and budget. We do all the tedious leg work and propose the most relevant and useful options to fit your needs. We can also help you with various aspects of an overall campaign by providing printed collateral, custom signage, direct mail services, or warehousing large-volume items.
At the end of the day…
Promotional items are an effective marketing tool because they’re tangible. Consumers have learned to tune out many other types of advertising. Like direct mail, promotional gifts are something you can touch, feel, and experience. The recall rate for promotional items are a record 85% for some products.
According to a study by Promotional Products Association International, “94% of people remember where they received a promotional item. The study reveals that 83% of consumers like to get promotional gifts that have an advertising message. Of those who receive the gifts, 85% of them do business with the advertiser. Furthermore, 58% of the surveyed consumers said they keep the gift items 1 to 4 years. Promotional items draw a whopping 500% more referrals from customers who are satisfied with the gift items.”
These stats are proof that promotional items can be an important tool for brand recognition. Remember, select gifts that are relevant to your brand. At the end of the day…pick the ones that are most useful, unique, and are of the highest quality to achieve the broadest impact.
