Using custom promotional products as your next go-to sales tool is a win-win to give your business repeat exposure at a relatively low cost. Whether it is a logoed mug, a personalized pen or a branded T-shirt, promotional items add value to everyday lives-while also increasing sales. A recent Advertising Specialty Institute study shows that consumers under 55 prefer promotional products to any other form of advertising because of their usefulness. By aiding in building exposure over time, incentivizing your sales teams and then securing customer loyalty once the sale has been made and your prospect converted to a new client, adding promotional products to your advertising strategy can create the repeat impressions that can help perpetuate sales long into the future.
Increase your Top-of-Mind Awareness
The goal of sales promotions is to help create awareness for a brand – the first and essential step in the marketing funnel process. If we don’t have brand awareness, we can’t ever get into our prospect’s competitive set when they are ready to make a purchase. If you’re not in the top two or three brands recalled when there’s a purchase moment, you likely can’t get the sale. This is why we advertise; to improve our top-of-mind awareness and recall. Building brand awareness can also be achieved by building brand awareness and longer-term exposure via impressions, through the use and re-use of promotional items. Promotional products can make over 6,000 impressions throughout their lifetime – not to mention the cascading effect when a recipient passes the product along to someone else. Take a logoed coffee mug as an example: It builds awareness sitting on your desk, and if you give it to someone else, may do the same for them, too. The same can be true for other useful, re-usable and shareable promotional items such as branded apparel, logoed pens and even a custom umbrella.
What are the benefits of promotional items? In short, they give your brand repeat exposure. There is something about receiving a physical item that a recipient can touch, pick up and actually use, versus a digital, TV or radio ad that is only viewed for a limited time. The same study by the Advertising Specialty Institute states that most people keep promotional products for an average of eight months. Plus, recall performance for promotional products is 85%, putting your business, products and services in place as the front runner for any competitive set. People will see your brand and associate good with it-all the while reducing the cost per impression. No need to spend a ton of money to see a return and make a lasting impression on prospects.
Utilize Promotional Products as Employee Incentives
A PPAI survey of Society of Human Resources Managers stated that 75% of businesses use promo products in their recognition programs. By rewarding your sales teams, you are reminding them that they are invaluable to your company. Employee engagement keeps your workplace happy and can increase sales through well-thought-out incentives. Consider ways that your sales teams can earn desirable branded promotional items by achieving sales goals at various levels. A little healthy competition will help your business flourish, so embrace it! Recognition can take a variety of forms through different promotional items. From office gifts to technology and food items, MARCO Promos has over 7,000 employee recognition gift ideas that you can choose from.
Enhance Customer Loyalty
Once you’ve effectively used promotional products to convert a lead to a sale (i.e., you’ve landed a new customer, congratulations!), your promotional products fun doesn’t stop there. The right promo products can add value and nurture relationships, which in turn helps sustain revenue and might even lead to a loyal customer giving you a referral. Then, the funnel starts all over again with a new sales lead! Marketers can use promotional merchandise to their advantage to further encourage loyalty through sales promotions. So, what are the benefits of a sales promotion? How can you utilize them to keep customers? Here are some tips to consider implementing:
1. Build a rewards program: Increase customer engagement through offering them promotional products such as a logoed flashlight, a travel accessory bag, or a bamboo bottle opener as rewards for their purchases.
2. Create a community: Turn consumers into repeat consumers by getting them emotionally invested in your brand. Give them an opportunity to connect with others and they’ll continue to use your business.
3. Create an experience: Leave your customers feeling happy by handing out free promotional products. It will help generate a more positive perception of your company.
Your business can double-dip by having those loyal customers be your brand ambassadors and have them acquire new customers for you. Audiences are more prone to believe a person who promotes a brand who is not being paid to do so. Word-of-mouth marketing and referrals are a great way to boost your business. People buy from organizations that they trust. Be the trustworthy brand and your good reputation will do the work for you.
Reap the Benefits of Promotional Items
Promotional items help set your brand ahead of the competition, increasing brand recall and customer loyalty, which in turn increases sales! Now that you can answer, what are the benefits of a sales promotion, remember to include your employees for recognition programs when shopping for all your branded promotional products this year. By aiding in building exposure over time, incentivizing your sales teams and working effectively to make your brand top of mind, the addition of promotional products to your current marketing mix of advertising and public relations will help drive sales.
