“You speak my language,” is a rather modern way of telling someone that they understand you at a deeper level. “You really get me,” is another way of expressing the thought, and we say these things because it can be surprising to discover that someone does have that deeper understanding of our interests, personality, and so on. That is one key reason that anyone in any field should take the time to delve into their client profiles and client demographics, and understand their most likely interests and hobbies. This opens up new channels for marketing to them, as well as potential clients, using premium promotional products.
Copy the Experts
An article in Investor’s Business Daily has this to say of using promotional products to market to your clients’ hobbies, “harnessing the power of niche marketing…is a rising trend… angling for clients based on their demographic and personal traits. These include clients’ age and generation, gender, sexual preference, marital status, religion and/or activities.” In other words, you can dig into specific niches of your potential audience by looking at their favourite activities and hobbies.
As an example, your market research yields a lot of crucial information about potential and existing clients. If you look at it closely enough, you’d see things like age and income data fairly easily. Yet, if you lean into it, you’d also see things like a specific number of them travelling a few times each year, or lots of them enjoying specific activities like sports or photography.
While many might think, “No, I can’t market to such a narrow window because it shuts out potential customers,” just give it a minute. Why? Again, experts say that “the practice of serving clients in a defined demographic may shut out many potential clients. But proponents say its benefits can more than compensate. The strategy not only stamps [you] with a strong identity in a crowded field, but can also tap into underserved markets.”
Choosing Promotional Products
The key, then, is to identify those underserved markets and then identify the promotional products that will really sing to them. The good news is that it is relatively easy to find high-quality promotional products in order to market to your client’s hobbies. The downside is the hard work you’ll have to do in identifying the trends.
There are those “universal” favourites among promotional goods, and they include:
- Promotional drinkware – This can include mugs and glasses, but also water bottles. The hobby can be related to the drinkware, i.e. sailing can have a nice graphic of a ship on the drinkware, and so on
- Totes – Customized bags are a big thing, and the “hobby” or interest can be promoted through the imagery or text printed on the bag
- Writing instruments – Nothing beats the iconic pen or pencil, and again, graphics can be chosen to match the hobby
Yet, you don’t have to stick with the basics, and that’s often where corporate gifts can really make a difference. Whether it is coffee and tea products that speak to the foodies in your
