Sure, everyone loves to get a free pen, a good shopping bag, or a fun gift from a brand or service provider. Marketing experts say that a well-chosen and high-quality promo product sits in front of a recipient from eight months to two years. And even long after receiving a branded promo product, a recipient will remember who gave it to them.
So, this proves that any promo product is likely to make a lasting impact, but can you give your promos an edge? Can you make them even more effective? In a word: yes.
Beyond Brand Awareness
The point of any branded promo product is to create brand awareness. It is meant to put legs beneath the brand and get it out in front of a lot of potential clients, or to simply remind the recipient on a daily basis of the presence and quality of your business.
Brand awareness is a crucial component to marketing, and every marketing dollar invested should have as high a potential for return as possible. Thus, you should choose “utility” promo products.
These are branded and, therefore, help with brand awareness. However, if you take some time to choose wisely, you can create resonance with your brand. As author Andrea Coville said in her book Relevance: The Power to Change Minds and Behavior and Stay Ahead of the Competition, when a “product, service, or idea resonates with a customer, if it means something to them—in addition to being utilitarian—then the relationship will be deeper, longer-lasting, and more profitable.”
The key is to figure out how to use promo products to achieve that resonance. The good news is that it is far easier than one might imagine and already exists in your marketing research.
Know Thy Customer
As you started to design any marketing plans, you had to take the time to map out your most likely buyers. Whether you called these steps creating a buyer persona or basic marketing research is irrelevant. What matters is that you know all you can about your customers, their goals, and the “pain” your product or service solves. You may have even created your marketing content specifically to speak to each segment of your audience. If you have had some time with marketing, you may even have some initial feedback and made some tweaks to your marketing plans.
You can take all of these details – customer profiles, customer goals, various segments, and, most importantly, the pain your product resolves – and use them to start selecting promo products that really resonate with your audience while reflecting your brand.
Make it Practical
The key here, though, is to make any promo product a practical item. For example, let’s say you offer software as a service. Your clients work at their desks all day – promo products that advertise from the desktop are the ideal answer. Whether it is a stress ball product or a very useful USB-powered gadget, the point is that you can make your promos relevant, useful, and on point. Making them resonate with your audience and your brand means creating an invaluable association that leads them to take action, get in touch, and remain loyal even as they heighten brand awareness.
