A Beginner's Guide to Promo Items

Promo items are essential marketing tools used to drive traffic and gain more customers. By choosing high quality, useful promotional items and following a few simple strategies, businesses can grow their customer base and gain more exposure.

Choose High-Quality Promo Items

You can create lots of impact for a low cost by using promo items, but don’t skimp on quality. A promo item will reflect back on your brand. People who use a promo that’s good quality will find your brand better established and trustworthy, and will more likely recommend it to others. A poor-quality item, on the other hand, will turn potential customers off and drive them to take their business elsewhere. Since there’s a wide range of promo items, from smaller items like custom company mugs to larger items like custom branded bags, businesses have plenty of options in what to use as promo pieces.

Be Consistent with Your Branding

A company should establish its message, mission, and logo for a strong start. Once the logo and brand are complete, be consistent with them across all mediums, from print materials to the website. This includes promo items. Make sure the branding is consistent even if you offer different promo items at different times. This will help ensure the company is memorable and easily recognized.

Choose Useful Giveaway Items

People are more likely to come back to your brand if it’s on their mind, and it will be when you offer useful promo items. Promotional offerings should be fun, enjoyable, and functional so potential customers will use them, which makes them visible to others. Popular items include reusable water bottles, travel coffee mugs, and custom company logo shirts. Choose colors that resonate well with your brand.

Consider Connecting Your Promo with a Specific Occasion

While it’s perfectly fine to have a promo “just because” (and promos can create buzz and liven up a site at any time), another option to consider is creating a giveaway to coincide with a certain occasion. There are numerous ways to do this, whether it’s for a holiday, for a new product launch, or to celebrate a company milestone. This gives customers something to look forward to and may strengthen brand recognition. You can also connect the giveaway to a seasonal item, such as an umbrella in the spring or a cooler bag in the summer.

Think About Holding Regular Giveaways

Another way promo items can help businesses keep existing customers and gain new ones is to hold recurrent giveaways. For example, holding quarterly or monthly sweepstakes will encourage people to make repeat visits to the website. This could potentially lead to an increase in sales, especially if the website showcases new products or has special sales during the giveaway period.

Decide on How to Use Your Promo Items

The next step is deciding how to use promotional items. There are a number of different ways to do this, and you can change the ways to keep things interesting.

Use the item as an incentive to purchase. If you offer promo items for free with a purchase, customers may be more likely to buy. You could attach the promo to a certain item on which you want to increase sales, or require a certain dollar amount spent in order to be eligible for the promo.
Hold a contest. Allow people to enter a contest via email or a web form. You can add the option of joining the company’s email list or ask them to answer survey questions that help gather market research data, too.
Give away items at trade shows or special events. People will remember the brand and visit the site to learn more.
Offer an item for referrals. This is a good tactic for businesses offering services. If an existing customer refers someone new and they make a purchase, reward the customer with a promo item.
Reward existing customers during holidays or on birthdays. If customers have made purchases in the past, considering sending a promo item to thank them at special times of the year.
Hold a random giveaway. Create a reason to have a giveaway during slow times to help raise brand awareness and increase sales.
Reward employees. Customers aren’t the only ones who appreciate getting something for free. Hold contests for employees or reward them for a job well done with items like a custom business backpack or sweatshirt.

Get the Word Out

Once you’ve decided on the right promo items and chosen when to have the contest or how to use the promo items, it’s time to spread the word. Make sure the information about the giveaway is clear and all rules or guidelines for receiving the promo are available to those who are interested. Promote it on company social media pages and on the website.

Create a Connection with Tangible Products

In a world saturated with media and advertising, promotional products offer a refreshing way to get people to recognize and connect with your brand. Physical products last much longer than most traditional advertisements, so people are more likely to remember the business. They may also share them with others or use them in public places where more people will be exposed to the brand. With all the quality options available, from apparel to bags to office items, there are choices for every company and every occasion.