Welcome to Conference Material!

Promotional items are a fun and effective way of getting your business on the map. If your business is still young, it can plant brand awareness while serving a purpose to the people in your community – a win-win situation if there ever was one. Let’s think about why they’re so useful, and how to get the most out of your company’s gifts and giveaways.

Promotional merchandise doesn’t get the credit it is deserved in the marketing mix. Promo items are a great way for you business to get it’s word out there, according to an Advertising Specialties Institute Study, “62% of people, report that they have done business with a company after receiving promotional products from them.” Even more surprisingly, 20.9% of consumers made a purchase with the business after receiving a promotional product. Now, promotional items alone are ineffective but when combined with your marketing mix, your company should see a positive ROI. The ROI associated with promotional products are surprisingly higher than many other forms of advertising.

People love “free.” Free merchandise excites people, and if your promotional items provide value, your efforts will give you equitable return. Promotional merchandise can fall under two common categories, the common merchandise and specialized merchandise. Common merchandise is kept around the office and used to give to clients and customers on a need basis. Specialized merchandise can be created for a certain events or tradeshows to pass out, commonly providing value to your customers. Common promotional items include hats, bags, pens, t-shirts and coffee mugs. However, nowadays you are able to brand just about anything with your company name and logo, giving you more flexibility in your promotional merchandise.

Here's a look at some specific ways that your organization might use promotional products.

Increase name recognition

Getting your name and your cause recognized is often one of the first items on your agenda. This often involves participating in local events like information fairs, street festivals and conferences. The types of promotional products that many companies use as trade show giveaways work just as well to increase name recognition for your agency. Printed travel mugs and sports bottles, car stickers and other generic items get widespread use and spread your name around.

Advertise a product or service

More specific items can be even more effective when coupled with a slogan that plays on the item itself. While your product or service may not be "for sale", your organization still has a need to sell it to the public. The same methods used by retail sellers and businesses will bring in "customers" for your services and products.

Thank you or appreciation gifts

One of the more effective ways to raise goodwill for your cause is to thank contributors and participants. Whether you send out small tokens to those who make contributions, give larger gifts to those who volunteer in substantial ways or offer a free "gift" to those who respond to a call for action, promotional items are a low cost way to say "thanks for helping".