4 Mistakes People Make When Using Promotional Products

Promotional products can be a great way to market your products and build brand awareness. However, choosing the wrong promotional products can hurt your brand. And other mistakes result in wasted time and money that could have otherwise aided your company. Here are four mistakes people make when using promotional products. We’ll also explain why these are mistakes and provide a few pointers on what to do instead.

No Distribution Plan

The only thing worse than not knowing how your promotional products will further your goals is not knowing how to distribute them so that they further your business goals. For example, a stack of branded T-shirts and keyrings sitting in the closet are a waste of money, and a pile of them at a convention will do nothing for you.

Know how you’re going to distribute them. You might give free branded T-shirts to the public at a public event or have branded travel mugs or pens available for whoever wants them at an industry convention.

Know what promotional items will be appreciated by your customers and thus could be included in their orders as a thank you gift for their business. In these cases, the freebie makes the customer feel appreciated and improves the odds they order from you in the future. Plus, it increases the odds they become brand ambassadors.

Not Tailoring the Promotional Item to Your Audience

Freebies aren’t appreciated if the item isn’t useful or desirable. Useful items like pens, notepads, and mugs are going to be used by almost everyone. They’re also likely to be circulated with others, building general brand awareness.

Calendars, schedules and computer mouse pads will be used by most recipients and reinforce their connection with the brand. Yet a beer koozie won’t go over well with someone who doesn’t drink alcohol and will come off as tone-deaf if handed out at a professional event. T-shirts may be appreciated by members of the general public at community events, but fewer will wear it at an industry convention.

Not Doing a Cost-Benefit Analysis

Promotional gifts tend to be cheap. This can make them cost-effective relative to other types of marketing. Unfortunately, you may end up with cheap promotional items that undermine your brand.

For example, cheap little tote bags that fall apart hurt your brand’s reputation for quality. If you choose cheap little items to give away, choose items that cost little but get the job done. For example, give them branded pens and notepads instead of plastic tote bags that are barely better than grocery store bags. Always track the return of your marketing investment, so you don’t continually print and hand out T-shirts that don’t result in increased traffic, sales or customer retention.

Failing to Provide Useful Information

A t-shirt or tote bag should have more than your company’s name and logo on it; include your website or phone number so that people can learn more about you. On the other hand, you have limited space to work with, so don’t try to fit your address, social media profiles and other information on the promotional item. Instead, give them a call to action such as sending you an email or advising them to visit your website.

It isn’t enough to create a great product or service – you have to stand out from the crowd. Promotional items are a good way to do this, as long as you avoid the mistakes that can derail your campaign.

Category: Online Marketing Topics