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Promotional products strategy
It’s important to plan ahead before buying promotional products. You need to know what your message is going to be, when you need to have the products ready, and what you hope to get out of the campaign.
If you want to get a specific message across – such as your company tagline – make sure it’s an item with enough “real estate” to accommodate the message. A pen is an inexpensive and common promotional tool, but it’s difficult to get a lot of writing on it. You’re better off going with a smaller message or a larger promotional item.
Don’t expect promotional items to end up on your company’s doorstep the next day. Once you finalize a design and the type of item you want, it can still take a few days to several weeks before they are printed and ready to distribute. Make sure you plan well in advance if you need the products for a particular event or conference. In addition, keep the time of the year in mind: the holiday season is typically busy for all businesses, so get your promotional products order into the vendor well in advance in order to avoid delays.
While you can’t easily track the results of a promotional product campaign, it’s best to start with a small, focused program before you spend a lot of money or dedicate a great deal of time. Think about which products could be easily identified with your business. It doesn’t necessarily have to be something unique or expensive, but it should be something that people can use or enjoy regularly.
Types of promotional items
You can promote your business on just about any item. Just don’t get overwhelmed by the plethora of choices. If you’re unsure what to go with, consider the tried and true standards:
Clothing – The usual fare of t-shirts, baseball caps, and windbreakers are always popular items. They are large enough to fit the messaging you want, yet affordable if you buy them in bulk. These items may be too seasonal depending on when you need them or may not come in sizes that fit everyone so keep that in mind when making your decision.
Food – This isn’t for the actual food of course (although it is possible in some cases) but rather for the container that will hold the food such as a basket or decorative tin. Food-based promotional items are a costlier option than clothing and you also have to keep expiration dates in mind as well as possible allergic reactions to some food products.
Office gifts – This runs the gamut from a notepad to leather-bound organizers to USB key drives. You can select practical products for everyday use, or weird and unusual items just to be different and get people thinking about your business. Expect to pay considerably more for office gifts than traditional items, especially if the item isn’t already in stock or needs special customization.
Don’t drive yourself crazy trying to find the perfect promotional product either. Most vendors have printed catalogues or fully loaded web sites that detail everything available.
Promotional product design
One consideration to keep in mind is the design of your product. If you are an established company, you probably already have a logo that you want to use on the promotional item. Make sure you have your logo in the appropriate vector artwork format which can easily be manipulated by design experts and is suitable for imprinting purposes. You also have to have the correct color information (RGB, CMYK, or spot color) as well as proper resolution (300 DPI or higher) ready to go when the vendor asks for it.
If you don’t have an in-house staffer that can create logo work for imprinting, a vendor can usually provide those services for an additional fee.