In any given industry, there is plenty of competition. Businesses are struggling to get an edge over the competition to attract and retain more customers. However, this is not easy in a world where new businesses are being established every single day. It can be difficult to stand out from the crowd if you do not put in the necessary effort. Branding is one way to stand out. By making your brand more visible than competitors, your business will stand out. Visibility is the key to branding, any marketing strategy that can improve brand visibility should be welcomed by business owners. For instance, giving out branded business gifts is a wonderful marketing strategy for promoting a brand.
Why Promotional Products Work
Promotional products because everybody is happy to receive free gifts. This feeling of happiness is usually attached to the brand, so whenever the customer thinks of buying similar products or getting the same service, your brand will immediately come to mind. After all, the mind is designed to suppress bad memories, but can easily retrieve good memories, and these are attached to your brand.
Promotional products are great because consumers usually carry them around wherever they go. As they interact with other people, your brand will be exposed to the public. Imagine customers walking around busy city streets in neatly-branded t-shirts, hoodies, baseball caps or carrying beautiful, branded umbrellas. They will be transformed into walking billboards of sorts. Your brand will get exposure wherever they go.
Common Types of Promotional Products
i) Branded T-Shirts
This is the best promotional product for branding purposes. This is because most people love wearing t-shirts in the summer as well as indoors. A neatly-branded t-shirt will be worn proudly by consumers of all ages, gender and sizes. They are akin to walking billboards that will make your brand more visible than anything else. However, you should know that nobody wants to wear low-quality t-shirts with poor graphics, so you have to invest in the best graphic design services and pay for quality t-shirts. Branded t-shirts can have a long-term positive effect on your brand, so cost should not be an issue. Be sure to also order t-shirts of different colors to suit your customers.
ii) Branded Umbrellas
Imagine customers walking around busy city streets or relaxing at the beach under a colored umbrella bearing your company logo and brand colors. This can-do wonders for your brand as it will improve the visibility of your brand. Consider branding umbrellas of different sizes and designs to ensure you can hand them out to as many people as possible. Those who spend a lot of money in your business should get the highest-quality umbrellas while other customers can get smaller umbrellas as gifts.
iii) Branded Confectionery
Chocolate, sweets and other types of confectionery can be customized for branding purposes. The name and logo of your business can be printed on the packaging of these products or applied to the actual product. Most people love sweets, so these gifts will be well-appreciated by everyone. The best thing about sweets is that they are affordable, so everyone can get at least one gift. Secondly, they taste nice, so consumers will associate the sweet taste with your brand. This can be a powerful marketing tool that will make your brand outshine your competitors.
iv) Branded Pens
Most people normally use pens on a daily basis. Students and office workers always use pens for writing. This means that branded pens are a welcome gift. To get the best results, be sure to shop around for the highest quality pens that are sold at competitive prices and have them branded with your business name and logo. All your customers can get a pen because they are affordable gifts. However, they will expose your brand or business name to other consumers for a long time.
v) Branded Water Bottles
Most people are health-conscious nowadays. That is why they usually carry water in bottles to work or school. When going to the gym or to the park for a workout, most fitness enthusiasts usually carry their water bottles. By issuing branded water bottle as gifts to your customers, you can outshine the competition in marketing. This is because water bottles are highly visible. Water bottles come in a variety of designs, colors and sizes, so be sure to choose bottles that can promote your brand much more effectively.
vi) Branded Baseball Caps and Hats
When it’s sunny, many people usually put on a hat or baseball cap to shield their faces from direct sunlight. Since baseball caps and hats are usually worn on the head, they can do wonders in terms of improving the visibility of your brand. Be sure to brand hats of various sizes to ensure young customers can get a perfectly-fitting hat or cap for their body size.
vii) Branded Calendars
When the new year arrives, many people usually find themselves without calendars. By gifting your customers branded calendars that are well-designed, you can be assured of getting incredible results. This is because calendars usually remain on the walls of living rooms and bedrooms for a whole year, so your brand will get a lot of exposure throughout the year.
When selecting gifts to give to your customers, there are many factors that you will have to take into consideration. For starters, your budget is the key factor to consider. Depending on the number of customers you expect, be sure to divide your budget by that number. The figure you get will give you a rough idea of what each gift should cost you. With this in mind, you can start shopping around for gifts that are within your price range. Obviously, other gifts will cost more than the budgeted unit cost while others will cost much less. By carefully selecting gifts, you will be able to get the best possible returns on your investment. It is crucial you insist on quality when ordering promotional products because offering cheap gifts to your customers might actually backfire on you.