By Maria Rohde

By definition, promotional products or specialty advertising are useful items imprinted with an advertiser’s name, logo, message or offer. Look around… there’s a 90% chance that you have in your possession a pen, calendar, coffee mug or some other promotional item that someone gave you to keep their name in the forefront of your mind.

Promotional products have often been overlooked when businesses develop their marketing campaigns. While some think of them only as gadgets, gizmos, novelties, trinkets or giveaways; savvy marketers realize the impact promotions have in reaching a specific target audience.

Here Are 5 Reasons Why Promotional Products Are Crucial for Any Business

Low-Cost Effective Marketing
If you’ve ever gone to the bank and grabbed a pen from the cup or taken a drawstring bag home from a 5K, you’ve held a promotional item in your hands. These company giveaways are part of our lives almost every day, even if we don’t realize it. When we reach into a drawer to grab a pen or pack a tote bag for a day at the beach, we often use a free giveaway item. Don’t underestimate their power! And who doesn’t love getting something for free?

Instant Brand Recognition
Brand recognition implies that the consumers can identify your company and its products or services immediately when they spot your logo.

Greater Exposure of Your Business
Gift items are in use for most of the time and are in front of eyes. For example, the consumers will wear your gift of a trendy t-shirt for days or even years, and they will sip from your tea or coffee mug even more often. Such freebies are an excellent way for increasing your business exposure.
According to PPAI.org (Promotional Products Association International), 76.1% of participants could recall the name of the advertiser on a promotional product that they received in the past 12 months.

Works as Your Business Card
Business cards introduce your company and its products to the consumers. Your promotional products also function in the same way, but with better results.

Remember, the promotional giveaways also have your contact information just as business cards have. The gift items have your company logo, images and a slogan depicting your business message. The tangible branded product thus works as a useful business card that the consumers can use daily.

Customer Loyalty
Repeat customers are the backbone of any business. However, this kind of relationship takes time and effort to develop. Promotional products can be extremely effective when forming these relationships. They show your customers that you value them by offering value in return.

Ultimately, the goal of any promotional marketing campaign is to raise awareness about a product or increase its appeal. Promotional marketing has the advantage of being valuable to both new customers and existing customers — it offers new customers a reason to try a business for the first time, while building loyalty in existing customers.

Maria Rohde is a Sales Associate at HP2 Products and Promotions in the heart of North 32nd St. Featuring promotional products and apparel, HP2 has been serving Arizona since 2004.

To schedule a showroom visit or to discuss ideas that may work for you, please call Maria at 602-321-1327 or email [email protected]