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Do Promotional Gifts Work?

One of the most important things that any business person has to learn about their customers, prospects and people in general is not to assume anything about what they think. The only thing that really matters when making hard nosed business decisions are verifiable facts and tested results.

Ask a business owner what their opinion is of promotional gifts.  Then ask what impact they could have on their bottom line and it is quite likely they will think of cheap plastic pens with a company name emblazoned across it, or a logo strewn hat that nobody would be caught dead wearing out of the office.

They would likely conclude that the business 2.0 world was a little more sophisticated than that nowadays and their customers would not be susceptible to such gimmickry.  Well certainly examples of misplaced product promotions like this are commonplace however the wider results and facts are that using promotional marketing tools like customized gifts are very effective in today’s market place . In 2009 the promotional products industry grew to $17 billion in annual sales and business gifts top the chart of effective use of promotional gifts .

If a business is spending money on this sort of promotion does it lead to a positive effect on their bottom line ?  The most common use of promotional items is in the process of solidifying an existing business relationship.  Whereas sending out promos to first time prospects without doing some narrow testing first is risky.  One good test method is to send out a mail shot with a certain percentage of them including a promo item.  Then by using suitable tracking methods like promotion codes etc it will allow you to test the effectiveness of the promotion item.  However like most marketing efforts very few people buy on the first mailing and sometimes you have to mail 6, 7, 8 or more times for a sale to happen and you maybe won’t want to send out that many promotional items. Again testing will tell you what your return on investment is.  Whilst certainly worth exploring it is more likely that the effect with your existing customers is worth pursuing first.

Mail shots at your customer base with a direct sales message plus an attached gift might suggest a bit of desperation .  Most businesses are of course different and if you sell very low cost products your strategy will be different than that of a large corporate selling ongoing services worth hundreds of thousands.  Typically unless you have previously given them much more value that they have paid for e.g. provided free reports or advice that help their bottom line, shy away from using promotions to sell products. Don’t forget business owners especially of smaller operations want results fast.  So if promotional gifts are something that might be useful to any business owner what strategy should he take?  Well quite simply promotional items work best when they are combined with face to face contact.  For the item to hold meaning it needs to remind the recipient of a good thing that happened.  That item must also be contextually relevant.

An excellent technique is to find out what your customer enjoys, set up a meeting around that subject and as a memento of the occasion give them promotional gift items that are relevant, are appropriate quality and that are customized with your logo and branding.

Corporate golf days are a good example of this at work.  The company and their customers get together for a fun day and needless to say do some good old fashioned networking.  Often golf is already a common interest or it is seen as enough fun to warrant taking part.  Then at the end of the day providing promotional golf gifts with your branding finishes the day off nicely.

It is important that the item is useful so if the customer is a keen golfer then customized golf tees, balls or hats are excellent choices, or if golf is not their number one choice a solid quality logo golf umbrella is not just useful for the golf course .  NB if you are presenting golf balls don’t make the classic mistake of giving cheap ones, especially to a high paying golf playing customer.

Each time the product is used it reminds the customer of the relationship you have.  So combine an event with a quality gift and your customers will love you for it.

 

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