What Are Promotional Products and Why Does Your Business Need Them?

If you're reading this article, you must have clicked on the title in your search engine results, so it's safe to say that at the very least, you know of business promotional products. Still, you might not have much experience with them and may even feel that they're not worth their costs in time and money. With both of those factors always at a premium, we can certainly understand the desire to get the most bang for your buck and the importance of doing it as quickly and effectively as possible. That's why we decided to write this article which outlines the top ten reasons why your business needs promotional items to get ahead of the competition and stay there. 

Don't just take our word for it though; we'll often be referring to data discovered in ASI's 2019 study on promotional products and their effectiveness. The ASI, or Advertising Specialty Institute, has been around for 65 years and is the world's leading authority when it comes to linking businesses & promotional product suppliers. They conduct large trade shows in major US cities every year and are constantly researching their field to find the newest and best ways of advertising to increase brand awareness & build consumer knowledge.

1. Everyone loves getting something for nothing - Promotional giveaway items

Few four-letter words are more powerful than "free". Everyone feels like a winner when they walk away from your trade show booth, corporate event, or grand opening ceremony with a new item in their possession that didn't make their wallet bleed. Promotional giveaway items are a great way of promoting brand awareness as well as. According to a 2019 study by the ASI, the average household in the USA contains approximately 30 promotional products. Popular across all age cohorts and demographic groups, there are in excess of 3 billion¹ promotional giveaway items occupying space in people's homes across America. When you supply someone with a free gift that performs at a high level and puts an emphasis on your brand name and logo, you gain access to an enormous potential customer base.

2. Personalized trade show giveaways can make you the star of the show

At trade shows, opportunity abounds for showing off your best products, making important connections within your industry, and creating countless advertising impressions. If you've ever been to a trade show, you've by no doubt noticed that a lot of the attendees walking around with promotional tote bags, logo printed personalized sports bottles, and a vast array of other items bearing business names. Seeing these at a trade show naturally builds curiosity, leading toward attendees searching out the booths of the companies they've seen on the most popular swag. Of course, this benefit doesn't end when the trade show is over. The valuable industry connections & contacts reeled in by your giveaway items will be sure to result in continued communication and hopefully collaboration with your new business buddies. Additionally, if you offer creative custom trade show giveaways that are especially useful, you're going to be getting a ton of mobile advertising impressions everywhere your booth visitors go afterward.

3. Promotional products offer the best ROI of any form of advertising

According to the 2019 ASI study and our own personal experience, the return on investment (ROI) for promotional products & giveaways is higher than that of nearly any other form of advertising. In other words, you'll make more money per dollar spent on promotional products that you will on tv advertising, PPC ads, radio commercials, billboards, direct mail, and all of the other alternatives. As mentioned before, giveaway items imprinted with your logo design tend to be brought around wherever users go. This results in a cost of as low as 1/10 of a penny per advertising impression¹. People don't have to be glued to their phones, computers, or television sets in order to see your business logo design residing proudly on high quality, useful products. With "I want that" syndrome a constant presence in human nature, passersby will associate your company with the handy item they saw and be quick to research (and then often patronize) your business. This is an especially great advertising methods for smaller businesses who can't afford to promote via mass media.

4. Quality promotional products create extreme branding longevity

While the image above may not do the Vulcan "Live long and prosper" hand gesture due justice, it still creates a powerful point. Take a look at the pens in the picture. Specifically, take note of the business names they bear. Price Waterhouse Cooper, Exelon, and Google are using the exact same strategy as smaller, lesser known businesses such as the Ohio Catholic Credit Union (opens in a new window) and Permata Bank. The significance? It's quite simple really; no matter how big your company is, a promotional product that is high in quality and sees frequent use will keep your brand on users' minds.

When one has an item in their possession that is built to last and makes everyday tasks easier to achieve, they won't be parting with said items anytime soon. Some of these items will be used throughout the workday and others while shopping or keeping house. The vast majority of business logo imprinted giveaway items are kept for at least one year. Want further proof? The Ohio Catholic Credit Union pen was supplied to the author of this article on May 1, 2017 and is still seeing daily use.

5. Business promotional products have the ability to create emotional bonds

One of the most powerful ways of establishing customer loyalty is to tug at the heartstrings. When your business manages to build a sentimental connection with a consumer and their family, it will often have a friend in commerce for life. An especially effective way of doing this is to try to become a part of people's most cherished tradition. That's why when it comes to kindling emotional bonds with potential customers, we suggest holiday themed items such as our promotional Christmas ornaments or personalized holiday greeting cards.

Items such as these will remain dear to the hearts of those who receive them. However, they have "heirloom potential" written all over them. When your business is part of a family's holiday traditions, virtually priceless bonds are forged to inspire brand loyalty across generations. Even if your promotional products don't make it to this top level of consumer embrace, they're still 262% more likely¹ to be passed on to another person as a gift than they are to be discarded entirely, according to ASI's most recent study.

6. Promotional products can build consumer trust in your business

Who wants to do business with a company they don't trust? Pretty much nobody, or so we would hope. While a consumer who isn't already aware of your business might not have any real reason to view you with mistrust, they still need a token of proof to become true and potentially lucrative believers. There are few better ways to do this than by offering them a top-notch custom giveaway item, imprinted with your company logo. Upon examining their new toy and seeing how well it performs, they'll form positive mental associations with your brand.

In a world where things are seemingly made to break rather than last, flipping the script to the good old days of durable products is sure to win over many consumers and business-to-business buyers. Referring again to the 2019 ASI report, on an international level, consumers are 250% more likely¹ to have a positive impression of a company that provides them with a giveaway item that they can experience first-hand than even the greatest online presentation. Be it a video, instructional guide, or attractive picture, you just can't beat the real thing.

7. Business promotional items create advertising omnipresence

If you're a bit confused by the image displayed above this paragraph, we'll explain it to you. A recurring theme throughout this article has been the idea that if a promotional product is attractive & functional, it will often go where its users go. This creates a sort of omnipresence, where your corporate logo can be flashed to the public in virtually any inhabited location on the planet. The horizons are truly broad and the sun never sets when it comes to what promotional products can do to build brand awareness and positive impressions. Take our promotional drawstring backpacks as one example.

They can show up anywhere someone has cargo to transport. Schools, airplanes, buses, seminars, parks, nature trails, tour groups, medical facilities, and beaches are just a few of the many places where these items are highly likely to appear and be seen by a large amount of people. The more useful and dependable the company branded products are, the more apt they are to catch eyes, impress minds, and pad your company's bottom line.

8. Wholesale business giveaway items can help to promote important causes

The benefits of promotional products aren't limited to the for-profit sector. Bulk promotional products for charities are a great way of building awareness for a cause, a charitable event, or a reminder to the public to try to help the less fortunate. Our custom printed awareness ribbons & personalized awareness bracelets make fun giveaways for charitable events such as 5ks, marathons, charity bicycle races, charity walks, and more.

Giving participants a free giveaway item to remember their experience by will also keep your cause in their minds and help to lead to generous donations for years to come. More than 80% of consumers will remember the business or charity that gives them a free gift, so they're a very useful way to make a strong and lasting advertising impression.

9. Bulk business promotional items build community & national pride

Buying from home grown businesses is an excellent way for consumers to invest in their local economy, build community spirit, and experience feelings of good old-fashioned national pride. Did you know that consumers are more inclined to buy a product and trust the business that produces it if it's produced in their native land? It's true. The ASI has found that American consumers are 53% more inclined to have a positive view of a product if it's made in the USA¹.

Personalized promotional business products made in the USA have a built-in endorsement by virtue of their origin, so why not flaunt it? Sometimes seeing that small "made in America" tag can make the difference between a sale and a return to the rack or shelf. If your target demographic happens to live in the same nation as your company headquarters and production facilities, make sure they know about it! You have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

10. Investing in promotional products can to help identify new opportunities

The last, but surely not least important reason for buying promotional products that we'll detail today is the ideas they can generate. If you go to a trade show, exhibition, symposium, or other business event, you may see items that you might have otherwise never thought of investing in. In turn, once you start offering these items to the masses, you have a good chance of running into new business contacts, some of whom may be in an entirely different industry. As you exchange words and business cards, ideas can be bounced back and forth and new niche targets can be developed.

This opportunity also exists in examining the type of consumers who most enthusiastically adopt and use your promotional products. There may be other opportunities to serve them that your company can capitalize on, but presently overlooks. In this way, promotional products for businesses are a gift that just keeps on giving to both corporations and consumers alike.

That's it for the 4AllPromos guide on the top ten reasons to buy promotional products for businesses. Take advantage of this advice and you'll soon be spreading brand awareness in the fast line and uncovering new opportunities & markets to target every day. Are you still not convinced of the importance of company branded products & giveaway items? Do you desire clarification on any of the points we've raised? If so, feel free to contact us with any and all questions. We'll close by wishing you the best of luck and blissful branding!

Works Cited:

1. Global Ad Impressions Study - 2019 Edition

Advertising Specialty Institution, All Rights Reserved

Retrieved from https://media.asicentral.com/resources/impressions-study-2016.pdf on January 21, 2019