Paperless transactions, chatbots, internet marketing — going digital has been the trend for businesses. But if there’s one thing companies should never include in their digitization, it’s promotional marketing.
This 2019, digital marketing is an excellent tool to boost your brand awareness and customer reach. But promotional products are also here to stay as they’ve continued to help retain clients and attract new customers.
One look at EmbroidMe’s rebranding can tell you a lot about why promotional products still work today. Embroidered apparel, water bottles, and key chains for business promotions put EmbroidMe (now known as Fully Promoted) on the map. After rebranding, EmbroidMe franchises that are for sale today offer social media and digital marketing — but the brand didn’t remove embroidered promotional products from its shelf. Instead, it now creates comprehensive marketing strategies for its clients using both online and traditional marketing.
So, what is it about promotional products that make them still powerful today? How does it exactly help promote client retention and convert strangers into new and even regular customers?
It Makes Your Brand Hard to Forget
Promotional items allow people to see your brand every time they use the products. For instance, those who got the power banks bearing your company logo in your last trade show can easily recall your brand; they see it whenever they charge their phones while on the road. With promotional products, your brand becomes part of your customers’ and prospects’ routines – whether they planned it or not.
It’s Like a Walking Billboard
Since promotional products are often items that people use every day, they help promote your business no matter where they are. Say, you gave out shirts and umbrellas. Imagine the kind of brand exposure your business gets by simply having several people wearing your shirts or using your umbrellas in public — at different times, different locations.
Also, a 2016 study by the Advertising Specialty Institute (ASI) found that 63 percent of people who receive promotional items are likely to pass them (once they are finished using them) to others who are likely to use these products as well. Talk about having brand ambassadors for as long as your items are useful.
It Makes People Buy What You Offer
Seventy-nine percent of people who receive promotional items research the brand online, while 83 percent are more likely to do business with the brand. Such items are also ranked as the most effective form of advertising to prompt buying or influence shopping behavior across all generations. These are some of the highlights of the 2018 survey of the Promotional Products Association International (PPAI).
These statistics only go to show that promotional items continue to deliver high conversions – not to mention that these items are more affordable than other forms of advertising. Without shelling hundreds of thousands of dollars, you can attract potential buyers and turn them into paying customers.
Even though almost everything is now online, business owners should never forget the power of tangible promotional marketing. People like receiving free items, after all, so they respond well. Promotional marketing is a technique that never goes out of style.
