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Promotional Product Tips.
- Promotional
products can increase booth traffic at trade shows. Exhibit Surveys, Inc.
discovered promotional products use by exhibitors can give an advantage
over other exhibitors for buyer attention. A research study showed that in
addition to increasing booth traffic, trade show registrants had a
stronger post-show memory of the exhibiting company as well as positive
feelings (goodwill) toward the company.
- Promotional
products should relate to the advertiser's message. However, prior to
choosing the products, spend important time discussing the best
way to achieve your goals. Consider these six elements when planning a
successful promotion: 1. Define Promotion Objectives 2. Identify Target
Audience 3. Plan Product Distribution 4. Determine Central Theme 5. Develop
Message for Imprint 6. Select Products.
- Promotional
products maximize the effectiveness of employee sales contests by
sustaining employee enthusiasm over the contest period. Contest results in
one study show 50 percent more stores achieving sales gains.
- Developing
trade show traffic, balancing improper product mix, activating inactive
accounts, changing product/company names and sales aids for door openers
are a few more ways promotional products marketing can enhance campaign
results.
- Promotional
product recipients prefer subtle imprinting for certain products --
particularly the higher-end items including awards, plaques, briefcases,
luggage, clothing, portfolios, writing instruments, etc.
- The
top 10 industries purchasing of promotional products are financials;
healthcare; non-profit organizations; education; general manufacturing;
insurance (companies, agents, adjusters); automotive; government;
entertainment/sporting events and media/advertising & P.R. agencies.
- Qualities
to expect from me as your promotional products distributor: 1. A solid
reputation with good references; a CAS or MAS industry designation earned
through continuing education. 2. Creative exchange of ideas serving as
your consultant, rather than an order taker. 3. A business philosophy and
style that match the firm's needs. 4. Accurate, inclusive price quotes. 5.
Record of on-time delivery.
- You
can triple booth traffic just by including a promotional product in your
pre-show mailing, according to the Trade Show Bureau. Most effective are
the use of "companion gifts," such as sending an imprinted
coaster before the show and giving away a matching coffee mug at your
booth.
- Promotional
products can maximize trade show attendance. A pre-show gift, according to
a study on trade show attendees, can produce three times greater traffic
to an exhibit than an invitation without a gift.
- For
creating awareness among a selective audience, promotional products are
hard to beat. In a study on attendee awareness of product demonstrations
staged in three university communities, Southern Methodist University
found that selective distribution of ad specialties outpolled school
newspaper advertising by a 2-to-1 ratio.
- To
improve your telemarketing sales, send product literature BEFORE you make the
call. According to Telemarketing magazine, that tactic can reduce the time
it takes to close the sale.
- When
charged with such challenges as building a company or product image,
promoting a new facility, motivating employees, introducing new
salespeople or improving client/customer relations, a promotional product
distributor will give you guidance and ideas to assure success.
- Promotional
products provide high message recall. In one study, 68 percent of
recipients remembered the advertiser's name or message.
- Direct
mail response rates increase with promotional products. Using promotional
products as an incentive to respond can generate four times as many
responses as a sales letter alone. The promotional product incentive can
reduce by as much as two-thirds the cost per response.
- Promotional products improve
the recipient's impressions of an advertiser. A survey revealed that 56
percent of respondents had a favorable impression of the advertiser before
receiving a promotional product. That number increased to 71 percent after
receiving a promotional item.
- Promotional
products maximize the effectiveness of employee sales contests by
sustaining employee enthusiasm over the contest period. Contest results in
one study show 50 percent more stores achieving sales gains.
- To
change employee behavior, corporate awards and incentive programs need to
be frequent and should specifically reward employees for sustaining the
desired change. Otherwise, the Baylor University study reveals, up to half
the time, the particular behavior change that management seeks disappears
once the program ends.
- Since
everyone naturally likes to receive gifts, that makes promotional products
marketing the only advertising medium that has built in ingratiation.
- Walking
billboards still top the charts. Wear-ables, including T-shirts, jackets,
baseball caps, headbands, shorts, etc., are still most popular category of
promotional products. Often called walking billboards, sales of wear-ables
account for 29.5 percent of the $14.94 billion promotional products
industry.
- As a
professional promotional products distributor, I can offer many special
services like artwork, computer graphics, layout/paste-up, warehousing,
fulfillment, packaging, gift wrapping, copywriting, imprinting and
engraving.
- Promotional
products used in conjunction with a sales letter or as an incentive to
respond, make a notable difference in direct mail response rates. They
also improve a business' likelihood of converting leads into sales
appointments. Silver Marketing Group conducted a study where a promotional
product was added to a direct mail promotion, and response rates went up
50 percent! Promotional products used as response incentives generated as
much as four times as many responses as a sales letter alone.
- Customers
receiving promotional gifts are more likely to give salespeople referrals.
In one experiment, the difference in the number of referrals was as much
as 24 percent.
- Customers
reorder faster and more often when promotional products are used instead
of coupons. In a study by Southern Methodist University, customers receiving
promotional products reordered up to 18 percent sooner than those who
received coupons and up to 13 percent sooner than those who received no
promotion.
- Promotional
product recipients typically have a higher opinion of companies who give
away promotional items; however, that opinion is reduced if a company
gives away promotional products for a time, and then stops.
- Design
tip for business-to-business package... While much effort goes into
consumer package design, business-to-business packaging rarely gets the
same attention. Here's a way to make b2b boxes easy to read in the
warehouse: rather than printing a stock number that's meaningless to the
receiver, manufacturers should indicate what's actually inside. This
decreases needless handling and lessens the risk of damage. - Sales and
Marketing Management, February 2000.
- Promotional
product mailings can dramatically improve response rates for campaigns
involving other media, such as print advertising. In a study by Dallas
Marketing Group, a national tile distributor wanted to integrate the use
of direct mail and promotional products into an existing print advertising
campaign. Response rates were tracked for a known group of subscribers.
Some subscribers received only the trade ad, while others also received a
sales letter, a promotional product, or a promotional product incentive.
From those respondents exposed to both the trade ad and some form of
direct mail, two-thirds identified the direct mail piece as the catalyst
that prompted their response.
- Awards
and incentive programs improve employee performance and morale. In
addition to higher productivity, happy employees have fewer accidents and
give customers better service. Baylor University discovered in a random
survey, employees are indeed motivated to participate in award and
incentive programs. However, employees cited they are most excited about
these contests when their input is part of the initial planning and they
receive timely feedback throughout the contest.
- Promotional
products can maximize trade show attendance. A pre-show gift, according to
a study on trade show attendees, can produce three times greater traffic
to an exhibit than an invitation without a gift.
- Promotional
products build goodwill. In one study, a company using promotional
products improved its goodwill standing over competitors by 11 percent. A
promotional product, the findings indicate, can surpass by as much as 52
percent a thank-you letter alone in improving a customer's general
feelings about a company and its sales reps.
- On
promotional product's creative impact: because of promotional products
utility value, they naturally create involvement. This involvement
combined with factors such as effective targeting, appropriate timing,
marketing campaign objectives, creative copy and/or creative imprint
design, only multiplies creative impact. Other factors affecting impact
include the promotional item's size, value, shape, practicality,
appropriateness, humor, personalization and artistic flair.
- You
can triple booth traffic just by including a promotional product in your
pre-show mailing, according to the Trade Show Bureau. Most effective are
the use of "companion gifts," such as sending an imprinted
coaster before the show and giving away a matching coffee mug at your
booth.
- A
survey of 180 college students at five U.S. universities revealed that
promotional products are indeed influential and appreciated. Ninety-five
percent of the students surveyed mentioned appreciation at having received
the items, and 85 percent named an imprinted item in their immediate
possession or at their home. Eighty-three percent of respondents said that
promotional products would motivate them in one or more of the following
ways: respond to a survey, enter a contest, purchase a product or service,
patronize a business or donate to a charity.
- Promotional
products work best as part of an integrated marketing plan. Although
advertising is usually what we think of first, promotional products are
also ideal for sales promotions, public relations, branding and internal
communications.
- Sharables
are a recent trend. These include gifts of mixed nuts or confections and
gourmet food packages that can be shared by everyone in the office,
thereby spreading goodwill.
- The
diversity of available promotional items lends to the countless
applications of this medium. Here are five ideal opportunities to
demonstrate effectiveness of promotional products marketing: promoting
branch openings, introducing new products, motivating salespeople, opening
new accounts, and stimulating sales meetings.
- A
study by Southern Methodist University shows: In building customer
loyalty, in terms of reducing elapsed time between orders and repeat
orders, promotional products are likely to outperform coupons or no
promotion at all by as much as 12.9 percent. And in terms of order
frequency, by as much as 16.2 percent.
- Have
you ever tried to buy a gift for someone you don't know? If so, you know
it's quite difficult. Knowing your target audience is a crucial key to a
successful promotion. Companies should clearly communicate their intended
use of promotional products to a professional distributor.
- Promotional
products are effective in reinforcing employee sales contests, too. A
month-long Baylor University study of sales contests in retail stores
indicated that using promotional products as periodic reinforcement were
not only cost-effective, but also outperformed the contest that didn't use
promotional products by as much as 50%!
- New
twist in gift giving: give gifts to someone else on behalf of your
customers. California court reporter firm Tearney & Tearney, seeking
to stretch a limited budget to say thanks to all its attorney clients,
bought plush dinosaur toys, told clients they were being given in their
names to underprivileged children. Attached to the toys were stamped
postcards which the children could use to send thank-yous to the
"givers."
- Mary
Kay beauty consultants realized using promotional products encouraged
customers to provide the consultants with names of friends and associates
as sales leads. The consultants who gave promotional gifts to their
customers received as much as 22 percent more referrals than those who
didn't use them.
- As a
promotional products distributor, I wear many hats. In addition to knowing
where to get items for clients, I'm also familiar with manufacturing
methods and the pros and cons of different fabrics and materials used.
Distributors range from one-person to businesses with hundreds of
salespeople and branches nationwide. All distributors can be product
sellers and take orders effectively for clients who express that need.
However, many distributors are promotional marketing program consultants.
These program consultants work closely with their clients, and the
clients' advertising agency (if applicable) to assure a successful
campaign.
- Traditional
media channels still do the job... Many experts tout the Web as the
ultimate place to find new customers, but in reality many dot.com companies
rely on traditional media channels to attract new business. The top 15
Internet companies alone spent $630 million in 1999 to promote themselves
through TV, radio and print media. Of course the Internet will continue to
garner a larger role in efforts to connect with customers, but it seems
the standbys are still the best bet. - George Colombo, president of
Influence Technologies.
- Promotional
products give customers "warm fuzzies" toward a company and the
salespeople! In a Baylor University study customers receiving a calculator
with a thank-you letter felt more positive toward the sales
representatives than those who received a thank-you letter with a less
expensive highlighter pen.
- Promotional
products can increase booth traffic at trade shows. Exhibit Surveys, Inc.
discovered promotional products use by exhibitors can give an advantage
over other exhibitors for buyer attention. A research study showed that in
addition to increasing booth traffic, trade show registrants had a
stronger post-show memory of the exhibiting company as well as positive
feelings (goodwill) toward the company.
- Pre-show
promotions are important. Research shows 76 percent of trade show
attendees have decided BEFORE they get to the convention which booths they
will visit.
- Promotion
goals aren't met by chance. Successful marketing campaigns are carefully
researched and planned, having taken into consideration the audience,
budget and the desired goal.
- Using
me as a consultant can mean the difference between success and failure of
a promotional campaign. As a professional promotional products
distributor, I have the expertise to help you create a campaign theme, an
imprint message, method of distribution and products which are appropriate
to your campaign and budget.
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