Branded promotional items are one of the most simple, effective and inexpensive forms of marketing out there but how you use them, what you order and where you order them from will all make a big difference in the products’ effectiveness. The next time you use promotional items for advertising or marketing, keep these common mistakes in mind so that you can take steps to avoid them.
1.) Not Allowing Enough Time for Pre-Production
If you have a trade show or event coming up that has a hard deadline, don’t wait until a few weeks before to start the process of ordering promotional items. Give yourself at least a month to define your budget, research products and then work with the company to have your product designed. Often times there can be problems with artwork needing to be re-worked to fit on a certain item and turn around times can vary depending on the item, quantity and stock plus the added time for shipping. Starting early will give you enough time to make sure your order is just the way you want it and ensure it will be in-hands for your event.
2.) Attracting the Wrong People
No matter what, you want to have fun and interesting promotional items that will please everyone, but your main focus is to attract current and prospective customers. If you’re a technology company and those spiffy branded Frisbees you brought to your tradeshow is mainly attracting younger kids, odds are you’re not going to secure a lot of new business and you just threw away precious dollars from your promotional marketing budget. Try going with promotional items that fit with the culture of your industry, if you’re a Heath & Wellness company, why not braded Stress relief balls? Automotive, how about branded air fresheners or car chargers? If you give potential customers something that will actually use, then your brand will always be on their minds.
3.) Strictly Focusing on Price
It’s an overlooked fact that Promotional Items are often the first impression that potential customers will get from your company; they’re like little sales people who never take a day off. You want your promotional Items to represent your company just like you would in any face-to-face meeting. If the pens you just gave out at an event falls apart or stop working days after it was received, your company will not be perceived in a positive light and the item will find its way inside a trash can where no one will see it. Handing out very cheap products can do more damage than handing out nothing at all. Adding extra money into your products can be the difference between success and failure, remember you get what you pay for. In the event that you have defined budget with no wiggle room, try going for a smaller higher quality item than a bottom of the barrel upper level item. The quality of an item will speak volumes.
At Blue Wave Marketing, we have over 20 years of marketing experience, and expertise, we work closely with our clients to develop a close relationship, and use that knowledge to develop products that will please your customers/employees and synch perfectly with your message and culture.
If you believe that Blue Wave Marketing is the perfect promotional product partner for you, we’d be more than happy to schedule a consultation with you. For more information, call us at 617-576-3100.
