The holiday season provides businesses with the ideal chance to reach out to customers using branded promotional merchandise. Studies have demonstrated that branded items offer superior investment returns when compared to other marketing strategies. What’s more, there’s an undefined ROI associated with promotional merchandise related to continued use. After all, unlike one-time advertisements, branded items remain valuable for years on end, resulting in long-term marketing power that lets business owners get the most out of every investment dollar.
Something for Everyone
With so many available options, it’s easy to target a branded product that will appeal to your customer base. That said, to get a better ROI, you should consider the value of each potential customer before settling on any one item.
- Bags and cases – Attractive and useful, these items are perfect for existing clients that offer tremendous value to a
company. They also offer some valuable marketing power that can attract new customers. When you give an existing client a branded backpack, duffel, travel bag, briefcase or golf bag, you’re not just winning their favor; you’re also getting your logo in front of their friends and associates. The next time your client travels or plays a round of golf with a group of business partners, they’ll see your logo front and center on his or her luggage or golf bag. This type of passive advertising can work wonders by consistently attracting new business over a long period of time. With that being said, they typically make the most sense for businesses who can earn thousands of dollars from a single important client.
- USB drives – Branded flash drives give businesses a cost-effective way to reach customers. They also provide a substantial ROI, because they offer significant value. These days, modern consumers value technology like nothing
else. The average person racks up gigabytes of data thanks to smartphones, which allow them to capture digital images and video files. Branded flash drives give them a place to hold this valuable data. Likewise, promotional USB devices become office necessities, allowing workers to store and share important pdfs, docs, images and PowerPoint files. Best of all, because they’re affordable, these types of promotional items make sense for almost any company that wants to attract and maintain customers for long periods of time.
- Customized apparel products – Available in an array of options, branded apparel products offer big and small businesses an effective way to stay relevant in the minds of their customers. While some companies might choose branded caps, t-shirts and sweatshirts; other businesses might choose to reward an important client’s loyalty by offering branded Oxfords, long sleeve work shirts, woven shirts, Polos, knits and even leather jackets.
Choosing an Appropriate Item
When it comes to choosing the appropriate branded product, it pays to evaluate your customer. This means knowing his or her likely preferences and tastes. It also means assessing the customer’s financial impact on your business. Obviously, if a client has the potential to bring your company thousands of dollars in income, it makes sense to offer a more expensive branded item. On the other hand, if a customer is apt to bring smaller financial benefits, you might choose a more affordable promotional product, such as a branded keychain. Whatever the case, the right promotional product can work wonders for a company, because it doesn’t just speak to the recipient of the item;
it also provides enhanced marketing power by speaking to his or her friends and business associates.
