Giving away gifts to clients, preferred customers, or even your staff can help boost loyalty, brand awareness, and customer retention. However, to get the best results, you need to select the right promotional products. These tips should help you get a better return on your investment.
1. Choose a Product That Appeals to Your Target Customers
Your giveaway will be less effective if your target customers do not appreciate the free item. When selecting a product, consider the interests and hobbies of your typical customer. Most businesses create customer personas or use questionnaires to develop targeted advertising. Using this same data, you should be able to find a suitable product.
2. Use Caution When Selecting Clothing for Promotional Items
Clothing is often a great choice for corporate gifts. However, there are a few precautions that you should take if you want to give away a hat, shirt, or another article of clothing.
If you decide to give away clothing, you may not want to prominently display your business logo. If you want to present a professional image, avoid giving away items that make people feel like a walking advertisement.
A stylish polo shirt with a small insignia near the pocket or chest is much more professional than a trucker hat with an oversized logo. However, your choice also depends on your target customers. If your core audience consists of a younger demographic, your customers may enjoy a t-shirt or hat with a large logo.
3. Try to Select Promotional Items with Longer Shelf Lives
One of the purposes of giving away promotional items is to boost customer retention. When the customer continues to see the item around the house or office, they are constantly reminded of your business. You do not gain this advantage when you choose items with a short shelf life.
Examples of items that may not last long include notepads, stationery, and food. While there are situations where these products are great for promotional purposes, most promotional campaigns are better off with items that will last a long time.
4. Give Your Customers a Selection of Products
If you are using free gifts to promote an upcoming event, sale, or product launch, you should consider giving your customers a choice. Instead of giving everyone the same customized pen set, you could provide your customers a few different options.
When you target a broad audience, everyone may not appreciate the same things. Creating a selection of products helps you appeal to a larger audience. This also increases the chances that the customer will enjoy their item and continue to use it, increasing the value of your promotional campaign.
5. Choose an Item Relevant to Your Event or Product
Another solution for increasing the effectiveness of your promotional campaign is to select an item that is relevant to the event or product that you are promoting.
For example, if you are attending a trade show or convention, a tote bag is a functional gift that your potential customers will enjoy. If you are promoting coffee beans, you may choose to give away coffee mugs. When you make this connection, customers are more likely to remember the event or product that you were promoting every time that they see the free item.
These suggestions should help you select the best promotional goods for your next marketing campaign. Remember to consider the interest of your customers and the image that you want to present. The Brandability website is a helpful resource if you want to learn more information.
