How to Use Promotional Merchandise for Cost Effective Marketing

If you have visited a trade show or conference you must be familiar with promotional merchandise that businesses distribute to the attendees. At the end of the day you will likely end up with a bag full of pens, key chains, flash drives, mugs and so on. The reason for their popularity is obvious. If done right promotional merchandise can help you raise brand awareness and promote your business during the show, but more importantly, keeps your business in front of their eyes long after the trade show is over. The key to success for this approach is to make sure you choose the right product and ensure it will have usefulness in everyday life. Below we share secrets to getting the most out of your promotions.

• Choose the Right Product – This is the most important factor to your success. Many of the promotional products will end up in the garbage right after the attendees reach home or will just sit on the shelf without anyone noticing them. The products that provide the most effective marketing are those that have daily use. For example, a coffee mug will be used in the morning every day. In addition, it is likely to be noticed by other people if it is attractive and unique.
• Make it Unique – If your promotional merchandise is one of many similar products it is likely to go unnoticed. To catch someone’s eyes it has to be unique so it stands out from the crowd and gets immediate notice. Products such as eco-friendly pen holder or bamboo notebook are not seen every day by people, so when it is sitting on someone’s desk it is going to bring up the question of where you got it and who provided it to you.
• Distribute at Appropriate Time – There is a right time to give out your promotional product at the conferences. If you are just putting them in their hands when they are in rush it will likely end up in the bag or even in dumpster. But if you find the right moment when the person accepting it is likely to stop to take a look, and find immediate utility you will get the most bang for your buck. One of the compelling products I have seen given out is the umbrella with a bold logo of a bank when it was raining like cats and dogs outside. People were lining up to get the umbrella and you could see the bed of bank logos plastered all over the venue. Can you imagine the brand awareness they received out of this?
• Follow up Afterwards – Just giving out the product and hoping that it will get noticed is sometimes not enough. You can go one step further by getting the contact information of the attendees and following up after the trade show. I know this is not easy, but if done right you can convince them to provide their contact information when you are giving out the promotional merchandise.

Do you have any other tips you would like to share with us? Let us know in the comments section below.