There are a number of beliefs out there that will lead you to believe that promotional items are a waste of money and effort, and that is simply not the case.
Follow along and watch as the preconceived beliefs about promotional items dissipate.
Myth #1: They just get thrown away.
Okay, yes, sometimes they will just get thrown away, but listen to this:
Only one in five people will trash an unwanted promotional product.
Only 20% will throw them away, but...
63% of consumers pass along promotional products they no longer wish to keep.
So, if the first person doesn't want to use the promotional product, there is a large chance that it will get passed onto someone else who will have that opportunity to see your company name and information. More touches and more opportunities for your brand is always a good idea.
Myth #2: They don't stay around for very long.
For you skeptics out there of that first myth buster, you might be thinking, "well, even if someone keeps it, it'll maybe be for a week and then it gets thrown away".
Nope.
Six in ten of them keep promotional products for up to two years.
and
Consumers hang on to promotional products for an average of 6.6 months.
6 months or longer sounds like a decent amount of time. That's quite a number of opportunities that the potential customer uses, views, shares your promotional item.
Myth #3: Customers don't want them.
There are a number of people who would feel so, but there might be more that appreciate them than you'd think.
48% of consumers would like to receive promotional products more often.
About half of your customers wish for more! As the O'Jays would say: "Give the people what they want!"
Myth #4: It's a waste of money because no one uses them.
Eight in ten consumers own between one and 10 promotional products.
and
53% of these people use a promotional product at least once a week.
I'm not even going to deal in hypotheticals here and talking about what the data would potentially mean.
- The jar of pens next to my desk has 4 pens with different company logos on them. One from a car shop I took my car into a week ago, and another from a university I attended for an event about a year ago.
- There is a sticky note pad next on my desk from an insurance place I stopped by probably about two years ago.
- I have a notebook (that I haven't quite used yet, but plan to) given to me at a conference with the conference name across the front.
- Inside my purse is a small first aid kit given to me by a local doctors office.
- Just the other day, I saw car shades up in a vehicle, branded from a local real estate agency.
What about you? What's on your desk? What's in your purse?
Myth #5: Consumers don't pay attention to the brand on the promotional items.
In some instances this could be the case. Especially people that attend events and get promo items all the time or if they get rid of them soon after. However, as we saw from above, many hold onto promotional items for quite some time. And guess what? A high percentage will remember you for the next while.
89% of consumers can recall the advertiser of a promotional product they’d received in the last two years.
Myth #6: This won't actually help my advertising.
Some may say "sure, people see my name and they use my pen but it actually doesn't help my business". And I understand, that is a very fair concern. It would be worrisome if overall, printing promotional items didn't help your bottom line.
However, I am happy to share these statistics with you on how promotional items do in-fact help your bottom line.
Before receiving a promotional product, 55 percent of people had done business with the advertiser. After receiving a promotional product, 85 percent of people did business with the advertiser.
That is a 30% increase of customers.
Adding a promotional product to the media mix increases the effectiveness of other media by up to 44 percent.
Multi-channel marketing is a must. Advertising online, in store, on signs to guide customers to you, direct mail, and promotional products can help assist you in your business goals. This form of marketing can help make your other marketing channels more lucrative.
Promotional products draw as many as 500% more referrals from satisfied customers than an appeal letter alone.
and
53% of the time, promotional products create a more favorable impression of the advertiser.
These are some fantastic benefits for items that be as low as pennies per item.
I'm not going to tell you that 100% of the people that you ever hand promotional items out to is going to keep it forever and think of your company name and become your most consistent customer. But, hopefully after reading this article you have a better idea of the benefits of offering promotional products as part of your marketing efforts.
We offer over 25,000 different promotional items, you are certain to find something that fits your company brand and the idea you were going for. Shop our promotional items. We have some sanitary friendly items available as well such as alcohol infused towels and pens with an antimicrobial additive.
Don't miss the upcoming article, where we will do a Q&A on promotional products. Have questions that you want answered in the next blog? Send me your questions and connect with me on LinkedIn.
Content pulled from SageWorld.
