Posted on 18th May 2022
by Jacqui Vear
It’s perhaps a while since you’ve looked in your cupboard of branded promotional items, we’re guessing that supplies are depleted. Perhaps you’re also a bit red-faced if you’ve come across some single use plastic items? We get that too.
A lot has changed in the branded ‘giveaways’ market over the last couple of years and your approach to promotional products needs to evolve. We’re here to support you, starting by giving you access to our handpicked Sustainable Corporate Gift range.
There are a lot of options when it comes to quality, branded and sustainable items that will boost your brand profile. As you start to consider your approach, remember these Who What Where When How and Why pointers:
Build a picture of your ideal customer, their demographic and lifestyle are just two factors that will influence their decision to use (or not) your promotional product. Remember there is a direct correlation between usability and the brand impressions that will make your message memorable.
Does your logo say it all, or if you’ve got a name like ‘Systematic’ you’ll need to provide more context to your offer if you’re reaching out to new contacts. Consider including a web address or QR code to make it easy for your audience to get in touch. Your messaging could also be reflected in the colour of your item, do you need to find a pantone colour match? Colour and personalisation plans need to be factored into your search criteria.
Space is generally at a premium, whether its storage in the office or space in your car as you set-up for an event. If your target audience is broad, think about items that are compact. If you are taking items on the road, ensure that they are robust. The same applies if you’d like the flexibility to post items to your contacts.
Is there a firm date in the diary, perhaps linked to an event? This consideration is key to your brief, some promotional products can respond to panic buyers, yet others are produced in more of a bespoke way and may have a lead time of up to 6 weeks. Remember that most lead times are quoted on the basis of when the visual proof of your branding on the item is signed off, e.g. 2 week lead time from proof approval. Additional time needs to be factored in to perfect your artwork and show you visuals and samples of the products that you are investing in.
Big budgets and an ample supply of items may seem ideal, but that’s not always the case. With good planning, you can be targeted in your approach and offer a higher value item to a smaller number of contacts, which will potentially have more impact on their subsequent engagement with you. This is part of considering the ‘customer lifetime value’, a measure of the average revenue that you will generate from a customer over their entire relationship with your company. We would recommend that your mindful of this when investing, yet other factors such as quality, usability and sustainability have a big impact too. In the debate about what quantity to proceed with, ensure that you are benefiting from economies of scale in your purchasing, unit prices quite quickly decrease as order quantities increase. However, be mindful of when your branding or messaging could potentially date, to avoid wasteful overproduction.
In the words of Franklin Covey, ‘begin with the end in mind’. Be clear about your strategy, whether its customer acquisition, a cross-selling mission, customer reward and retention or perhaps team reward and retention! What does good look like, how can it be measured? Thinking holistically about your project may generate other ideas for building on the impact that your promotional products will have, perhaps though social media campaigns or follow-up mailings.
A good proactive supplier like us will be delighted to hear about your promotional product strategy. Insights on your who, what, where, when and how are also very valuable. We’ll respond with ideas, quotes, visuals, samples as well as the offer to support the creation of your artwork, all wrapped up with our full project management support. We can even hold your promotional products in stock, for call off and delivery when and where you need them!
