Promotional products marketing is used for a variety of purposes. Thanking customers for
patronage; introducing new products, services or facilities; reinforcing established
products or services; generating sales leads -- these are just a few of the marketing
applications. Promotional products can be used internally by organizations to motivate
salespeople and other employees or to recruit new employees or members. These objectives
are achieved through either simple distribution of the products or through comprehensive
promotions developed by creative promotional products distributors. Here are the specific applications of promotional products
marketing:
- Expanding Advertising Exposure
- Creating Awareness
- Boosting Direct Mail Response
- Building Customer Loyalty
- Improving Employee Performance
- Building Show Traffic
Expanding Advertising Exposure
- Recipients of ad specialties remember the advertiser's name.
A study by Schreiber & Associated (Peoria, IL) showed that nearly four out of 10 (39
percent) persons receiving specialties could recall the name of the advertiser as long as
six months after they received the specialty.
Creating Awareness
- Promotional products are hard to beat for creating awareness
among a selective audience. In a study on attendee awareness of product demonstrations
staged in three university communities, a Southern Methodist University study found
selective distribution of ad specialties outpulled school newspaper advertising by a
2-to-1 ratio.
Boosting Direct Mail Response
- Typical direct mail response rates run less than 2 percent
and a large population (48 percent according to some studies) of business recipients toss
their unsolicited mail without bothering to open it. Dimensionals, sometimes called
"impact mail," may be the answer. Promotional products such as imprinted ad
specialties, packaged to invoke curiosity as well as to protect against damage, will
increase response rates by as much as 75 percent. According to a Baylor University study.
Building Customer Loyalty
- In building customer loyalty in terms of reducing time
between orders and repeat orders, promotional products are likely to outperform coupons or
no promotion at all by as much as 12.9 percent. In terms of order frequency, by as much as
16.2 percent. According to a Southern Methodist University study.
Improving Employee Performance
- A Baylor University study of month-long sales contests in
retail establishments indicates that contests reinforced by periodic distribution of ad
specialties were cost-effective and outperformed non-stimulated contests by as much as 50
percent.
Building Show Traffic
- Pre-show promotional gifts can produce close to three times
greater traffic to an exhibit than a pre-show invitation without a gift. Promotional
products can increase the preference for an exhibitor's products. Three product exposures
can produce a 70 percent increase in preference compared to a promotion not using the
products.
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