How to Make Promo Products Work For Your Business

Advertising is one of the most important and essential things you can do for your business. After all, you probably won't see many customers if you aren't spreading the word about your service or product!

Studies by the Advertising Specialty Institute (ASI) have shown that promotional products are THE most highly-regarded form of advertising, even beating out methods such as print ads or television commercials. It's apparent that promotional products are an effective means of advertising, so let's take a look at how you can make promo products work for you and your business.

Over A Million Promotional Products

TJM Promos offers over 1,000,000 different promotional products. That's a million ways you can show off your business logo, promote an event, tease a new sales initiative, or reward your employees.

With so many opportunities and products available, it may seem a little overwhelming at first, but have no fear, there's a promo product made just for you and your business out there. Let's take a look at a few different types of products to help give you some ideas of how to use them for your business.

Apparel

Custom apparel is one of the most common and popular promotional product categories! According to the 2016 ASI Impressions Study, 58% of U.S. consumers own at least one promotional shirt.

What makes a great shirt?

Go for large, creative designs that show off your business logo or product. You want a shirt that people will notice from a distance and has a unique design that demonstrates what your business has to offer.

There are also many different types of apparel out there, from polos to tank tops to hoodies and more. Find the right apparel for your business, and make sure it's something your potential customers will want to wear. For example, you probably don't want to offer your customers a hoodie in the summer months or a tank top in the winter!

Challenge Coins/Medallions

With military origins dating all the way back to World War I, challenge coins have grown to also be a popular promotional item with businesses. Military challenge coins usually feature a unit or battalion logo, along with a deployment date, special achievement, or other custom text that's relevant to the soldiers who carry it.

How are challenge coins relevant to my business?

It's a proven fact that employees respond well to awards and other forms of recognition for a job well done. A challenge coin can be a visual representation of a special achievement such as completing a difficult task, landing a large client, or being a part of the company for a significant amount of time. There are plenty of decorative challenge coin displays for a desk or a wall, and your employees will love to show off their new coin to the world.

Our customers often opt to turn their challenge coin into a medallion and add a ribbon, allowing people to wear the coin around their neck. Medallions with ribbons are perfect for competitions, charity fundraisers, or walkathons where the medallions are awarded to anyone who participates!

Writing Instruments

Pens are always a necessity in any office, and, thanks to your coworkers, always seem to go missing whenever you actually need one.

That's okay, however, because pens are an affordable and effective promotional product that's popular with U.S. consumers. In fact, the 2016 ASI Impressions Study shows that 50% of U.S. consumers own promotional writing instruments that feature a logo or some other type of branded message.

The "Write" Stuff

Writing utensils range from basic No. 2 pencils to the ever-popular ballpoint pen to a fancy 24K gold pen that sits on the CEO's desk. Finding the "write" (sorry, I can't help myself) writing utensil for your business isn't difficult; keep your intended audience in mind and think of what they would get the most use out of while also advertising your brand in an ideal way.

The ASI study highlights the fact that the cost per impression (impression = how many times people come into contact with a product) was less than 1/10^th of a cent. This means you're getting the most exposure for your investment with writing utensils!

Common questions and other helpful info

These are just a few examples of business promotional products you can use to promote your company. You certainly aren't limited to just those, however. You can use any type of promotional product for your business if you're creative enough!

Here's more advice on how to make promo products work for your business, as well as answers to some common questions we hear from business owners:

What makes my product(s) look enticing to potential customers?

Standout colors, sharp design, and an eye-catching logo are a must for business promotional products! Remember that this may be the first time people see anything relating to your business, and you want the first impression to be a good one.

When designing your new business promotional products, keep your customers foremost in your mind. Design the product you think they'll want to hang on to and get the most use out of. With a little creativity, there's a perfect promo product for every business!

How many promo products should I make?

This really all depends on two factors:

1. What type of product is it?
2. Where will you be giving them out?

It's important to have enough product to meet your needs, but you also don't want to have too much extra, especially for dated products.

What we mean is that you don't want to be stuck with extra product after your event or special promotion has ended. If your promo product only has your business logo on it, then it's easy to give away any extra product even after your event or promotion has ended. If it has a date, time, or location on it, it's possible people may not want it after the event or time has passed, so keep that in mind when designing your promo products.

We're always happy to offer recommendations on how many products you may need for an event, and we have plenty of experience finding the right amount for our customers!

How much should I spend on promotional products?

While there's no set amount you should/shouldn't spend on promotional products, just like breakfast, they're an important part of a complete advertising budget. Find the right type(s) of product for your business and see how they work for you. If you're unsure at first, try a smaller order and work up from there based on what your customers respond well to.

Referencing the 2016 ASI Impressions Study one more time, promotional products are held on to for an average of 8 months, giving you lasting advertising power that's difficult to match with other advertising routes such as print ads or radio/TV commercials.

Promotional products are also usually FAR less expensive than those types of advertising, giving you more value for your investment – especially when ads can be turned off or read once and thrown away. A useful promo product is held onto for months, meaning your customers see your name every time they reach for an umbrella, USB drive, or pen!

It's easy to design a promotional product that's creative and unique, and just because they're affordable, that doesn't mean you're sacrificing quality. People love receiving free things, and when you design a promo product that's both useful and unique, you're guaranteeing they'll keep it around for a while.

Promotional products work!

As we've mentioned multiple times throughout this article, promo products are a successful and highly-regarded form of advertising and promoting your business, event or other endeavors. You don't have to break the bank to design a great-looking promotional product, and people respond well to unique and creative products they'll actually use in their day-to-day lives.

Use the information you've learned here to help promote your business and gain more exposure for your brand. TJM Promos has everything you need to design custom promotional products that are perfect for your business. Use our expertise to find the right product at an affordable price, and reach your customers and clients in new, exciting ways. We're here to help your business grow!

Ready to get started? Visit our products page to view some of the promotional products we offer or fill out our free quote form with the product(s) you're interested in!

Can't find what you're looking for? Fill out our quote form with the product(s) you want, or drop us a line at 800-423-0449 or [email protected]!

Research provided by the Advertising Specialty Institute, ©2016, All Rights Reserved.