21st March 2018

Posted By: Chantelle Mills

In todays digital society we often get asked “do promotional products work?”

Well, promotional products have definitely been used for all the years I have been on this planet. I can’t tell you how many, as a lady never gives away her age. If promotional products don’t work, then surely they would of fizzled out by now? Well, The British Promotional Merchandise Association has said the promotion products industry in the UK and Ireland is worth a whooping ONE BILLION POUND[1].

So now I’m sitting here thinking two things. One, WOW that’s a lot of money! Two, why are companies still using promotional gifts? There’s what seems like billions of promotional products on the market and within these billions of products there is something to suit every advertising budget. Unlike traditional forms of marketing such as print; promotional products such as mugs, pens and bags are designed with the objective of the customer keeping them. They will be repeatedly used and continually reminded of the company who gave it them for the products life span, this could be months even years!

Team Bostin knows it takes repetition for people to remember, I mean how many times do you have to put your child on the naughty step before they remember? All jokes aside, if people see or hear the same thing over and over again even the most forgetful person will retain the information. Meaning you can affect a customer’s ability to recall your company.

Giving away a promotional gift is also a great way to open up a conversation between you and customers. If you give a person something, that person feels obliged to give you something back and in that given moment, it will be their time. BINGO! What more can you ask from a potential customer other than to give you a moment to hear what you have to say? OK, so maybe the full house would be the purchase of your product or service but sales often start with a conversation, right? Give them a promotional gift, start the conversation and you’re already halfway there!

How do I find the right promotional product for my company? Well my first bit of advice is, don’t rush into it and pick a product for the sake of having something. Be sure to give it some time and thought in order to make your brand memorable. This being said it is also wise to choose the right product for your brand image and target audience.

Back to the initial question, do promotional products work? Yes! When executed properly promotional product marketing can be hugely successful for both sales and brand awareness. This brings me to my last point, if you’ve never considered using promotional products maybe you should give it some thought.

[1] www.bpma.co.uk 2018. BPMA. [online] Available at https://www.bpma.co.uk [Accessed 7 March 2018]