How to choose your promotional items for your company

Promotional products have long been used in the advertising and marketing of new products and services. Investing in promotional merchandise is also a great way to introduce a new company either through direct mail campaigns or at a business trade fair.

Promotional products in the UK come in all shapes and sizes- from pens to t-shirts. When thinking about what type of promotional merchandise you want to use to market your business, it is always advisable to think before you start throwing your money away. Promotional items are about marketing your company, showing loyalty to existing clients or simply announcing a new service. Get a merchandising product right and you may get enquiries from potential clients or even get more orders from existing business partners. However, when you get the choice of promotional merchandise wrong, you may as well have flushed your money down the toilet.

Just like in any other form of advertising, there is always going to be an element of risk involved. However, before rushing into picking merchandise and launching new campaigns, doing a bit of research will always pay off further down the line.

So how to you choose merchandise to promote your business? Essentially, think about what exactly you want to achieve by sending out gifts or promotional products. For instance, are you aiming to spur up some excitement or interest to boost your short term sales? Perhaps, you are hoping to raise your profile in a particular location or may be trying to encourage some of your competitors' clients to deal with your business instead? Perhaps you are attending a trade show and want to encourage those passing by to stop at your stall in the hope they will become a business client? Whatever your intention, one thing must be consistent in terms of your marketing strategy- the promotional merchandise must suit its intended purpose.

To ensure you are not 'wasting' money by buying irrelevant gifts, it may be worthwhile in indulging in a little bit of 'testing' first. Instead of buying hundreds of items up front, think about buying them in smaller batches to begin with as you will be able to gauge public perception and reaction. Of course, if the product gets a positive reaction, order a larger number of items.

Think about the identity of your company. For instance, if you run a recruitment agency or a law firm, buying a thousand stress balls may not be such a good idea. Considering the type of clients you are trying to attract and what business functions they may perform throughout their daily day may steer you in a more suitable direction when choosing the type of product you should send out.

After all the important decisions you have made regarding the product type and presentation, make sure your clients actually know about it. After all, it will only be successful if the client base knows about the deal you are promoting. If you are trying to reach new clients, make sure you comply some market research for the best companies to get in touch with. It may sound straightforward enough, but if a company is unlikely to deal with a medical equipment supplier such as your company, there is no reason why you should send them promotional goods.
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