Many companies overlook the strategic potential of promotional products. More than simple giveaways, when deployed strategically as part of your marketing plan, promotional products can significantly boost brand awareness, improve customer loyalty, and drive measurable return on investment (ROI).
With decades of collective marketing and promotional products expertise, Barrel O’Monkeyz can help you create a strategy that aligns with your business and marketing objectives.
First, let’s take a
look at why you should treat promotional products as a powerful tool in your marketing arsenal. When thoughtfully chosen and strategically distributed, these items can enhance brand recognition, foster customer loyalty, and generate new leads.
Strategic Value of Promotional Products
Instead of treating promotional products as one-off expenses, businesses should integrate them into their broader marketing and employee relations strategies. Promotional products serve as tangible representations of your brand, creating lasting impressions and fostering positive associations for both internal and external audiences.
Research shows that 96% of consumers want to know before responding to a promotion if a company is offering promotional products, highlighting their appeal and potential effectiveness. Further, 90% of people who receive a promotional product remember the brand name and 73% are more likely to do business with a brand that offers them.
Two Types of Promotional Products
There are two types of promotional products: QUANTITY-based and QUALITY-based. Each has its own distinct ROI considerations and set of key performance indicators (KPIs).
- Quantity-Based Promotional Products: These include mass-distributed items such as pens, keychains, and stickers that are ideal for mass distribution at events or as giveaways. While they offer broad reach, their impact per individual may be limited. Their primary goal is brand awareness and exposure.
Metrics for ROI include impressions per item, website visits, social media engagement post-distribution, and brand awareness.
- Quality-Based Promotional Products: These are premium gifts such as high-end backpacks, apparel, and tech accessories that can serve as corporate gifts for top clients, new clients, high-performing employees/teams, etc. The goal here is customer loyalty, employee engagement, retention, and high-value lead generation.
ROI can be measured by lead generation, retention rates, repeat purchases, referrals, and employee satisfaction and engagement.
The Power of Promotional Products
Promotional products create lasting impressions and can be highly valued by recipients. Recent statistics underscore their effectiveness with consumers:
- Brand Recall: 85% of consumers remember the advertiser that gave them an imprinted promotional product, highlighting the lasting impression these items create.
- Customer Loyalty: 83% of consumers are more likely to do business with brands from which they’ve received promotional products.
- Longevity: Nearly 9 out of 10 people keep promotional products for more than a year, with 40% retaining them for a decade or more.
- High-Impact Investment: Among promotional products, bags generate an average of nearly 6,000 impressions per unit—more than any other promotional product in the U.S.
- Cost Per Impression: Promotional products, such as branded merchandise, typically have a low cost per impression (CPI). The average CPI for promotional products (all types) is estimated to be between $03 and $.004, making them one of the lowest cost forms of marketing. To compare, the average CPI across different industries for digital advertising on platforms such as Google, Facebook, and LinkedIn typically ranges from $0.10 to $2.00.
What Companies Benefit Most?
While businesses of all sizes can benefit from implementing a promotional products strategy, the sweet spot seems to be companies with 25+ employees, annual revenue exceeding $1M, and established Marketing, HR, and/or C-Level departments. These companies see the greatest impact when they incorporate promotional products into their regular marketing efforts, particularly when distributed quarterly, bi-annually, or during holidays.
Aligning Promotional Products with Business Goals
Promotional products can align with numerous company objectives. Employees (general staff, C-level executives, new hires) can be engaged through appreciation gifts, onboarding kits, or milestone recognitions. Current and potential customers, both B2B and B2C, can be targeted with promotional items during events, as holiday gifts, or as part of lead generation campaigns. (For example, a branded laptop backpack or other laptop accessory can serve as functional items that keep your brand top-of-mind with clients and turn employees into mobile brand ambassadors.)
- Employee Retention & Engagement: Providing high-quality branded items as employee appreciation gifts, onboarding kits, C-Level gifts, team building, and milestone recognition (such as anniversaries and birthdays).
- Customer Acquisition & Loyalty: Gifting premium items to high-value leads, existing customers, and referral partners.
- Brand Awareness & Exposure: Distributing strategic promotional items at events, trade shows, and networking opportunities.
- Sales Growth & Lead Generation: Incentivizing purchases with exclusive, high value promotional products.
Integrating with Your Marketing Strategy
Promotional products are not just expenses, they are strategic marketing tools. Barrel O’Monkeyz can help you quickly incorporate promotional items into your marketing efforts. We can help you . . .
- Identify promotional products that align with your overall branding and messaging. Ensure the items you choose are relevant, useful to your target audience, and highly valued by them.
- Source a promotional items manufacturer with a reputation for reliability, flexibility, and producing high quality items valued by consumers.
- Identify relevant channels for distributing promotional products at key touchpoints, such as trade shows, conferences, community events, and employee gatherings.
- Incorporate promotional products into loyalty programs or as incentives for customer engagement, such as social media contests or referral programs.
- Track the effectiveness of promotional products by measuring KPIs such as employee engagement, brand awareness, customer retention, lead generation, and conversion rates.
- Consistently update and refresh your promotional product offerings to stay relevant and maintain customer/employee interest.
Let’s Create a Great Brand Experience
By strategically integrating promotional products into your overall marketing strategy, you can create memorable brand experiences, foster customer loyalty, boost employee engagement, and achieve measurable ROI. The Barrel O’Monkeyz team stands ready to help you incorporate quality, branded promotional products into your business and marketing goals. Contact Us Today
