How to Choose Promotional Merchandise That Actually Converts

Gifting promotional merchandise is a time-tested technique for attracting

and retaining customers, but choosing the right products for your business

requires you to make smart product choices driven by who your target

audience are, the purpose of the promotional merchandise and a measurable

return on investment rather than personal preference, up-front cost or

guesswork.

Define your target audience

Choosing the products that will transform your marketing campaign from fun

to successful requires a deep appreciation of your audience. You need to

understand their demographic, habits and lifestyle to ensure that the

products you gift will be kept and used regularly, increasing brand recall

and ongoing engagement.

For example, if you are targeting students, fashionable items such as neck

fans and backpacks will be readily received, while corporate customers

prefer to receive useful items such as power banks and travel kits.

Why run a promotional merchandise campaign?

Are you considering offering promotional merchandise to increase brand

awareness, attract a new demographic, generate new leads or to thank

existing loyal customers? Are you attending a trade show or corporate event

and need something to attract potential customers to your stand?

The products you choose will differ based on the reason you need them, as

you must balance product availability against up-front cost and return on

investment. Thank you gifts should be tailored to the individual recipients

and their purchasing habits, with high-value customers receiving a pricier

gift than you would ever be inclined to give away at a corporate event,

where low-cost items such as pens and lanyards are entirely acceptable.

Measure the return on investment

In order to be warmly received, the promotional merchandise you gift must be

used regularly by the recipient. It must be of high quality and align with

your brand's values and ethics. It must also entice recipients into engaging

with your business, both through third party recommendations and purchases.

If your gifts do not generate either an increase in brand awareness or an

increase in profitability, they will not have achieved your goals, so it is

helpful to define performance indicators and to track them to ensure they

are delivering improvements in the desired areas.

You can do this in a variety of ways. Firstly, you could include a QR code,

unique URL or individual code to the products, allowing you to precisely

track the number of increased hits resulting from the distribution of the

products.

You could also monitor existing metrics such as website traffic, brand name

searches and social media tags to see whether online chatter increases post

the launch of your promotional marketing campaign. Of course, you can also

monitor sales to see if an uptick occurs after issuing promotional

merchandise.

By focusing on these three areas, you will greatly increase the likelihood

of a successful promotional merchandise marketing campaign. For more great

tips or advice from an expert, please speak to the team at Source

Promotional Merchandise today.