How to Use Promotional Products to Increase Brand Awareness
Promotional products are very popular items among customers and employees of companies alike. These kinds of products can be used to promote a business. What is brand awareness? What are promotional products? How can they be used to increase brand awareness? In this guide, we answer these questions and more. Read on to learn more about promotional items and how they can be used to increase brand awareness.
What is Brand Awareness?
In simple terms, brand awareness is how aware consumers are of a company or brand and their products. Without brand awareness, people won’t know your company or products exist. It is important for people to be aware of and trust your brand if the goal is to ultimately build a loyal customer base.
Brand awareness gives your brand a voice and a personality that people feel they can trust. It can take time to build up a large level of brand awareness.
There are many different ways to build up brand awareness for your company. Some of the ways to accomplish this are:
- Create a logo
- Write a slogan
- Advertise everywhere
- Social media marketing
- Create a mascot
- Start a blog
- Send newsletters
- Have sales or giveaways
- Hold contests
- Give out promotional items
Giving away promotional products is one of the best ways to effectively increase brand awareness.
What are Promotional Products?
Promotional products are items made to promote an event or a business. Usually, they will have the name of the business, the logo, or both. Often these items are given away at certain events or given as prizes. These types of products are wildly popular with consumers and employees of businesses as well. There are many benefits to using promotional products to help promote your business.
What are the Benefits of Using Promotional Products?
Promotional products are beneficial for companies to use for several reasons. They have long been a favorite form of advertising businesses because they are so cost-effective. A useful promotional product, like a water bottle, will be used over and over again. Other people will see and ask about it, and this spreads awareness of your company.
Well-made promotional products last a long time. A well-made object may be viewed by different people thousands of times. This gives your company great visibility. Also, consumers that receive promotional products are far more likely to view the company in a positive light and spend money with them. In fact, 85% of consumers have done business with a company as a result of being given a promotional item.
Our customer, Cooper’s Water head quartered in Zionsville, is known for all things water…filtration systems, reverse osmosis, and much more. They recently decided to promote their brand and products at upcoming 5K races that are pet friendly. While they could hand out water to the participants to promote their brand, they turned to Spotlight for help with unique ideas. We landed on a cost-effective but not your-average giveaway. A flashing dog/cat tag light which is functional in keeping our furry friends safe on early morning walks but also allowed enough space to imprint their fun mascot “COOP” on the back.
How to Increase Brand Awareness with Promotional Products
There are a few things to consider when using promotional items to increase your brand awareness. The following section covers some tips and tricks you should consider when choosing and distributing your company’s promotional products.
Choose the Best Kinds of Promotional Products for Your Business
You should choose promotional products that will be popular with your target audience. Know who your audience is and what they would like. For example, if your business is a gym, water bottles, and workout attire would be excellent promotional items.
Some of the most popular choices for promotional items are things like pens, mugs, water bottles, tee christ, hats, and caps. These types of promotional products usually go over well with most people.
Choose High-Quality Promotional Products
If you choose cheaper items, they may not last as long. Also, the quality of the product will likely be apparent. Choosing better quality promotional items is a good idea, as it shows your customers and employees that you care.
It is better to choose items that will last and are not single-use. You get more advertising out of reusable items over disposable ones. The longer promotional items last, the more use people will get out of them, and the more eyes will see them over time.
Make Sure Your Promotional Items are Attractive
It is always advisable to make sure your promotional items are attractive. Ugly or tacky things will not be as popular as nice-looking ones. You’ll want your company name or logo to look nice and be prominent without looking tacky.
Be sure to get your promotional items in trending colors or patterns, especially for wearables. People are more likely to be proud of their items if they look nice. Attractive items are more likely to get posted on social media, which is free advertising for you.
Give Promotional Products Out Local Events
Now that you have your promotional items, you’ll need to start distributing them. There are a few different ways to go about this. One of the most common ways is simply going to the types of events where your company will set up a booth. This is the perfect place to give out free promotional items to potential customers. Both local and national events are great for this. Try attending festivals, job fairs, conferences, or trade shows to distribute your swag.
Start a Public Awareness Campaign
Another good way to hand out promotional items is to start a public awareness campaign. Public awareness camping uses marketing to make people more aware of an issue. Choose an issue that you care about and one that makes sense for your company. For example, it would make sense for a pet supply company to promote a spaying and neutering campaign.
You can simply hand out company promotional items at campaign events or send the items to donors. This is a great way to make a difference while getting your brand out there at the same time.
Use Promotional Products as Incentives for Your Employees
Giving out free promotional items to your employees is a wonderful way to show that you appreciate them. These kinds of promotional products will help your workers feel pride in their company. You can connect with your teams while helping to create a positive company culture. Employees love getting useful free company swag, too!
Promotional Products for Brand Awareness
Promotional products are a great way to build up brand awareness for your company. Spotlight Strategies has the promotional products and services you are looking for. Visit our website today to shop in our online store!
Erin Smith is co-owner of Spotlight Strategies, a marketing solutions firm specializing in print, apparel, promotional product and signs. An accomplished health care administrator turned business owner, Erin brings rare behavioral expertise to the world of small business.
With a Master’s degree in social work, and a thriving business she is a sought after advisor, coach and mentor to many of Indiana’s small business owners and support associations. Erin demonstrates unwavering commitment and facilitates profitability to any organization to which she directs her time and talent, and is successful in motivating and empowering people whether supporting a cause or building a company.
