Starting a business can be an exciting and harrowing adventure. While you may enjoy the prospect of being your own boss, there are a ton of responsibilities and difficulties that come with the job. No matter what industry your new brand is in, there are a lot of challenges to face before you reach profitability.
One of the most difficult stages of the entrepreneurial journey is growing your audience and finding customers for your product or service. Almost every possible niche is filled with competition, so unless you have come up with an incredibly unique idea that no one else is doing, you have to draw in customers that may already have their needs met by another brand.
The key to drawing in more customers is to increase brand awareness, which starts with your marketing strategy. What are you doing to communicate with audiences about the brand and the product you sell? For your new business, you have to get your name out there as quickly as possible to generate interest. One way to do so is with promotional product marketing.
What are Promotional Products?
Promotional products are items that a business pays for to give away to others and increase brand awareness. Usually, these items contain branding information such as the company name, a logo, or a unique design. When people see this item being used, visibility for the brand grows. Eventually, people may start to recognize the brand and want to know more about it. Promotional product marketing is a strategy used by many businesses because it can dramatically boost brand awareness in key markets when implemented strategically.
Promotional products may not be the first marketing channel that a new business owner considers. But failing to harness effective channels is one of the many marketing mistakes that small businesses make. This strategy could get your foot in the door of your community and increase visibility for the brand with audiences that are most likely to become customers.
The Pros
As with any marketing strategy, there are pros and cons to investing in promotional products to get the word out about your business. Here are a few of the advantages of this type of campaign.
Repeat Exposure
Many marketing initiatives require a constant stream of investment. Promotional products require an up-front purchase, but once they are given away, they can result in repeated exposure for your brand. Every time someone wears promotional polo shirts with your logo on them, more people could become familiar with your brand.
Generating Excitement About Your Company
Swag items make a great incentive. They can be given away to you hard-working employees or loyal customers. These individuals will then feel more connected to your brand and excited to advertise it to others by using the promotional giveaways frequently.
Product Variety
There are tons of items to choose from for your promotional product marketing campaign, including shirts, hats, koozies, drawstring bags, reusable water bottles, flash drives, mousepads, and more. You can choose items that would be most useful to your target audience, helping them trust your brand even more.
The Cons
Although there are multiple benefits to using promotional products for your marketing strategy, there are also a few potential drawbacks.
Less Control Over Promotion
Once you have given away the items to customers, employees, or members of the public, you have no control over how often they use the items. They could end up in the back of the closet or the bottom of a desk drawer, never to be seen again. This adds a little bit of risk to the investment since it may not result in impressions for the company.
Easily Ignored
Since many promotional products are just everyday items that people see all the time, it is possible that no one will notice the associated brand. Even the most eye-popping design on a t-shirt could be overlooked, so the possibility of impressions is highly dependent on factors outside your control.
Don’t Invest Without a Strategy
Some businesses make the mistake of buying promotional products on a whim and distributing them with little thought to strategy. Just like any other marketing initiative, you need to have a stated purpose for the items you buy and where you give them away. What will be the most effective product to interest your target audience and how can you give items away to this group? Come up with a strategy for your giveaway before you decide what products to buy and how much money to invest.
Boost Brand Awareness Where it Matters
For new businesses that are searching for effective marketing initiatives, promotional products could be the perfect solution. They are pretty cost-effective, especially when purchased in bulk, and can be used to target specific communities in your service area. Plus, the variety of items available makes it easier to find something that will interest your target audience. Get your name out there quickly with promotional products that contain your branding information and boost awareness of your company quickly.