It’s Promotional Products Week! The Scoop on Promo Product Marketing

May 18-22, 2015 marks Promotional Products Week! So, what does that mean exactly?

This annual event serves as a cornerstone for recognizing the importance of working with promotional products professionals while creating awareness for promotional products as a powerful and effective medium. And, since Solutions Marketing & Consulting is a promotional products distributor, I thought I’d share some very interesting facts with you. Ready?

First, let’s define what promotional products are. According to the PPAI (Promotional Products Association International):

Promotional products usually imprinted with a company’s name, logo or message — include useful or decorative articles of merchandise that are used in marketing and communication programs. Imprinted products that are distributed free are called promotional products. Imprinted items given as an incentive for a specific action are known as premiums. Business gifts, awards and commemoratives are also considered promotional products.”

Who Buys Promotional Products?

The following ranks the top 10 purchasers of promotional products according to the findings of a study by Louisiana State University and Glenrich Business Studies. Industries were ranked by distributors according to the volume spent on promotional products by each industry.

1. Education: Schools, Seminars
2. Financial: Banks, Savings & Loan Companies, Credit Unions, Stock Brokers
3. Health Care: Hospitals, Nursing Homes, Clinics
4. Not-for-Profit Organizations
5. Construction: Building Trades, Building Supplies
6. Government: Public Offices, Agencies, Political Candidates
7. Trade, Professional Associations and Civic Clubs
8. Real Estate: Agents, Title Companies, Appraisers
9. Automotive: Manufacturers, Dealers, Parts Suppliers
10. Professionals: Doctors, Lawyers, CPAs, Architects, etc.

How Are Promotional Products Used In Marketing?

Since promotional products can be used alone or integrated with other media, there are virtually limitless ways to use them. Popular programs cited most often by promotional consultants are business gifts, employee relations, orientation programs, corporate communications and at tradeshows to generate booth traffic.

They’re also effective for dealer/distribution programs such as co-op programs, company stores, generating new customers or new accounts, nonprofit fundraising, public awareness campaigns and for promotion of brand awareness and brand loyalty. Other uses include employee incentive programs, new product or service introduction and marketing research for survey and focus group participants.

What Kinds Of Promotional Products Are Available?

There are tens of thousands of different types and styles of promotional products. In many cases, it’s even possible to obtain custom items that aren’t found in any catalog. Examples of common items include: apparel, pens, coffee mugs, calculators, key chains, desk accessories and memory sticks. Check out this full list.

What Products Are The Most Popular?

According to a 2014 study by the Advertising Specialty Institute, here’s the break-down globally:

How Effective Are Promotional Products in the Marketing Mix?

People keep promotional products an average of seven months. That’s seven months of brand exposure!

Advertising specialties remain less expensive per impression than most other forms of advertising. 

Nearly six in seven (85%) recipients of promotional products could identify the advertisers on the promotional items they owned.

So, overall, using promotional products in your marketing mix makes a lot of sense. I may be biased, but then we wouldn’t be distributing promo items if we didn’t believe they work.

The value of Promotional Products is in their ability to carry a message to a well-defined audience. Because the products are useful to and appreciated by the recipients, they are retained and used, repeating the imprinted message many times without added cost to the advertiser.” (PPAI)

Promotional Products Work!