Five Ways to Use Promotional Items Online

I can hear what you’re thinking. How can I give a free gift to someone online? Companies use direct mail to send out promotional items to their target customers all the time. You can, too. Here are five ways to use promotional items and promotional products to promote your web site.

1. Start offline
Don’t forget that your target audience exists in the real world, and that’s where a lot of your promotion should take place. Choose promotional items that will raise awareness of your web site – car stickers, t-shirts, book covers, bags – all imprinted with the URL of your web site of course are a great way to increase your brand awareness. If you have an offline contact list with mailing addresses, get them out by direct mail. If you don’t, you can use promotional items to…

2. Build a mailing list
People are understandably uncomfortable about giving out personal details like addresses online, but if your business is mail order over the web, they’ll be giving them out anyway. You can start building a mailing list with contact information by offering free promotional items or gifts in return for specific contact details. It’s least threatening if you start with something that can be delivered electronically like a newsletter – that only calls for an email address. Then you can use your newsletter to make other targeted promotional offers. This way you will build up a trust between your business and its customer or prospective customer base and thus when promotional offers are sent through they are more likely to get a positive response.

3. Give a free gift with purchase
When someone places an order, include an inexpensive promotional item as a thank you gift such as a plastic pen, note pad or mouse mat. Make it something useful and associated with your main business so that every time they use it, they’ll be reminded of your web site. Some other examples might be an imprinted corkscrew for a wine dealer, or post-it notes imprinted with your name and web site URL for an office supplies web site.

4. Give out promotional items imprinted with your web site URL at trade shows and events.
Build your brand visibility by attending trade shows, conferences and events, and don’t forget to bring along plenty of promotional items with your URL on them. Follow the rules of choosing good promo items for trade shows – choose useful items, choose items that are easy to carry, choose items with a high visibility index.

5. Create an affiliate program and offer promotional items as an incentive.Affiliate marketing programs are one of the easiest ways to increase your web visibility. Enlist an affiliate sales force, and motivate them with promotional items that bear your web site name and URL or product name. Reward high sales with more valuable promotional products.For more information on promotional gifts, items and products check out the leading online suppliers and utilize their breadth and depth of experience to ensure that your next marketing or advertising campaign really hits home.