How to Choose the Right Promotional Pens for Your Promotion

With so many different types and styles of promotional pens available through promotional products suppliers, how do you choose the right pen for your specific promotion? Here are some hints and tips to make sure that you choose the perfect promotional pens for your advertising needs.

Consider your promotional need
What type of event do you need the promotional pens for? The pens that you choose as a giveaway at a trade show will be different than those that you choose as gifts for corporate sponsors at a trade conference.

Who will be the recipients of your promotional pens?
A pen is a pen is a pen – but the promotional pens that you choose should appeal to the market segment you’re trying to reach. The nifty bubble-wand pens that will appeal to the pre-teen market (ideal promotional pens for say, a novelty store at the mall) are not going to go far with executives of major corporations in the banking field.

What is the goal of your promotional giveaway?
Is it your intent to bring people to your booth at a trade show? Then you’ll need pens that are eye-catching and attractive enough that people will want to find them. Do you want to encourage people to sign up for your mailing list? The promotional pens that you choose as signing incentives should be attractive and good quality. Consider what you want your promotional pens to accomplish, then choose the ones that are most appropriate for the job.

How will your promotional pens be distributed?
Will you be sending out promotional pens by post as part of a direct mail campaign? Weight should be a consideration. Will you be traveling with them to a trade show? Bulk – including packaging – will be a consideration.

Consider your company image when choosing promotional pens
The image that you’re trying to build for your company can be helped or hindered by your choice of promotional items. Promotional pens come in a wide range of options, styles and brands so it’s easy to find a type that fits your particular image just right.

What is your budget?
Your budget is obviously a consideration, but it’s a two way street. Go back to your goal to help decide how to spend your promotional budget. Think of promotional pens in terms of money incentives. If you’re aiming for five minutes of face to face time with each recipient, how much are you willing to pay to secure that time? How many gifts will you have to give away to secure that time? The bargain promotional pens at 12 for a pound may not turn out to be such a bargain if you only get one sales appointment for every fifty handed out. It’s far more economical to hand out more expensive pens as a thank you to those who do sign up for a sales appointment – a one to one correspondence.

Choosing the right promotional pens for your goals and needs is important in ensuring your success. You need to consider your goals, your budget and your company image when deciding on which promotional pens are right for your upcoming promotional campaign.

Gareth Parkin is the co-founder of Ideasbynet, the UK's largest online source of promotional pens & other promotional items. He has taken UK gift market of products like promotional pens by storm through modern business thinking & latest search engine marketing techniques. For more details visit www.ideasbynet.com