The Practice Of Handing Out Promotional Gifts

The practice of handing out promotional gifts has been used extensively by businesses for many years. Because of this a lot of companies are questioning the effectiveness of using this as a marketing strategy. Markets are becoming more and more aware of advertising, and fewer tactics work well to bring in the business. Giving out gifts and small items as a promotion is still one of the most effective methods of promoting your brand’s image.

Depending on your target market and the products you are selling the promotional gifts you should be focusing on will vary. If you are trying to attract the young consumer market there are almost limitless choices for items that you can use to promote your brand. Handing out free soft drinks, peak caps, umbrellas, cooler bags or samples at the beach or a sporting event is an easy way to give your company logo maximum exposure while spending the least amount of money possible.

Promotional gifts are actually exceptionally cheap as an advertising tool. Compared with the cost of a local radio advertisement giving out items is far more cost effective. The reason for this is that you can reach just as wide an audience for far longer than with a radio advertisement. If your items are the kind that last and are not consumed on the spot you will have managed to put your brand into somebody’s home where the rest of their family and friends will see it. If your product is something new that they have not seen before, your brand will be the first one that they associate with your product.

This creates a sense of brand loyalty, and this is one marketing tool that all the advertising dollars in your budget cannot buy. If people think favorably about your brand they are more likely to pick it off the shelves, even if other company’s products are less expensive. The simple trick is to pick promotional gifts that will be kept until the person you gave them to needs your product. If you are handing out desk calendars, this is an excellent way to advertise an office supplies company or a financial or legal service, as companies are bound to need these at some point during the year.

Promotional gifts are important to companies because they create value in the brand. When people receive something for nothing they are far more disposed to like the company that gave the item to. However, you have to realize that dozens of other companies are also handing out items to your target market. With this in mind it is important to remember that your gift items need to be competitive. When in doubt, go for the highest value gift your budget can tolerate. If you are in a competitive field the choice between you and a competitor might come down to the quality of the free gift a potential customer received from you.

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