When someone mentions the term digital marketing, we instantly think of social media, blog posts, SEO optimization, and everything else that comes with it. Seldom do we consider the fact that actual, promotional products can be effective and often are also integrated into successful digital marketing campaigns.
Promotional products.
Striking Gold by Balancing the Real and the Virtual
The truth remains that
we still live in the physical world while spending most of our time in the
virtual world. It is for that reason, an integrated marketing strategy that
cleverly merges promotional products with a digital marketing strategy is
likely the best approach in 2019.
Branding Through Tangible Merchandise Compliments Online Ad Campaigns Perfectly
Nothing creates long-term brand value in the mind of customers better than physical merchandise, but through an integrated approach, the effect is made even more prominent. Take the example of the popular Android game, Angry Birds, for instance. There are so many merchandising products that are sold by not just the ones who have the rights to do so, but also by anyone who can!
Not every Angry Bird soft toy or pillow available online or in the supermarkets is an officially licensed merchandise of Rovio Entertainment, but they reap the benefits even from the fake ones because it provides them with more exposure and further strengthens their brand’s icons in the mind of everyone, even when they’re not playing the games they make!
Adding Tangibility to Digital Ad Campaigns
Tangibility is where any digital business operation, be it sales or marketing, loses out a bit, even in 2019. A company could be selling clothes online and marketing them successfully to their target audience via social media and search engine optimization, but they cannot quite provide the feel of cashmere or silk through virtual ads, irrespective of how good the content is.
On the other hand, by promoting their online shop by giving away a tiny sample of the merchandise to even just a handful of customers, they will be able to create a greater following, as well as get their products out into the real world, to be reviewed by real customers.
Making Mass Marketing through Promotional Content Feasible
One cannot just give away costly products to more than a few lucky winners of a promotional contest may be, and while that can be effective, it isn’t feasible for mass marketing. This is where affordable, promotional products such as lapel pins come in. You can get custom bulk-made lapel pins from the Lapel Pin Super Store at wholesale rates to represent your digital ad campaign outside the virtual world and give tangibility to it.
Why not send a lapel pin customized to look exactly like your company logo or a popular product to some of your target audience? Irrespective of whether you are selling a service, a physical product, or a software product, your brand will now become something that people can touch, feel, and actually use.
Survey Stats Further Confirm the Importance of an Integrated Approach
According to a post on Biznology, 90% of customers who receive a promotional product will use it once a week or more, while 87% of them will at least keep it with them for more than twelve months.
Even more encouragingly, 60% of the people who have received some sort of merchandise from a company, have proceeded to do business with them, showing a high ROI factor working in favor of promotional merchandise.
As stated previously, we live in a world that is connected digitally, but the world is still physical. Through the application of an integrated approach, a business is able to tap into both aspects of modern life, therefore, doubling its chances of branding, marketing, and advertising success in the long run.
If you’re looking for a new way to boost your business marketing this year, it pays to consider promotional products. They can lead to excellent results, are available in options for many budgets, and aren’t hard to source. However, it’s also good to understand the top promo item types that work well, so you can source the best option(s) for your company and goals.
Bags
The most effective promotional products tend to be the ones people use often. As such, you might like to investigate buying quality custom bags that you brand with your logo and other pertinent company details. Tote bags, in particular, can be excellent choices since people use these as reusable shopping bags, book and library bags, and more.
These items are handy, too, when you’re exhibiting at a trade show or conference and want to give people something they can fill up with paperwork and other bits and pieces on the day. Attendees appreciate such a practical product.
Pens
Pens are also a promo product people get practical use out of. They’re one of the most popular goods chosen for this reason, along with the fact that they’re affordable for most budgets. Buy specifically printed pens for your business, and you can rest assured that they’re likely to be used time and time again and will probably even change hands multiple times, adding to the brand awareness generated.
Notebooks and Other Stationery
Other stationery items can work well as freebies, too. For example, since so many of us tend to make notes in journals and spend time writing a diary, gratitude list, to-do list, etc., custom notebooks are popular. Alternatively, you could opt for branded desk or wall calendars, rulers, desk organizers (such as caddies), mousepads, and shopping lists.
Water Bottles
Since we all drink daily, you might purchase water bottles to hand out as customized promotional gifts. People across ages and locations are increasingly focused on how much water they drink and take bottles with them when they go out, so they don’t get dehydrated. This means reusable water bottles are practical and popular and growing more so all the time. Plus, they have the added benefit of being an eco-friendly option, unlike disposable plastic bottles.
Coffee Mugs
Billions of cups of coffee are consumed every day, especially in the office, making coffee mugs an equally useful gift. If you want many people to see your brand name and logo, a coffee mug that gets left at the office and used in meetings can work nicely. Custom mugs will likely never go out of fashion and aren’t too costly to buy in bulk, either, so they work from all angles.
