Product promotions

While numerous businesses continue to spend millions of dollars on offline and online marketing, one marketing promotion they may be neglecting is product promotions. Product promotions allow your company to spread the word about the company and the products you create by giving out a few free products.

When you use product promotions, you will find that it is easier to locate your target audience because they are typically the individuals that quickly respond to the product promotions. The other benefit is that these individuals will actually use what they received, allowing you to gain exposure to a new audience through no marketing efforts on your part.

Another great thing about product promotions is that it allows you to expose your company to a new audience. Quite often, product promotions are used daily by consumers. Don't believe me, open up your pen drawer and count how many pens you actually bought and how many were given to you. Promotional products don't need to be terribly expensive; they just need to get their job done which is to continually remind the customers of your company.

Some of the larger promotional products like gym bags are a great way to increase the visibility of your business. People will place a certain value on larger promotional products and they will actually use them. Take a look at how many "beach bags" are actually promotional products. Every time the person walks around with your bag, they are advertising your company to all the people that see it. Having just your logo on the bag is all you may need to gain more visibility with your customers.

Since promotional products can get expensive, consider combining your marketing efforts with another company. Having your name on a t-shirt with some other companies will help you gain a larger customer base because you both attract different audiences. The great part about combining with another company is that you still get to have a high-value promotional product for half the price. Like other promotional products, the recipient may continue using it for years to come, giving you exposure to numerous audiences.

Many companies use product promotions as a way to thank their employees for their hard work. Using product promotions in this sense is a great way to show your employees you care about them, and like your customers, your employees will do all the free marketing for your business. Most of the employees will be grateful for the recognition you have given them and they will place a higher value on it if it can be used for something in their personal lives versus their professional ones.

Consider giving out luggage or backpacks over other promotions like pens and notepads. If you have extras, you can use them as product promotions for your customers when they attend sporting events or other occasions.

Still not convinced to use promotional products? Market research studies have found that using product promotions over traditional marketing efforts actually produces a higher rate of return. Think about how much money you spend on pay-per-click advertisements and how much it would cost you to have 1,000 pens printed up with your company name on them.

Now, consider that the cost of pay-per-click is now in the past and you cannot benefit from the money you already invested. With product promotions, you are investing in the future because the pens can be used for years to come. This gives you the opportunity to remain consistent with your advertising and gain exposure for a one-time investment. Market researchers also found that when a customer is given a tangible item like a pen, they are less likely to throw it away like they do with flyers and other advertisements.