PromotionalAnswers.com
Promotion and Advertising Info from Professional Cosultants
PROMOTIONALANSWERS.COM
What factors should I consider when choosing a promotional product?
There are many factors to consider when choosing a promotional product. Start off by answering a few basic questions:
- What are you trying to accomplish? Are you introducing a new business or are you introducing a new project for your well-established enterprise?
- Will the item be used to maintain or support your image in the marketplace?
- Are you trying to entice existing customers who you have not seen for a while to rejoin the list of current customers?
- Is the goal to introduce your business or cause to a whole new audience?
These questions can get you started. For the best results, think of questions that are unique to your situation. What are your goals?
Additional factors to consider are:
- Timing. Is there a specific time schedule that needs to be met?
- Budget. How does the cost of the promotional item or items fit in with the overall budget?
- Company Resources. Whose responsibility is it to create the artwork for the promotional product and who will make sure that the items are used as planned?
Keeping your answers to these questions in mind when creating a business plan will help you and the promotional products professional advising you make the best decisions to satisfy your needs.
We Ask You: Do you brand your supplies?
All businesses use supplies of various kinds. From nearly universal supplies such as pens, envelopes, and paper to business specific supplies such as take-out containers for a restaurant, calculators in an accountancy, or floor mats in an auto repair shop, virtually every business uses one or more consumable supply item. These supplies offer an extraordinary opportunity to augment your advertising and promotional efforts at marginal cost.
Marginal Cost? Really?
Absolutely. You are maintaining a supply anyway, so when evaluating the costs of obtaining custom imprinted versions of items you already consume in the course of doing business, the true cost of the custom imprinted item is only the margin of difference between the gross price of the imprinted alternative and the gross price you currently pay.
For further clarity, let's look at an example:
Professional Office ABC, Inc. currently uses 500 un-imprinted Bic® Clic Stic® pens per calendar quarter. Their supply of un-imprinted Bic® Clic Stic® pens, currently ordered from a major office supply chain's website, costs them $307 per quarter. The same exact Bic® Clic Stic® pens they currently use can be obtained, with Professional Office ABC's, say, logo, phone number, and website imprinted on the barrel for as little as $369.*
So, what is the true cost of the imprinted alternative? In the above example, it is only $62. Remember, this $62 dollar marginal cost should be evaluated as an advertising cost and not a pen supply cost. For only $62 Professional Office ABC can obtain 500 pieces of durable advertising (just because a pen has left the company office doesn't mean it is out of use and circulation) which will generate some many thousands of impressions in the aggregate, for some time to come.
Specialty advertising offers the ability to obtain advertising and promotional benefit at marginal cost in a way other forms of advertising do not. A television ad, for example, is singularly an advertisement, and the entire cost thereof is advertising cost.
*The figures used in the above example are estimates based on research at the time of writing, and should not be considered firm pricing for the referenced item(s). Variables such as periodic discounts, shipping charges to different destinations, retail pricing competition, multi-color and/or multi-location imprinting, custom element color combinations, and others could not practically be considered in an example of sufficient brevity as to be useful in this context. Please check with a promotional consultant to ascertain the cost of obtaining an imprinted supply of any item you may desire/require and perform your own cost-benefit analysis based thereupon.
I don't always use promo items that I receive, why would I want to use promotional products for my business?
You bring up an interesting question. Hopefully, I can give you an equally interesting answer.
I would be willing to bet that if you received a handy item that you could not or did not want to use you probably gave it to someone else who would use it. It is human nature to not throw away something of value. Perhaps some of the items you refer to were not useful or did not have a very good perceived value.
Another thing to consider is how does the promotional item fit in with your business or the particular idea it is promoting. Take, for example, the fly swatter with the tag line: "If this doesn't do the job . . . call ABC Pest Control." When possible it is creative to tie the specialty advertising item to the company or product being promoted while offering a useful product to a potential customer.
Obviously, there is more that could be said on this subject; however, with brevity in mind, I think I have made my point. Be clever. Present useful items that promote you or your business. Give the people a reason to remember you. Let that handy fly swatter . . . swat away the competition for years to come.
I've never used specialty advertising before, where should I begin?
This is a great question. We are often apprehensive of the unknown. Don't be nervous; just move ahead.
Make yourself a game plan by answering the following questions:
- What do you want to promote? Are you introducing a new business or do you want to bring attention to a special new promotion of your already well established business or cause?
- What is your budget for this project?
- When does the promotion start? Do you need the specialty advertising items in house by a certain date?
- Have you written the ad copy or slogans and created the artwork that are to be used for this promotion? If not, who will produce it and when will it be ready?
- What specialty item will be used to promote this project?
Your next step would be to contact an advertising specialty professional to help you complete the process. They will be able to help you fill in any blanks and guide you along in finding the best promotional item for your needs.
Is there anything I can't have custom made or imprinted?
Within the bounds of reason, your imagination and your budget are the only constraints. Customization and/or imprinting are readily available on established terms and pricing for millions of products. Think of a product you wish to have customized, decorated or imprinted, any product. Chances are you aren't the first to think of customizing said product, and at least one manufacturer somewhere already offers these services. If, by chance, you are the first to desire the customization of a particular product, a manufacturer, decorator or imprinter can virtually always be located if your budget is sufficient to meet the additional costs of a specially coordinated order. In fact, the product of your dreams needn't even already exist. If you have an idea for a completely custom manufacture; your idea doesn't require manufacturing technology which does not exist; and your time and budget can accommodate the planning, costs and contingencies which attend the undertaking, even your dream product can become a reality.
Whether you are looking for a commonly available product, a rare product, or a completely new custom manufacture, the easiest and most efficient way to determine the availability, feasibility, suitability, and cost of your contemplated product is to speak directly with a consultant-distributor. Distributors have access to many more manufacturers than other businesses and individuals, and by clearly communicating your ideas, needs, goals, and budget they can usually provide you with guidance and answers much more readily and reliably than you are likely to be able to on your own.
Submit your questions about advertising and promotion.
If you have a question about advertising or promotion, whether general or specific, please submit it to us. If we believe the answer would prove useful to others it may inspire a future post. If not, we may answer your question privately. We are also interested in any feedback you may have about our site or in response to prior posts.
To submit questions or comments:
Email us at promotionalanswers@jimadan.com;Submit a comment in the appropriate location on this site;or;Use our Contact Form
Please Note: All submissions are moderated. Submissions we find objectionable or believe to be spam will be ignored or deleted, in our sole and exclusive discretion. We will publish only such material as we choose, in our sole and exclusive discretion. We may edit or reformat your question as we deem necessary or desirable, in our sole and exclusive discretion. We are under no obligation to publish any material submitted. You will not receive credit or attribution for your submission. Please do not submit copyrighted or otherwise proprietary materials.
What promotional ideas are suitable for the 4th of July and Labor Day?
For American businesses (or businesses with with an American client base) the 4th of July and Labor Day holidays provides a great opportunity for summer advertising. Below are some product suggestions you can use to kick off your Independence Day promotion.
In Jim's post from earlier this month, he mentioned some examples of promotional items that are great for the summer. Any of those products would be a great choice. Consider imprinting them with both your own logo and iconic 4th of july symbols like the American flag; stars and stripes; red, white and blue colors; etc.
While it may seem like an obvious choice, it bears mentioning that flags and flag related items are good choices too. For example, an american car flag with your logo on the stem or something as simple as a flag shaped lapel pin are decent places to start. Another interesting idea is the inflatable flag, which is a great handout to give away at your holiday picnic/party/event.
Please note: At this late date, product availability for the 4th of July is uncertain; however, now is an outstanding time to get a jump on your Labor Day promotions.
