Pros and Cons of Advertising with Promotional Products

Promotional Bug

Promotional Bug (Photo credit: CompleteMerchandise)

Promotional products refer to items given out by a company in order to draw attention to a product or to an upcoming event. The promotional product is a great advertising tool for companies looking to push a product but they also have their drawbacks. The article will discuss the pros and cons of using the promotional product as an advertising tool.

Pros of Promotional Products

The promotional product is a great source of advertising and an ideal marketing and promotions tool. The marketing effort associated to the promotional product brings the company to a whole new level of success. The promotional product is used to advertise the company by dispersing a usable product to the public. The promotional product is a visual tool allowing the company to provide their phone number or webpage to consumers in order to promote a product or service.

The cost of using the promotional product for advertising can be less costly than radio or television advertisement. The company can reach a larger market of people at a low cost when they use the promotional item to promote their product. Pens are a cheap promotional item that is handed out to a larger market. Since pens are often times shared the advertisement reaches an even larger market. The promotional product can provide a lasting impression on the public unlike advertisement that run for a week or a month. The promotional product could be in the market for years.

The promotional product exposes the brand of a business to a larger audience. While a television commercial or radio is designed to hit a specific population the promotional product can be spread far and wide. These products can be given away at a store giveaway or even thrown at a parade. There are endless possibilities for the business to attract a larger customer base. The promotional product assists the company in creating brand awareness and brand loyalty.

Promotional products, especially unusual promo items are a creative alternative to the business card. Instead of handing out business cards people will most likely just through in the trash the business can instead provide the consumer with a product they can use. The use of this product provides the company, service, or event with repeat exposure for the business. The smart business will provide a product that will be used over and over again and will give the business the most exposure. Magnetic signs for a car are an excellent promotional product for reaching a large population.

Cons of Using Promotional Product

Promotional products have many benefits but there are a couple of cons when using this advertising tool. The promotional product can be predictable. If the advertising tools floods the market the public will lose interest and will not pay attention to the advertisements on the promotional product. It is essential to develop unique, eco friendly promotional giveaways. Far from Boring provides great unique promotional products to capture the attention of the public including eco promotional products. Another con is if the promotional product is off poor quality it could decrease the value of the company or their products or services being advertised on the promotional product.

Author bio. : The Author has studied and ran many promotional and marketing campaigns, and has learned the best way to use eco friendly promotional giveaways to build your business!

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Voucher Codes Could Generate More Sales For Your Business

March 14, 2013 by  
Filed under Front Page, Wright Ideas

street qr code

street qr code (Photo credit: ubiqua)

Voucher Codes Could Generate More Sales For Your Business

The rise of online voucher codes has been phenomenal. Long gone are the days when companies had their coupons printed the local press, nowadays voucher codes are used by UK businesses up and down the country to offer discounts and promotions.

Recent research by Forrester Consulting has found online promotional codes are an invaluable marketing tool for businesses as they increase consumer engagement and brand awareness.

Businesses that are not taking advantage of voucher code websites could be missing out on valuable sales. It’s not just the likes of the supermarkets and nationwide chains that can benefit from offering customers a promo code, small businesses are also seeing the benefit.

Voucher codes on the rise

Out of those questioned in the survey, more than six in ten said they anticipated that they would use more voucher codes over the next 12 months. This is promising news for business owners as they seek new effective ways to promote their products and services.

That’s not all though, 40% of respondents also said that they think they use voucher codes for at least a quarter of all online purchases. With more people heading to the web to do their shopping, there couldn’t be a better time for UK businesses to start taking advantage of this new marketing technique.

Consumer confidence

For businesses new to the world of voucher codes, they might wonder, well, what’s the point? Surely, it is just as effective to offer a 20% discount on their website, than become an affiliate marketer?

Retailers have been using inflated prices to accommodate for price drops for a long time, but due to the tough economic climate consumers are becoming far more money savvy.

With an increased awareness over deceptive pricing, people are looking for new and different ways to genuinely save money. By offering discounts to customers via a voucher codes website, it’s not only easier for online shoppers to see find the promotion online, but it also makes it more trustworthy.

Brand reputation

There are more benefits to using voucher codes to help promote than just getting customers to part with cash. The Forrester Consulting study actually found that voucher code users spend more time online, helping to improve conversion rates and brand reputation.

Choosing a voucher codes website

 

There are hundreds of voucher code websites on the web these days. Some were at the forefront of the industry, with other new ones springing up every day. My Favourite Voucher Codes has been operating for over a year, but differs from most voucher codes websites as a portion of the profits are donated to charity.

Yes, that’s right! Some of the net profits are donated to charities chosen by the consumers. Users of the website vote for their preferred charity in a monthly poll and the winner receives a cheque for 20% of the net profits.

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4 ways to Promote your business on a shoe-string budget.

March 6, 2013 by  
Filed under A Note for You, Front Page

Environmentally Friendly printed folders

Environmentally Friendly printed folders (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

4 ways to Promote your business on a shoe-string budget.

 Guest Blog Post by John

Printed merchandise is one of the most effective forms of promoting your business.  It can ensure quick response and brand loyalty in a much better way compared to conventional advertising. Everyone loves freebies or promotional products and if you print the name of your company, your website, logo and such other information on them, people will tend to recollect them more than a random advertisement that they may see on the web or television.  For instance, a promotional product like a calendar that has your company information provided on it, will gain maximum visibility because there is a high degree of chance that the calendar will be hung on the wall of your prospect and he or she will see at least once daily. The barrier now, is the cost – if you have a shoe string budget, is it possible to promote your company through printed merchandise?  The answer is ‘yes’.

Here are some ways in which you can promote your company through printed merchandise.

  1. Business Cards –  If you are serious about your business, it is better to invest in business cards because they are a professional identity of what you do, and is sought for by your clients, customers and by people in general .  You can invest in some creatively designed businesses cards and include your company logo, web page address and contact details in it. You can also include a QR code in your business card which leads to your Facebook Page or YouTube page or a part of the website where you put up attractive offers.
  2. Bumper sticker or decal on your car – Using a bumper sticker at the back of your car or a trendy decal on the body of your car with your company name, logo information about your business on the QR code can help promote your business at negligible cost. In a busy street or at the parking lot, many will chance upon your company  name, logo and QR code and use their smartphone QR reading app to know more about your business
  3. Email newsletters – You can send newsletters to your prospects with information about your company, the latest products and your new offerings for the festive season. You can also tell them about the discounts on your products by redirecting them to the page of your website where there are QR codes that contain discounted offers, which can be availed when printed out and presented at your outlet. Alternatively, you can direct your customers to the section of website or Facebook Page, where people can download and take a print-out of those coupons to be presented at the outlet.
  4. Eco Friendly Products – You can set up an eco-friendly website that may be an extension of your website. You may also set up a Facebook Page, which talks about a better environment. If you know someone who is promoting an eco-friendly campaign or launching an initiative, you can tie up with them and offer eco-friendly merchandise like disposable cups, bags, napkins and pens with your company information printed on them.
  5. Pens and highlighters – Custom printed retractable pens, pencils, highlighters do not cost much but are a great-away to market your business.  Distribute them in a school, hotels, and banks and see how effectively, your business grows through word-of-mouth publicity.
  6. Promoting your products in a trade-show – You can increase the brand identity of your business on a shoe-string budget by doling out badges, lanyards, bottled water with your slogan and company name or logo.
  7. Offering awareness products – Key chains, pens, highlighters, ribbons and bracelets are great giveaways for an awareness cause.  While you show solidarity to the cause and promote awareness, you are also making people familiar with what you do. People who form a part of the awareness campaign would keep these products as souvenirs and would be your loyal customers.
  8. Offer a gift for your purchase – Wouldn’t you like to buy a product if it comes with a free gift? Sales are known to steamroll when there is a freebee backing up a purchase.  You may as well offer a printed eco-friendly shopping bag, bearing your company logo and website name and customer would be happy to take it.
  9. Promoting your business through your employees- You can give incentives to your employees for a job well done, in the form of a professionally engraved metal pen, an umbrella or a printed T-shirt bearing you company name and logo.  This work in three ways – you reward the employee handsomely for a job well done. Secondly, the other employees strive to do better. Thirdly, your employees build your brand resulting in better exposure to your company.
  10. Be active on social networking sites – Being on social media sites costs nothing, the only thing you have to invest is your mind and exercise your marketing strategy in a smart manner. You can run a contest and ask people to upload their pictures, videos on social networking sites and tag their friends. Offer a prize which includes printed merchandise to the winners.  There are several other methods in which you can promote your company through the power of social media. For instance, you can go to a conference and talk to people on the topic that you are an ace at, and then ask people to join your Facebook Page and subscribe to your newsletters. You can offer them printed merchandise like stickers which contain QR codes to your website or Facebook Business Page.

For more information visit Everyone loves freebies or promotional products

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