Do Promotional Products Work? A Look at What the Research Says

In a cluttered marketplace, branding is vital to the success of your business. When people recognize your brand, it not only reminds them you exist, but also communicates a quick, unconscious message of who you are and what you do.

The first part of branding is creating a clear, consistent business identity and message that people will associate with you — coming up with a logo, a tagline, a colour scheme, a voice. The second part of branding? Visibility.

That’s where promotional products come in. Used wisely, they serve to advertise your brand every single time they are seen. They foster appreciation in the people who utilise them, and a sense of connection to the business that created them.

At least, that’s the theory behind using them. But do they really work?
Here are some hard numbers from several studies that show the impact that promotional products can have on the people you want to target.

The Success of Promotional Products: By the Numbers

To determine how well promotional products “work,” you have to evaluate them in a number of different ways:

    1. Do they help you reach people?
      In terms of reach, promotional products are found to have a reach of 89% — higher than the reach of online, print, and TV advertising.

    1. Do they help people remember your brand?
      84% of item recipients remember the brand and can name the company it came from.

    1. Do people keep them and use them (thus forming a longer connection with your brand)?
      How often and for how long will people use promotional products? Once a week or more, according to 53% of recipients.
      And 62% of end users reported keeping and using promotional products for over a year — with 63% giving their items away when they’re done with them.

    1. Do they engender a positive impression of your brand?
      People look at a business more favorably after receiving a promotional product 53% of the time.

  1. Do they encourage further interactions with your brand?
    78% of people who receive promo items would recommend that company or brand.
    85% of people will do business with the brand (up from 55% before they received a promotional product.

What Does the Success of Promotional Products Mean for Your Business?

It’s pretty simple, really — if you haven’t already done so, you want to make sure that promotional products are a part of your branding and marketing strategy.

Now that doesn’t mean that you should just rush and slap your business logo on the first promo items you find. To create the most positive impression, you should use high quality items that consumers are interested in receiving — ideally a promotional product that meshes well with your brand identity.
Sources:
● http://www.ppai.org/inside-ppai/research/
● http://blog.epromos.com/promotional-marketing-advertising/10-eye-opening-stats-to-kick-off-promotional-products-work-week/
● http://visual.ly/why-are-mugs-and-cups-effective-marketing-tools
● https://www.sageworld.com/blog/index.php/2015/04/30/25-insane-but-true-facts-about-promotional-products/
● www.psi-network.de
● ASI Impression Study
● DIMA Study on behalf of the General Association of the Advertising Materials Industry (GWW)