Learn five ways your business can use promotional items to connect with prospects and clients, build brand awareness, and ultimately boost your business.

1. September 2012
5
Ways to Use Promotional
Items to Boost your Business
InnerWorkings Best Practices Guide

2. 5 Ways to Use Promotional Items to Boost your Business
IN THIS ISSUE:
Introduction ................................................................. 3
1: Build Brand Awareness ............................................ 4
2: Acquire Customers .................................................. 5
3: Keep Customers ....................................................... 6
4: Drive Engagement at Events .................................... 7
5: Motivate Employees ................................................. 8
How to Make it Happen ................................................ 9
About InnerWorkings / Contact Information ............... 10

3. 5 Ways to Use Promotional Items to Boost your Business
introduction
Promotional items are among the strongest performers in a marketer’s
tool kit. People simply like them. Research shows that 84 percent of people
receiving promotional items remember the advertisers; 42 percent have a
Promotional items are
better impression of them; and 24 percent are more likely to do business
among the five fastest-
with them.1
growing marketing
options in the US,
With an almost blinding array of choices in
totaling some $17 billion.2
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promotional products, how do you choose?
Start with the basics: know your marketing
goal, audience, budget and go-to-market
strategy. Then, zero in on the right item.
Our eBook includes 5 ways to boost your
business with promotional items.
1
“
Advertising Specialties Impressions Study, Advertising Specialties Institute, November 2008,
”
http://www.asicentral.com/html/open/EducationandEvents/powersummit08/Impressions_Study.pdf
2
“
The 2011 E stimate of U.S. Distributors’ Promotional Products Sales, prepared for the Promotional Products Association International,
”
June 2012, http://www.ppai.org/inside-ppai/research/Documents/2011%20PPAI%20Sales%20Survey%20full%20report.pdf
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4. 5 Ways to Use Promotional Items to Boost your Business
1.
BUILD BRAND Brand awareness is among the top reasons marketers use promotional
items. As more marketers turn to social media to help build brand visibility,
AWARENESS consider using them in your social networks to drive brand awareness and
engagement through reward programs. Deliver a code-based reward to
consumers who “like” your brand’s Facebook page to help drive traffic and
increase participation.
To connect with audiences offline, direct mail is a powerful Your social media
option, especially since direct mail response rates are four audience is typically
times greater than email.3 Whether you’re planning to use tech-savvy, so smartphone
a giveaway as part of a direct mail piece, or as a driver in a accessories and other
social media campaign, think about how your promotional high-tech giveaways are
products and communications can complement each other. good choices.
3
D
irect Marketing Association
4

5. 5 Ways to Use Promotional Items to Boost your Business
2.
ACQUIRE There are many ways to use promotional items in acquiring new customers.
On sales meetings, go the extra step with your leave behinds by putting
CUSTOMERS your marketing collateral on a branded thumb drive. Contests that draw
in qualified prospects by offering one of your top-of-the-line products or
services as the grand prize can also feature promotional
items printed with coupon codes as consolation prizes – for Don’t forget to thank existing
instance, on microfiber cloths for cleaning customers’ many customers for referring new
displays (tablets, flat screens, smartphones). business with a high quality
branded gift that keeps them
In one survey, 37 percent of people who became customers referring more business.
while or after receiving a promotional item said the item
played a role in choosing the company.4 The link between
promotion and customer acquisition isn’t always this clear.
But your job is clear: make your promotional items memorable.
4
“
Advertising Impact of Promotional Products, GWW, February 2012 http://www.gww.de/studien.html
”
5

6. 5 Ways to Use Promotional Items to Boost your Business
3.
KEEP Whether you met them in the civic center or the social sphere, they’re
your customers now and you’d better hold onto them. It costs far more
CUSTOMERS to acquire a new customer than it does to sell to an existing one.
Express gratitude to your loyal customers by sending a
promotional gift on their birthdays or for a holiday. Another Be sure to exercise brand
way to drive customer retention is through customer loyalty discipline – right down to
programs and distributor preference programs that include matching the shade of blue
premiums. While some retailers maintain policies against on that branded thumb
employees accepting swag, it’s in a distributor’s business drive to your beautiful
interest to provide their best outlets with premium in-store blue logo.
displays, such as a branded grill, patio set or DVD-and-TV
to display a demo video. After the season is over, use the
displays to reward your top store manager or employee.
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7. 5 Ways to Use Promotional Items to Boost your Business
4.
DRIVE Tradeshows and events are ideal venues for engaging with prospects,
connecting with current customers and making a big impact with your
ENGAGEMENT audiences. The trick with promotional items at tradeshows and events is
to make sure the gifts are relevant and/or useful to your audience.
AT EVENTS Less common, but highly useful items that may be appropriate Be sure to make tradeshow
for your company include branded USB hubs, combination giveaways relevant and/
pen/stylus/LED flashlights or even WD-40 “pens” and or useful – or they’ll be left
sunglasses. You want to stand out from the crowd, so think in hotel rooms all across
outside the box to find an unusual promotional item that town as attendees pack
meets your customers’ needs and fits your company’s brand up to leave.
image. Also consider using promotional items to generate
buzz and drive booth attendance with a contest that features
a trendy item, such as the latest tablet.
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8. 5 Ways to Use Promotional Items to Boost your Business
5.
MOTIVATE Some say that happy employees make for happy customers. Certainly,
maintaining an esprit de corps is good business, and internal contests/
EMPLOYEES awards, recognition and sales-incentive programs can all help.
The use of internal promotional items is growing more than Your return on investment?
ever. Safety programs are a big category – say, with a logo Increased morale, people
jacket for everyone on the team hitting the goal for safe working harder and
operations at the plant. Eco-initiatives and recycling can smarter – in short,
be encouraged with branded double-walled drink ware, a more productive work
reducing the number of water bottles used in the office. environment.
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9. 5 Ways to Use Promotional Items to Boost your Business
6.
HOW TO MAKE Promotional items can help you reach your objectives if you use common
marketing sense and have a little fun with them.
IT HAPPEN The range of available promotional items has become seemingly The simplest advice:
endless, and there is new flexibility built into ordering, with Effective promotional
low minimums (as low as one) and fast turnarounds (one to items are products that
three days on average versus the old standard of five to 10 people might really like,
days). Additionally, there is no need to stuff that office hall but wouldn’t necessarily
closet anymore – even warehousing options are available, think to buy themselves.
along with “decorate on demand” capabilities.
For all these reasons, it’s no surprise that more brand marketers
are cutting through the noise of today’s fragmented media markets
by swinging into swag.
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10. 5 Ways to Use Promotional Items to Boost your Business
About
InnerWorkings InnerWorkings is the leading provider of global marketing supply chain
solutions. We combine innovative technology, an extensive supplier
network, and deep domain expertise to help companies strategically
manage their print, promotional, and packaging solutions. We service
customers across multiple industries, including financial services, retail,
non-profits, healthcare, food and beverage, education, transportation
and utilities. With headquarters in Chicago and major operations in
Chile and the United Kingdom, InnerWorkings employs approximately
1,200 people and operates in more than 44 offices around the world.
For more information, please email chodge@inwk.com
or visit http://bit.ly/inwkpromo
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