|
|
| Advertising Information |
|
Imprinted Promotional Items ? Their Many Marketing Applications
There are many uses for promotional items. This means that they are just not used as freebies for a grand opening special. Knowing all the uses for these nifty items, often called "swag," will open up many opportunities for your place of business. Advertising Specialties Look around you. You can probably count on two hands the number of items in your office or home that are etched, engraved or printed with someone's name- magnets, key chains, coffee mugs, calendars, rulers and note cubes. Oh, and how could we forget the pen or stress ball? These items were most likely given to you at no cost at a business you frequent, or perhaps were even sent to you. These are often given out at trade shows, seminars and other events open to the public. Even the businesses that have booths at the county fair have these types of giveaways. And, some businesses just have them out in their reception area. Others, like schools, may hand out pens, folders and lanyards at orientations and open houses. This marketing tool not only builds recognition but also is a way to gain your repeat business. Business Gifts Many of the above type of items are also used as business/corporate gifts. Items under this category sometimes also fall under higher price ranges too such as insulated travel mugs, clocks, messenger bags, polo shirts, fleece blankets, paper weights and more. These are generally sent to clients and vendors of a business to show their appreciation. They can be sent around the holidays, given out at receptions or just sent around an event specific to the company sending them. According to a Baylor University study, over half of the companies in America take part in this practice, and 68% of them find them to be very effective in helping achieve their business objectives. Some more reasons for business gifts: thanking customers, developing business and recognizing employees. Premiums Sometimes promotional items aren't free. But, the customer is not exactly paying for them either. Welcome to the world of premiums! If you sign up for this, you'll get this for free! And, this gimmick works! Have you ever donated to a charitable organization (like the Sierra Club) for a free newsletter subscription and t-shirt? Have you ever applied for a credit card to get an umbrella? Have you ever pledged to your local PBS station during a membership campaign for a Sesame Street plush toy? Or, have you ever switched banks to get a free beach blanket, or signed up for a health club for a free gym bag? These are just an inkling of ways companies use premiums to win your business. Premiums are basically promotional products used as an incentive to gain your business. Many times, the item is not given until an obligation us fulfilled. So, if your company is seeking membership, subscriptions or even sales, attaching a premium is a smart way to attract new business! Recognition Awards Sometimes promotional items are created solely for inside purposes, such as the case with recognition awards. These can range from plaques and pins to jackets and messenger bags, and many other types of gifts. These can be used for reaching and exceeding goals, perfect attendance, leadership qualities, promotions, inside contests and much more. Unlike ad specialties and premiums, which cater to the public, these cater to employees to motivate and boost morale within the place they work. While the recognition may mean more than the actual item, it serves as a reminder of accomplishments. When others see someone with an award, their own performance may increase. In a way, a recognition award is sort of like a premium after all- there is an incentive to earn one. Other Uses Sometimes promotional items are given out to customers as prizes as events. This is similar to recognition awards, only these are usually smaller ticket items given to random customers. An example would be a special sale or promotion where people can enter to win at the store, perhaps there is a grand prize of a big-ticket item and runner-ups will be selected to win imprinted prizes donning your logo. Also, items like inflatables (balloons and other shapes) will draw attention to a business and are indeed considered promotional items. Also, everybody has seen items with logos up for sale in gift shops- think tourist attraction, or gift shops at the end of a company tour (Hershey, Crayola factory, etc). These are still promotional items, but are considered souvenirs and are bought my consumers. Shot glasses, pint glasses, mugs, license plate frames, bumper stickers, salt and pepper shakers and more can fall in to this category! Cindy Carrera is a freelance creative author who's written numerous articles about PR including: business promotional items, custom promotional products and wholesale promotional items.
|
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Top 9 Reasons To Advertise Advertising is not for every company. But some require it because their market is big and constantly changing and evolving. Consider this, up to 30 percent of the people in the US move each year. Or, you may be locked into a battle with a competitor. People do business with companies they know and trust. Advertising can help build awareness, so that eventually consumers will trust your offer. How to Write Great Headlines According to experts, just changing the headline of an ad or sales letter has been known to dramatically improve the effectiveness of an ad or sales letter by up to 1700 percent! Yes, headlines are that powerful--and that important! Seven Ways to Kick Up the Power of Your Print Advertising - More Small Business Power Tools If you're a retailer and the only kind of advertising you do is built around sales events, you don't need much in the way of advice. All your advertising needs to do is spell out as clearly as possible what's on sale, the amount to be saved and your store's name, address and phone number. You should also include your web address as most of today's consumers expect you to have one. Cross Cultural Advertising "Culture is a like dropping an Alka-seltzer into a glass ? you don't see it, but somehow it does something," Hans Magnus Enzensberger. How to Advertise with Flyers When you first start out on your business venture, money is usually tight but you still need to advertise. One of the most affordable, yet very effective, ways to begin your advertising campaign is with flyers. Flyers are simply full page ads that are distributed directly to your potential customers. There are several ways in which they can be distributed. Giorgio Armani: A Persuasive Campaign Lets examine the use of Giorgio Armani Company's advertisements for a persuasive campaign. My reasoning is because the company is separated into several different divisions, while each tries to sell their product, the advertisements must maintain an overall company image. I have chosen Giorgio Armani Parfum (cologne), Armani Exchange (A|X), Emporio Armani(Dreamers), and Giorgio Armani Occhiali (glasses) to be the focus for the general image campaign of the Giorgio Armani Company. 7 Unique Ways To Get FREE Advertising 1. Give Testimonials When you purchase a product or service and it exceeds your expectations e-mail the business a testimonial. Tell them in the testimonial the benefits you got from the product or service. Give them permission to publish the testimonial on the web site if they include your sig file at the end. A $40 Million Dollar Little Known Referral Strategy Would you like to know how a car wash chain with only 12 locations has cleaned over 33,373,975 cars and has an annual revenue of over $40 Million (that is not a misprint) using little to no paid advertising? Media Planning: Smart Choices for Your Success Media Planning for Smarties Media Savvy - How To Manage Your Time To Gain The Best Media Coverage Did you know generating positive media coverage is four times more effective than advertising? Getting exposure in the media is far-reaching, utterly credible and free. As an added bonus you may well attract an audience that you never anticipated. But talking to reporters can be risky and threatening for first timers. You can say too much and lose control of the interview. You can say the wrong thing and damage your reputation. You can say "No Comment" and miss an opportunity. Buying Radio? Read This and Dont Waste Your Money Pay close attention and make it work the best for you. What Colors Make Your Services Most Attractive? This information is based on the principles of Laws of Attraction, Law of Allowing and Law of Deliberate Creation. And the Universal Laws of Energy (like attract likes) proven by Quantum Physics. How to Get People to Read Your Ads Like CRAZY! Rule One :- The Headline Five Characteristics of Highly Successful Advertising Have you ever spent a small fortune on advertising that generated disappointment rather than sales? Top Design and Marketing Tips from a Branding Expert This month, we wanted to share some general tips relating to your graphic design that we've come up with over the past year: Forgot The Ad Budget? Dont Panic! Bob is excited about his new business. He secured funding. He leased the building. He stocked it full of new gadgets. He hung the sign. He posted a banner on his window that reads,"Grand Opening!". And now he stands behind the counter, waiting for customers to come flocking in. And he stands there. And he stands there. And he stands there. Womentisements The unnecessary and extensive use of female models in advertisements is common not only in America & Europe, but also in Pakistan and rest of the world. Women are used to sell everything from cars to cigarettes. These advertisements use attractive women posing in ways. This type of advertisements initially started in the West to sell special women products, alcohol and adult entertainments. Gradually this trend spreaded to other markets & products and unfortunately it has been adopted by our market also. 100 Excellent Words and 70 Action Getting Phrases for Ad Writing 100 Excellent Words Absolutely. Amazing. Approved. Attractive. Authentic. Bargain. Beautiful. Better. Big. Colorful. Colossal. Complete. Confidential. Crammed. Delivered. Direct. Discount. Easily. Endorsed. Enormous. Excellent. Exciting. Exclusive. Expert. Famous. Fascinating. Fortune. Full. Genuine. Gift. Gigantic. Greatest. Guaranteed. Helpful. Highest. Huge. Immediately. Improved. Informative. Instructive. Interesting. Largest. Latest. Lavishly. Liberal. Lifetime. Limited. Lowest. Magic. Mammoth. Miracle. Noted. Odd. Outstanding. Personalized. Popular. Powerful. Practical. Professional. Profitable. Profusely. Proven. Quality. Quickly. Rare. Reduced. Refundable. Remarkable. Reliable. Revealing. Revolutionary. Scarce. Secrets. Security. Selected. Sensational. Simplified. Sizable. Special. Startling. Strange. Strong. Sturdy. Successful. Superior. Surprise. Terrific. Tested. Tremendous. Unconditional. Unique. Unlimited. Unparalleled. Unsurpassed. Unusual. Useful. Valuable. Wealth. Weird. Wonderful. Adding Art to Business Spaces Larger companies have learned that collecting art adds something special to its overall corporate image. An art collection may include art on display in waiting, or general areas. Larger collections may focus on education programs for the employees of the company and partnerships with area museums or art spaces. Add More Pizzazz To Your Ad For More Profits I recently completed a Marketing Makeover for an Ad that wasn't generating results for the owner of a Piano Tuning Business.
|
|
|
| Home | Site Map | Salesmanship Ebook | Motivational Ebook | Job and Resume Posting| Affiliate program | |
|
| 2006 All Rights Reserved. by Mp.sg Term of use and service for the articles and information |