Promotional products, corporate giveaways, business gifts: whatever you call them, the fact that they have a marked effect on consumer behaviour cannot be denied. However, at a time when many marketing experts have become obsessed with the digital space, you may be forgiven for having forgotten just how effective traditional corporate gifts can be. But, after forgiving yourself, we recommend taking an urgent refresher on the benefits of promotional products because to forget about them is to forget about one of the most powerful weapons in your marketing arsenal.
To get you started on your research into promotional products, we’re using today’s blog post as an opportunity to take an in-depth look at branded gifts and provide a meaningful answer to the question: Do promotional products influence consumer behaviour? By the end, we are sure you will understand why the shrewdest marketing specialists still make full use of promotional/branded products.
Promotional Products and Their Impact on Consumers
Let’s start our in-depth look by enumerating some of the most pertinent reasons that promotional gifts remain a powerful force in the marketing world of the 21st century:
- Consumer Recall – Studies have shown that while 88% of consumers can remember the name of the company that gifted them a promotional product in the last year, only 71% can recall the name of a company that placed a magazine advertisement to which they were exposed in the last week. This fact alone makes a very powerful case for the retention of promotional products in your marketing toolbox. If you are looking for staying power in your marketing messages (and if you aren’t, you really should be), promotional gifts are one of the best-performing options at your disposal. Whether you decide to use conventional gifts such as stationary and baseball caps or something a little more unusual, the impact of your gifts could be considerable.
- Extra Exposure – One of the greatest benefits that marketing gifts have to offer is the additional exposure your organisation will enjoy when the recipients use them in public. Every time that a branded umbrella, hat, pen or tote bag is used in public, hundreds, if not thousands, of potential consumers, are exposed to your company name and corporate logo. And the really good news is that 6 out of 10 consumers keep promotional gifts for at least 2 years, and just over half of them will use their gifts at least once a week. That is an awful lot of potential exposure for a very small outlay.
- Low Failure Rate – According to recent market research, only 1 in 5 people will throw away an unwanted promotional product. Most people are more likely to store it for possible later use if they don’t need it now or give it to a friend. Of those that make use of promotional gifts themselves, 54% keep the gifts at home and 24% on their person. While the home-stored gifts may appear to offer little opportunity for additional exposure, they are often seen and remembered by visiting friends and family. The underlying message these figures have to offer is that well-chosen promotional products can be very effective, and even those gifts that are not so carefully selected may end up providing your organisation with plenty of exposure in the future.
- Minimal Outlay – TV commercials on major channels cost millions of dollars in the majority of cases. Even budget cable TV advertisements can run into tens of thousands of dollars. Magazine adverts are also relatively expensive and even online promotional costs can quickly rack up, especially with pay-per-click advertising campaigns. Bearing all of this in mind, it is much easier to appreciate the power of the humble corporate gift. One simple pen costing pennies to buy could provide your company with exposure to hundreds or thousands of potential customers over the next few years. A thousand such pens could help you to reach millions of new consumers.
- Positive Action – One of the most exciting facts we have uncovered in trying to answer the question “Do promotional products influence consumer behaviour?” is the change in the number of people who do business with the brand in question after receiving a gift. While 55% already did business with the company before receiving their gift, 85% of people did business with the company afterwards. That’s a huge increase and another great illustration of the benefits that branded products offer.
- Consumer Acceptance – While the majority of canvassed consumers confirmed that they knew exactly why companies presented them with branded products (either to promote brand awareness, provide an incentive to purchase or as thanks for business already received), this does not appear to have any influence on their decision to make use of such gifts. As mentioned above, 85% of recipients chose to do business with the companies that gifted them branded products, a very satisfactory result however you look at it. Most other promotional tools are either far less effective or unable to be so easily evaluated.
If you haven’t thought about harnessing the power of promotional products recently, the above facts are sure to have given you pause for thought. And the good news doesn’t stop here. With a little forethought, you can make your promotional gifts even more effective.
More Effective Promotional Products
Having satisfactorily answered the question “Do promotional products influence consumer behaviour?”, let’s finish up with some tips on how to maximise the power of promotional gifts:
- Focus on Most Frequently Used Products – For maximum exposure, pick branded products that are likely to be used daily, such as calendars, personal organisers, electronic devices and portable accessories.
- Find Out What Problems Your Target Audience Wants to Solve – The single most important factor that determines how successful a corporate gift will be is its usefulness. The more useful a product is, the more likely it is to be used regularly by recipients. While this might sound like obvious information, it is often disregarded nonetheless. If you want your promotional giveaways to stand out from the crowd and help you to achieve great things, we recommend that you choose gifts that are genuinely useful to the people you are trying to reach.
- Don’t Be Too Cheap – Whilst it doesn’t make sense to give away luxury items for free, you should ensure that your promotional products are of a reasonable quality. In addition to providing little exposure, inferior products that break quickly will make your brand look bad.
If you’re looking for the very best promotional products in Australia, don’t hesitate to call or message us to discuss your needs.
(References:https://www.ppai.org/media/1433/2012-influence-pp-consumer-behavior-summary.pdf)
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