slap a logo on it
Now I will grant you that even I, your humble author and blatant swag aficionado, find suspect a glowing report about the value of advertising specialties that was released by (and – in only my opinion – likely also commissioned by) the Advertising Specialty Institute. I am as skeptical as the next solopreneur (tip of the hat to Leesa Barnes for my word of the day).
None the less, I think many small businesses would raise an eyebrow to learn that promotional products generate a cost-per-impression average of $0.004, compared to $.033 for national magazine ads or $0.019 for prime time TV ads. If those numbers are real, that means something because the cost of delivering an ad specialty is individually and collectively less expensive than most other media. This report claims now it is also more effective in impressions.
The challenge, as one who has created a few of these items (and by few I mean a few thousand over my career) is to find items that will be memorable or wearable or most importantly desirable in the eyes of your target or prospective market.
Sure, your father-in-law wants a logoed baseball cap and maybe your wife (like mine) enjoys the oversized coffee mug. But what about a digital media producer who creates sales and marketing videos for global corporations? Does a logoed pen make you a more valuable vendor? If he needs a pen at the exact moment of delivery, one would have to say yes.
Anyway, as you begin to plot your 2009 marketing plan (you ARE plotting it, aren’t you?) you might find in a down economy that giving someone in business even a small gift may go a lot further in building a relationship than it might have even one year ago.
I’ve got no white-paper-scientific-survey-type data on it. Just a good old hunch, for whatever that’s worth.
