When we think about a traditional marketing strategy, we may consider a flyer in someone’s letterbox, a radio spot, or a sandwich board placed outside a business offering a special deal. While there is certainly a place for these tried and true methods of speaking to your customer about who you are, there are some drawbacks that you may not have considered.
Winning people over can be a complex process and discovering ways to keep some good bang for your advertising buck can spell the difference between success and failure. So, what about branded promotional products? Is your business big enough to warrant branded merchandise and does it even produce results?
Here, we will take a look at branded promotional products vs. traditional advertising to discover which is more effective. We will talk about tangibility, staying front of mind, product placement, and letting your branded merchandise do the heavy lifting for you.
Read on and explore how promotional gifts and branded merchandise speak to your customers and find out how that conversation stacks up against traditional advertising methods.
Tangible & Memorable Experiences
When you are looking to connect with your potential customers, it pays to do it in tangible and memorable ways. While it may be that occasionally an ad on TV or on the radio might create an earworm, more often than not, this type of advertising becomes background noise at best – and at worst? Your potential client switches the channel or hits the mute button.
In order to create memories, you need to trigger attachment and that is one of the ways branded merchandise really shines. This also applies to gifting promotional products to your team, as these are the people who can be your biggest champions if you treat them right.
Touch & Attachment
When you choose custom promotional products and branded merchandise as part of your marketing approach, you can give someone a useful and appealing item that they may incorporate into their daily routine. This means they will likely pick up, carry, and use the product often – think bags, clothing, stationery and water bottles.
This kind of tactile communication helps people form an attachment, which can have you sitting front of mind when it comes to purchasing decisions. A great goal when it comes to promotional merchandise is to make your merch your potential customer’s new favourite thing to carry or wear.
Cost Efficiency & Targeting Your Customer
While television and radio ads may have a wide reach, they are also expensive and may not reach the ears and eyes you are looking to attract. When you hand out custom promo products to your employees, at trade shows or as a gift with a purchase, you are reaching a very specific audience that you can hand-pick.
When you hand over branded merchandise, you can also utilise your knowledge of your consumers to ensure the type of merchandise you are giving out is an item they will value.
The Power of Word-of-Mouth
Traditional marketing, like TV and radio spots, has a fleeting moment to broadcast a message before it disappears. Branded merchandise can take on a life of its own – especially if you choose quality promotional products. For example, a well-made piece of clothing will be used again and again; it will travel to places your brand wouldn’t normally be able to access and it may draw comments from friends, family, and even strangers.
This means the wearer is carrying your message forward long after your initial investment, and if you choose well, this type of item may even be lent out, creating a ripple effect of exposure. A good word-of-mouth recommendation carries a lot of weight and when your branded merchandise is durable, stylish, and brings user satisfaction on a daily basis, you can build brand credibility without spending another cent.
Get in Touch
While traditional advertising will always have its place, by branching out into branded merchandise, you broaden reach, build awareness, engagement, and loyalty.
At Image Group, we have lots of great merchandise that you can put your name on. We invest in relationships with quality suppliers across apparel, stationery, luggage, and much more, so there is always a product that will work for your budget and speak to your customers.
Trust is everything when it comes to building your brand and people are increasingly interested in tangible truths, so it pays to speak to your customers in ways they can actually reach out and touch.
Explore our custom promotional products today and discover how branded merchandise can keep working long after it’s left your store.