Branded merchandise isn't just a cute gimmick you can send out with orders or offer to new clients after your first meeting. It's also a key part of your marketing strategy that can be greatly beneficial to your bottom line. Not only do your branded products help you gain passive exposure, but they also help improve customer retention and loyalty. With all these factors combined, they do wonders for creating positive brand sentiment.
To get the best results possible, it's important to ensure that you choose the right branded merchandise for your business. Read on to discover some tips that will help you do exactly that:
Make Them Useful
One of the simplest ways to boost the effectiveness of your branded promotional products is to make sure they're actually useful for your target demographic. For example, while traditional mugs and pens lend themselves well to the corporate sphere, a business that operates within the fitness industry would be far better served by insulated drink bottles. Meanwhile, a cosmetics company would be silly not to have their own compact mirrors.
Go For Quality Over Quantity
Love your brand so much that you want to splash it across everything? You're not alone. However, the mere fact that you can do this doesn't mean it’s a good idea. Finding a supplier who you can work with to create a smaller, targeted range of branded promotional products will be far more beneficial than having six key chain options, a full range of coloured pencils, and a couple of different mugs to choose from.
There will obviously be exceptions to every rule, but when deciding which products to select, you need to remember that if it doesn't benefit your customer, they're not going to use it, which essentially renders the product useless.
Pair Them With Your Existing Offerings
One of the simplest ways to make sure that your branded merchandise will be well-received is to align it with your current offerings. Manufacture electronics? Select branded protective bags or cases. Own a homewares business? Consider scented products.
Designing your branded promotional products around your current range also allows you to add them to your online store as products that can be purchased in their own right. This generates additional revenue as well as exposure.
Get Creative
Pretty much everyone has branded merchandise these days, so if you want to stand out from the crowd, you need to get creative about what you're offering.
Sell a product that requires assembly? Include a free multi-tool that has the required attachments. Targeting those with young families? Consider stuffed animals. Trying to make your mark on the wine industry? Cheese platters pair beautifully with your product, so why not offer a cheese board and sheet of pairing suggestions?
It's the little things that matter, and standing out like this will help ensure that you're always ahead of mind if your customers need anything in the future.
The Way To Their Heart
Once you've selected your general offerings, consider incorporating something edible. This may seem like an odd tip, but as the saying goes, the way to a customer’s heart is through their stomach.
This option won't suit all businesses, but if it aligns with your brand image and goals, you'd be surprised by how much difference adding a gourmet delight to a customer's package can make.
While every business owner’s needs will be different, if you stick to these general guidelines, you should find it fairly easy to select the right branded merchandise for your business. Good luck.
