Branded products can be great for promoting your company at trade shows, from your office, and elsewhere. Use this guide to choose the right ones.

Every business strives to find ways to help them stick out from their competition. There are many ways to achieve this goal.

A company can create an amazing advertising campaign that gets people talking. The company can run a contest complete with prize money.

A company can also invest in products made with their brand on them to help their business stand out. The best part about branded products is that it works with every budget.

But if your company doesn’t choose the right products, it could end up being a waste of money.

To ensure your brand doesn’t end up in a pile of clutter, keep reading this guide.

Know Your Audience

Your business is unique and so are your customers. If you’ve branded your company properly, you already know what your values are.

Which means you should also know that your consumers are responding to your brand positively.

Taking into account your brand and the niche group of people who are responding to your brand, this should help you determine which products to use.

In other words, if you own a vegan soap company, then it’s safe to assume your customers are environmentally and animal-friendly.

Your branded products would then reflect that perhaps in a t-shirt made from recycled plastic.

Your goal is to provide them with branded products they actually want. Otherwise, it ends up as junk in their closet or garbage.

Your Branded Products Should Offer Value

There’s nothing worse than cheaply made stuff. Too often, companies choose poorly constructed items to use as their branded products.

It just ends up becoming landfill rather than hitting their intended mark. Your goal is to have people use these items.

Those people you hand your branded products out to are really acting as brand ambassadors who just happen to be working for you for free.

Since they are in a sense working for you for free, it makes sense to pay them back by giving them something they like and can use.

Make sure these items are well made and will last at least for longer than 6 months.

Be Consistent

Consistency is key when it comes to effective marketing. And that’s what branded products are used for – to raise awareness of your company through grassroots marketing efforts.

Make sure your brand standards are clearly defined. Appoint one person to oversee these standards.

The entire goal is to get your customers, followers, and readers to stick around as long as possible. Which means you need to provide them with a sense of familiarity and predictability.

Determine your business’s values and qualities before you look into which branded products will work best.

Then ensure that all employees who work on your marketing campaigns are skilled and aligned with your vision.

Determine Your Budget

It’s really easy to go over budget with branded products. It can get expensive if you’re not careful.

And determining your marketing budget isn’t exactly easy. It’s hard to predict how people will react until it’s already set in motion.

Most experts agree that around five percent of your revenue is a good starting point as a marketing budget. However, that’s not true for every business.

And as your business grows, that number might increase or decrease.

Those companies operating on a shoestring budget will have more of a challenge. Obviously handing out a customized leather briefcase is a poor choice.

Instead, starting with customized pens is a smarter choice for a company just starting out.

Customized coins also make good gifts. Read more here to learn why coins are a great choice.

A new coffee shop looking to give Starbucks a run for their money might start out with customized coffee cozies.

However, if you’re an investment firm making millions of dollars then your options are nearly limitless. Customized wine bottles, golf balls, and gold-plated pens are at your disposal.

Plan Ahead

Depending on your needs, make sure to factor in how long it will take to plan and order your branded products.

If you need them for an event or a meeting, make sure to give yourself enough time to have them made and shipped to your company.

Most promotional products take at least one to two weeks. Some take even longer.

Also, if you’re having items like customized beach towels made up and you live in a part of the country where winter arrives, plan ahead. It may not make any sense for you to order 10,000 of them if winter is right around the corner.

And don’t forget to ensure you have a space to hold all of your promotional items. It won’t do if you end up with a massive amount of clutter in your office because there’s no place to efficiently store them.

Be Bold

As a business owner, you can choose to play it safe or you could decide to be bold.

While playing it safe definitely means you won’t alienate anyone, you probably won’t excite anyone, either.

Bold brands aren’t afraid to experiment. They take a stance on controversial issues.

Acting so boldly will definitely bother some people. But it will also generate fierce loyalty and respect from those who do choose to stick around.

It’s up to you to decide if you want to play it safe or take a risk.

Consider Distribution

Even if you choose great products to give away to customers, you still have to figure out how they are going to receive those items.

You and your team need to determine how you’ll distribute your promotional products.

Luckily, there are plenty of ways and reasons to give out free items, but if you want to succeed, you need to understand that certain products are better for others for certain distribution plans.

Items like magnets and calendars are flat and lightweight. These types of items are perfect for direct mail campaigns.

Save your bulkier items like t-shirts and tumblers for trade shows. Potential customers then have access to a tote bag to carry their goodies around in.

Expensive items like watches or are fragile like wine bottles or glasses are best given in person.

Try saving the expensive items for charity events or company parties.

Keep Reading

Running a business is much easier when you have the right information. Our blog is dedicated to helping people take bold steps in their life.

To learn more about stepping out of your comfort zone and living your best life, keep coming back to read our blog.