What are Business Promotional Products?
Business promotional products are items or merchandise that are customized with a company's branding, logo, or message and distributed to a target audience as part of a marketing or promotional campaign. These products are often used to raise brand awareness, attract new customers, and retain existing ones.
Businesses often use promotional products at events, trade shows, and as giveaways to engage with their audience and foster a positive brand image. The effectiveness of promotional products lies in their ability to serve as useful, everyday items that people are likely to keep and use, thereby reinforcing the brand message over time.
Why are Business Promotional Products Important in Modern Marketing?
Digitized marketing is everywhere, which is why tangible corporate promotional products are still influential today. Most consumers are so tired of online advertising that they actively use ad blockers, and 70-80% of internet users ignore the ads they see. This ad fatigue is not disrupting the effectiveness of digital marketing. However, it is opening the door for creating a positive experience that builds brand recognition—business promotional products.
Business promotional products are an overwhelmingly effective way to build brand recognition. ASI Central reports that 85% of people worldwide who receive a promotional item remember the brand of the company that gave it to them. Delivering a tangible gift also creates a positive feeling for the recipient. Affordability is a bonus for companies seeking to increase brand awareness using promotional products. In addition, businesses can purchase promotional items cheap from innovative online platforms such as Postal.
Custom print promotional items for B2B or B2C marketing campaigns are available. The best platform to buy promotional items is through Postal. An innovative platform that makes ordering promotional items cheap and stress-free. You can use corporate swag to generate more leads and close deals faster. Take gifts with you when you make in-person visits to create a positive experience and a lasting impression. With customers, branded promotional items can help decrease churn while increasing customer loyalty and sales. In-house, corporate swag can create positive connections with current and potential employees.
Postal can help you plan your next custom promotional item order. Take your marketing offline and make your brand stand out. Send tangible business promotional items with Postal through a web-based platform that easily integrates with your existing tech stack. Use your current customer data to automate the entire process.
Top 10 Promotional Products
There are endless creative promotional product ideas. However, some products are more popular than others. Factors that affect the popularity of promotional items include usefulness, cost, and sometimes current events or societal trends. For example, in 2021, branded facemasks made a positive impression on recipients. Other items stand the test of time and remain top promotional items every year.
- Pens: pens now include stylus pens for use with touchscreen devices.
- Drink bottles: refillable bottles are eco-friendly and valuable year-round.
- Stress balls: they come in all shapes, sizes, and colors, making them thoughtful, memorable branded gifts.
- Tote Bags: From reusable grocery bags to drawstring backpacks and many other design options, tote bags are great eco-friendly gifts. A great swag bag option for events!
- Coffee Mugs: a timeless choice great for branding.
- Koozies: a seasonal low-cost, helpful item.
- T-shirts: branded T-shirts are memorable: 85% of people will remember the name of the company that gives them a branded t-shirt.
- Confectionary: sweets treats as a thank you gift branded with your name are a thoughtful gesture people will remember.
- Wristbands: branded wrist bands are perfect for those with a limited budget and are great promotional items for community events
- Key chains: a practical branding item, especially when combined with another helpful item such as a bottle opener.
Top 3 Promotional Product Companies
Branded product vendors offer easy, fast service to companies needing promotional products. Often referred to as corporate swag, corporate swag vendors sell various products ranging from t-shirts and mugs to unique promotional products like cheese boards and everything in between. When finding the right promotional product organizations to work with, you must consider your budget, the type of product you want, and turnaround time. Postal is here to help you with all the logistics, including ordering, storage, and sending your items to recipients.
When selecting branded products from vendors, it is helpful to know that apparel items are most effective for brand recall. Corporate gifting statistics show that 85% of people who receive a branded apparel item can remember the name of the organization that gave them the item. Bags are the second most popular promotional item and generate more impressions than any other product, with about 6,000 impressions throughout the bag’s lifetime.
These promotional product organizations offer a wide range of branded products and have a good reputation.
1. SwagUp
SwagUp has a simple, user-friendly online platform that allows you to add logos and designs to promotional products. They offer pre-made packages, custom-build gift boxes, and bulk ordering. Check out our Postal’s vendor spotlight on SwagUp.
2. Everything Branded
Everything Branded offers hundreds of products, from popular T-shirts and outerwear to unique promotional products such as trampoline socks and mini-humidifiers.
3. 4Imprint
4Imprint offers many items in bulk with a mission to make branded products affordable and easy to order.
Small Business Promotional Items
Small business promotional items refer to small businesses that want branded products to promote their brand and small businesses that provide branded products. Two related but very different concepts.
Branded promotional items are essential in creating brand awareness for small businesses. For example, small business owners can use a promotional products wholesale supplier to purchase effective promotional products in bulk, such as tote bags or pens. Some of the best promotional items for small businesses include unique eco-friendly options like a reusable straw kit or back-to-the-office sanitation items like hand sanitizer. The idea is to gift a helpful product and create a memorable connection.
Small, local businesses can also provide promotional items for companies to send as business gifts. At Postal, we partner with small, local vendors in addition to supporting many women-owned businesses. Through the Postal Marketplace, we help companies choose items from local vendors to send as gifts. Choosing local small businesses for promotional products makes a lasting impression in your community. Requesting vendors is always an option when using The Postal Marketplace. When searching for unique small business gifts, if you don’t see what you are looking for, make a request, and the Postal team will make it happen.
Promotional Products Ideas
There are so many promotional products available today it can be challenging to choose which one is best for you. When selecting a promotional item, keep these tips in mind: quality, usefulness, affordability, and swagger factor - looks and feels good!
To help narrow down your choices, we have put together some promotional products ideas for you.
Traditional (and effective) promotional products examples:
- Water bottles: from plastic squeeze top to higher-end insulated stainless steel options, a water bottle can display your brand well.
- Bags: drawstring backpacks, reusable market totes, and insulated lunch bags make the list of promotional bag options. Depending on your budget and promotion goals, many more bag options are available.
- T-shirts: Classic promotional tees have stood the test of time in terms of effectiveness for brand recognition.
Promotional gift ideas for business include employee gifts and customer gifts. Here are some promotional products examples for both.
Employee promotional products ideas:
- Customized tech items: a thoughtful corporate gift for employees who work in-office or from home.
- Company jacket: adding the employee’s name adds a personal touch.
Customer promotional gift ideas:
- Food gifts: food-themed gifts create a positive experience for your customer. Sourcing gifts from local vendors and the local small business community will help you make a lasting impression as a company that cares.
- Corporate gift boxes: branded gift bundle with premium products such as an insulated cup with gourmet coffee.
A bit of market research can show you what is trending in the way of unique promotional ideas. Unique promotional items 2021 and 2022 include:
- Custom vinyl stickers
- Canvas pouches
- Pop sockets
- Canvas stress balls
- Tech tacos
- Swag socks
- Hair scrunchies
Custom Promotional Products
Customized, curated promotional products create a more personalized experience for your customers. Personalization increases sales, especially when targeted to the right people. In the B2B business world, you often market to a large group of people. Within that group, a smaller target audience makes buying decisions. Account-based marketing (ABM) includes understanding an account and implementing specific marketing strategies for a target audience within that account. Custom promotional products used in carefully curated gifts can help you connect with the right people through personal connections and memorable experiences associated with your business. Explore these corporate gifting email templates for more messaging ideas and inspiration to humanize your digital outreach.
Marketing to a B2B client means focusing on the big picture and the targeted decision-makers. For example, a custom promotional gift-giving plan for a large client may include cheap custom promotional products, such as t-shirts or water bottles. For these items, you can purchase wholesale promotional products in bulk for an entire department within a company. It is an excellent way to show them you care about the higher-level decision-makers and their company as a whole.
Custom promotional products are a unique way to approach personalized account-based marketing. Postal is more than an Offline Marketing Automation platform. Our concierge service can help you curate the best corporate gifting plan for your high-value B2B customers. Account-based marketing fails when treating every customer the same. Adopting a corporate gifting strategy that is personalized and curated for segmented audiences within your account will make you stand out from your competition.
Customize Promotional Items with Your Logo
Customized promotional items contain your company’s logo on them. Unique promotional items with your corporate branding may include high-end brand name products such as Yeti, The North Face, Adidas, Nike, and more. Working with brands that offer customizable promotional items empowers companies to give branded gifts that will make a lasting impression. Promotion items with logos are proven to provide better brand recall by recipients. After receiving a logoed promotional item, 85% of people remember the brand they received it from, and 72% associate a brand’s reputation with the quality of promotional products they receive.
Promotional materials are an effective way to increase brand recognition and make a positive impression. In addition, receiving a gift creates a positive experience for the recipient. The market for promotional items is growing as more companies are adopting unique promotional items in their marketing strategy. Therefore, finding efficient solutions for your company’s promotional items is imperative. Postal offers an Offline Marketing Platform streamlining the process from gift selection to vendor connections.
A marketing platform offering unique curated gifts and experiences for every level and strategy of corporate gift-giving and an exceptional concierge service. With Postal, you can continue to use your established vendors. Streamline your gift-giving strategy with easy integrations allowing you to use one platform for gift selections, ordering, and automated distribution. Send gifts to the right people at the right time to make the most memorable impression. Request your demo with Postal today.
Frequently Asked Questions
How can business promotional products boost marketing campaigns?
Business promotional products help boost marketing efforts by enhancing brand recall, providing positive experiences, and offering practical items that customers and employees can use daily. These products can generate leads, improve customer retention, and enhance employee engagement.
What are some promotional items that can be used in advertising?
A plethora of impactful promotional items is available for advertising campaigns. These range from classic choices like pens, mugs, and keychains to contemporary options like tech gadgets and custom wearables. The versatility of promotional items ensures that businesses can choose products that align with their brand identity and resonate with their target audience, creating memorable and effective advertising strategies.
What should businesses consider when choosing promotional products?
Businesses should consider factors such as the target audience, product usefulness, cost, alignment with brand values, and the potential impact on brand recall when choosing promotional items.
How can promotional products improve customer loyalty?
By giving useful and memorable promotional products, businesses can create positive experiences that enhance customer loyalty. Recipients are more likely to remember the brand and continue to engage with the company.
