Advertising Promotional Gifts
Help Prospects, Clients &
Contacts Remember You
Most of us remember the people who give us useful or enjoyable things.
It doesn’t matter if it’s the real estate agent who gave us that nice pen with her name on it...the vet clinic that sent flowers when the dog died...or the business that sent a gift certificate for dinner to apologize for a mistake.
Not only will we remember the donors in a positive way, we will most likely do business with them...and recommend them to others...should the opportunity arise.
Benefits of Advertising Promotional Gifts
- Broad range and wide availability of products and items that can be personalized to enhance your personal brand
-
Prospects,
clients and contacts willingly accept good quality, tasteful items
- Carefully selected items can be an ongoing reminder of your personal brand
Drawbacks of Advertising Promotional Gifts
- Contribute to overall advertising clutter, can be difficult to distinguish from similar items of other advertisers.
- Poor quality can negatively impact the your image
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What Kind Of Advertising Promotional Gifts Should You Give?
For some people, the golden rule of giving advertising promotional gifts is to give what you would like to receive.
Ideally
you are well
connected and matched to your niche market clients and contacts. As a result, it is reasonable to assume that you and these people would enjoy and appreciate receiving the same kind of things.
Certainly the things you give to others should reflect your commonality with the recipients.
But they can do more.
For this reason, as an improvement on the golden rule, I offer the platinum rule of giving advertising promotional gifts:
give
advertising
promotional gifts that reinforce your personal brand
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This approach will help reinforce your uniqueness as well as the factors that attract prospects to you.
If for example, you have a background in interior design, a gift that reflects this background—books, DVDs, tickets to design shows etc.-- would be appropriate.
Similar gifts could be very effective to would-be renovators, especially if you are very knowledgeable about home renovation projects.
To help prospects remember you, the best advertising promotional gifts contain three key ingredients:
- some element of your personal brand to help distinguish you from the competition
- something to engage your prospects or catch their attention
- some connection between your message and the item you leave. One or two short sentences is all you need.
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10 Suggestions for Advertising Promotional Gifts
1. Advertising Specialties
These
are items like
key tags, pens, golf tees and so forth with your name and contact
data.
One of my favorites is a pad of post-it notes with a home motif, which together with the donor's card is attached to a magnet.
This item has been stuck to my filing cabinet since I received it a couple of years ago.
One of my favorites is a pad of post-it notes with a home motif, which together with the donor's card is attached to a magnet.
This item has been stuck to my filing cabinet since I received it a couple of years ago.
2. Door Hangers
Why
not play around
with the "do not disturb" theme? Perhaps on the front, a
"do not disturb" motif, which would pique my curiosity.
On the back, comments like:
On the back, comments like:
- "I don't want to disturb you so am using this door hanger"
- "if you are ready to renovate, I would like to help you with as little disturbance as possible"
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3. Fortune Cookies
I
once used fortune
cookies as part of a direct mail campaign.
When I followed up by telephone I made reference to the fortune cookie.
This was good connector...many people remembered receiving the cookie and what the fortune was.
When I followed up by telephone I made reference to the fortune cookie.
This was good connector...many people remembered receiving the cookie and what the fortune was.
4. Game Pieces From Board Games
What better give-aways than the houses or deeds from Monopoly?Or what about attractive checker or chess men?
5. Fun Stuff
These
are the
novelty items that can be enjoyed easily and immediately without the
requirement of other equipment: - beach balls
- frisbees
- soccer balls
- bandanas
- etc.
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6. Garbage Bags
During
the recent
municipal garbage strike, green garbage bags and clear recycling bags
with appropriate promotional material were given away at a a jazz
festival.
Similarly, many businesses add their own advertising messages to the paper bags used for yard waste.
Similarly, many businesses add their own advertising messages to the paper bags used for yard waste.
7. Kitchen Gadgets
Remember
the weird
and wonderful gizmos and gadgets the Fuller Brush men used to leave?
Check out your local dollar stores...lots of fun kitchen gadgets you can customize to help prospects remember you.
Check out your local dollar stores...lots of fun kitchen gadgets you can customize to help prospects remember you.
8. Origami
This
is the Japanese
art of paper folding.
I have seen small kits that contain the paper and instructions to make little houses or cranes.
I have seen small kits that contain the paper and instructions to make little houses or cranes.
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9.
Recipes
Everyone
loves
recipes from other people.
Print up recipe cards with 'grandma's apple pie recipe'...or something else seasonal, local or personal.
Add a story about the recipe and your contact data. A real keeper.
Print up recipe cards with 'grandma's apple pie recipe'...or something else seasonal, local or personal.
Add a story about the recipe and your contact data. A real keeper.
10. Referral Partners' Items
Small
packages of
grass seed from landscapers, thermometers from HVAC people or
whatever your referral partners can give you.
A great win-win for both you and your referral partners.
A great win-win for both you and your referral partners.
The bottom line on advertising promotional gifts?
They can definitely help generate new business...but only if the people who receive them like you and the gifts.
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