What are Promotional Products and Advertising Specialties?

                Branding yourself is a tricky, yet necessary, component to any business – whether small or large. Figuring out a way to get your name and information, as well as the services and products your business provides, in a way that is likable and approachable is, in a word, difficult. There are many different routes you can take to achieve success with branding and marketing; both direct and indirect. The trick is figuring out the technique that best achieves your goal – whether it is retaining customers, creating brand awareness, generation of new leads for your business, among others.

                Advertising (ad) specialties and promotional items offer a non-threatening way to get your name and information in front of your target market. Promotional items essentially include any item that you put your brand name, logo, or contact information on. There are endless options of items that you could choose to promote your brand, the services and products you provide, or the culture that your company has created.

Some people choose to select items that cater to the clients and customers that they serve. For example, a residential health care company may choose items that their residents will use regularly, such as: coffee mugs, pill boxes, or hand sanitizers with their logo on them. On the other hand, a company that serves a younger clientele may choose more technology-based items like smartphone or tablet cases/skins. Yet another company may choose “desk items” that potential customers might use regularly at their work (pens, calculators), or that will sit on their desk and serve as a reminder of the company’s presence (picture frames, vases).

The goal of an ad specialty or promotional item is to remain in front of the target market as often and as long as possible without becoming a nuisance. You provide them with an item that they find beneficial and will use or see often. When the time comes that they have a need for the services or products your company provides, they are more likely to remember your brand and seek you out for a solution to their need.

Often, the issue of expense arises for promotional items. It is true that it is an out of pocket expense that you may not see an immediate return on. However, is it worth the upfront expense if your potential client doesn’t forget you next time they need something like what you have to offer? Or worse, your current client chooses someone else over you because they have forgotten the quality of what you can offer them in favor of someone who did choose a way to capture their attention in a more profound way?

In this unstable economy, one can argue that the risk of losing business, either current or future, is never worth it. Luckily, with the endless options ad specialties and promotional products provides, there is something for everyone – those who have a large self-promotional budget, those that don’t and everyone in between. Find someone with a vast knowledge of products, suppliers, and pricing and let them help you select the perfect promotional items to take your business to the next level.