Promotional giveaways are the best opportunities a company may enjoy to create a sense of goodwill among its customer or employee base, to promote loyalty to the company, to spread the company logo or slogan to places where print of television advertising won’t go, and to allow potential customers to have the company’s telephone number at their fingertips. Naturally, promotional giveaways need to be well thought out campaigns that include a lot of planning, and first and foremost, any company that is considering such an event needs to consider its customer base.  For example, a company that specializes in outdoors and sports accessories may not have very successful promotional giveaways if they choose mouse pads or other computer accessories.  Similarly, a computer company will not do well with a giveaway that is geared toward the outdoorsy set.  Given the varied nature of possible items for a giveaway, however, finding and choosing suitable items should not be a problem.  Promotional giveaways now include such items as apparel of any kind (no longer just limited to the custom t-shirt), car accessories such as antenna balls and customized license plate covers, lunch bags, tote bags, backpacks, office supplies, toys, and even jewelry!

Promotional giveaways may sound like they are easy to do, yet there are a few things that the company who is holding such an event should keep in mind:

• Consider the reason for the promotional giveaways.  What are you trying to accomplish?  Are you trying to win new customers, generate interest at a trade show, or gain employee loyalty?  All these questions determine the nature and cost involved in the promotion.
• Have you considered how you will run your promotional giveaways? Will you mail the items to potential customer, hand them out from booths, encourage the purchase of specific items in order to receive the giveaway items, or will you require the mailing in of coupons or proof of purchase?
• Since promotional giveaways always seek to create a lasting image, it is important that the company’s logo and name are properly displayed.  For some companies that may mean that a small keychain is not the way to go, while for others such a small item is a perfect fit!
• Don’t imitate!  Even if a competitor’s promotional giveaways appear to outshine your efforts, resist the temptation to copy their efforts.  What makes promotional giveaways effective is the freshness they offer, and the new opportunities at experiencing a company or brand they provide.  Copying another’s efforts may actually bring more business to that company instead of your own.

In closing, it is wise to see promotional giveaways are opportunities to woo a new customer base, reinforce the loyalty already given by current customers or employees, and generally wow those whom your promotion touches with the innovation you give not only to your products and services, but also to your promotions. Thus, do not skimp, do not run it off the cuff, and do not imitate!

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