How Promotional Gifts work for us

[aaronspromotions]

We all have customers that we speak to very regularly whether its daily, weekly or monthly but also we all have some that our contact is limited for various reasons.

So recently we have really stepped up sending out promotional gifts to people on our database that we don't have much contact with along with a small hand written note and the response so far has been fantastic. We have a had people ring us that didn't seem to return our calls and express interest in various products which are likely to turn to orders and also calls to say 'Just wanted to say thanks for the free pens and coasters' which is great as it gives us the chance to speak with them again and it gets our companies name ringing in their minds again.

Its really simple to do and you can send as many or as little as you want but we have been sending some out daily totaling around 20-30 each week for the past two weeks and it works.

Pens, coasters, notepads, post its, mouse mats or rulers are all cheap to post out and did you notice the 's' on the end of all the items I mentioned as you never send out one pen or one coaster, send out 2 or 3 and that way they end up around the office of your clients or prospective clients really making your company name seen.


All the best

[PainFreeMarketing]

Is it the case do you think that this is likely to be more successful if you sell the product for which you are sending out a free sample of?

Which of course is the case for yourselves.

Ie: you sell promotional pens etc and that is what you're sending as a free sample. In other words, it is a sample of your product and not just a free unrelated gift.

For example:

I've had pens from charities nd they've never been persuasive. But then I've had skin care samples from skin care product suppliers and they of course generated more interest from me.

So I think the sample (for it to work as well as you describe) must be related to products you sell yourself.

But that's not to say it won't work at all.

Also, a hand written note is very personal and possibly what had the greatest impact on your response rate.

As you sent the two together it's hard to know which worked to the greatest effect or if it was the combination of the two.

I shall give this idea some thought though as I supply printed promotional materials.

Thanks for the heads up.

[aaronspromotions]

I see what your saying, but we send the gifts to re enforce our relationship with the client or prospect that we haven't had contact with in a while, so its breaks the ice. A few days after sending them out we follow up with a call to say 'did you get the free gift? hows business etc.....' and we have again started to build/rebuild relationships with our clients and prospects.

If you can send an industry related product then I think it has more strength so if your a logistics company by sending out a promo gift that is in the shape of a van/lorry like a notepad or stress product certainly has vast benefit.

Or a firm of solicitors sending something like a magnifying card with a catchy slogan like 'we help you read the small print' along with a pen.

Saying that most of our clients don't buy industry related products for example engineers buy mugs, software companies by glassware, railway engineers by diaries and IT companies by coasters. The reason is they can see the benefit in having a product that will be kept, looked at and used daily can have on their business no matter what industry sector they are in.

The idea is to get people to see your companies details and remind them of you and your services and how you can help them.

[uzii_86]

rightly said, all these promotional gifts do work for u.

[HeyHippo]

if you are going to send out promo gifts, it needs to be done correctly. You can't just buy a thousand printed mugs or pens and expect to send them out willy nilly, you need to have a carefully thought out promotional plan, Ian is totally right, we send out targeted mailings to sectors like engineering, it and many more with a free gift related to what their industry buys the most. We do sell shed loads of printed mugs to engineers. Pens to mortgage advisors etc, done correctly promotional business gifts can work for any company.

[alby]

IMO, promotional items and gifts can have an effect from the point of view of branding more than anything else. With so many companies sending out pads, pens etc, the message gets lost if not specific enough. I'm sure it works for some products, but would agree that it helps if your actually sending out a sample of what you sell.

[4little1s]

We tend to send out a few decent John Lewis food hampers to some of our key suppliers / customers and key relationships periodically. Just to cement the relationship better generally for the next 12 months and keep us in their mind.

[jackwilson]

Its is a very genuine and effective way to hook your clients. I think one must send out Christmas greeting cards too. Giving away pen stands or calendars for the coming year can work wonders for you.

Jack Wilson