Whether it’s a branded pen, a promotional notebook or a customised mug, promotional merchandise is a great way to improve your brand awareness.

But, how can you market your business effectively using branded merchandise?

To help you get started, we’ve compiled 7 of our favourite creative ways to distribute your promotional products and get them into the hands of your clients and prospects. Read on to find out what they are.

1. Trade show giveaways

If you regularly exhibit at trade shows and business exhibitions, you’ll know how difficult it is to stand out against the crowd.

The key to ensuring your business leaves a lasting impression is to ensure that no one who visits your stand leaves with just a business card. Unique promotional gifts provide the perfect conversation starter and are a great way to encourage more prospects to engage with your stand.

Influenced by the rise in virtual conferences, branded merchandise trends have shifted to quality over quantity. Prospects are used to having high-quality gift boxes delivered to their doors, and this expectation will likely continue as in-person conferences return.

Now, it isn’t plausible to give a high quality branded item to all of your prospects. Instead, you may want to purchase several branded items, saving your high-quality gifts for prospects that you have a genuine connection with. Or, purchase less branded items, and be more strategic about who you give them to. Either way, the key is to leave a lasting impression on your prospects with a branded product that reflects your brand.

2. Hold a social media competition

With more and more brands adding social media to their marketing mix, standing out online has never been harder. However, this doesn’t mean it should be discounted. With over 4.2 billion people using social media across the world, social media provides a cost-effective way to reach out to members of your target audience.

Holding a social media competition is a great way to reach these people by getting more people to engage with your brand online. Running your competition in conjunction with a new product launch or company event can help you get your message across whilst providing an incentive for your audience to engage.

Promotional merchandise provides a brilliant giveaway prize for social media competitions. It’s affordable, gets your brand name out there, and, if you choose the right product, it’s a desirable prize.

When choosing a promotional giveaway item for your social media competition, you should always consider your target audience. Which promotional product would resonate with them? Promotional technology is an excellent example of a high-quality giveaway gift or, a box of branded confectionery could also go down a treat. For more promotional giveaway inspiration, download our promotional product brochure.

3. Plan a promotional direct mail campaign

Who doesn’t love a freebie? Direct mail campaigns provide a golden opportunity to reach your target audience creatively. With people receiving significantly less mail than they used to when a promotional merchandise package arrives, it stands out.

So, what type of promotional product should you be mailing to your clients?

When choosing the right branded product for your campaign, you should always consider your target audience. Which promotional product would resonate with?

It always pays to choose a lightweight promotional item. Small, easy-to-pack promotional giveaways guarantee low postage fees and are easy to send in the post.

Some of our favourite mailable promotional products are:

- Branded notebooks

- Promotional pens

- Customised keyrings

- USB flash drives

- Branded mouse mats

- Promotional tote bags

4. Combine your promotional products with a digital campaign

The power of combining traditional marketing strategies with digital ones is unmatched. Planning a creative promotional mail-out campaign that drives online action is a great way to boost your brand’s online presence.

But, how do you combine your offline and online strategies?

One way is to use QR codes. Including a QR code that links to your website, a unique landing page, or a free download on your promotional products or accompanying postcard is a great way to drive online action from your campaign. QR codes provide your audience with a clear call to action, showcasing exactly where they should go if they want to learn more.

A second way is to get people talking about your campaign online. You could create a custom hashtag or produce a campaign that is so creative your audience will want to talk about it anyway!

A great example of a brand that did exactly this is Innocent smoothies. After they ‘accidentally’ sent one of their customers 700 branded fridge magnets, they found themselves going viral on TikTok, trending on Twitter, and being inundated with requests for branded magnets. In true Innocent style, they crafted the mix-up into a humorous social media campaign, making jokes about the number of fridge magnet requests they’d received and commented on the number of days it had been since they’d had a ‘magnet-related incident’. The ordeal and supporting social media campaign got people talking about Innocent drinks and increased the brand’s reach.

Although it may not be possible for all small businesses to recreate Innocent’s success, it provides a great example of a brand that has used branded merchandise effectively to get their audience talking about them.

5. Set up a loyalty programme

Rewards programmes are a great way to encourage repeat purchases and to improve your customer loyalty. Many businesses offer giveaways for repeat custom, so why not make some of those giveaways branded products?

The most effective way of making this strategy work is to create a points system where customers who earn the most loyalty points could be put into a draw to win a high-quality branded item. Whereas, customers who earn fewer points could be put into a draw to win smaller promotional products.

A points-based loyalty programme can be a great way to reinforce brand loyalty and keep your customers coming back time and time again.

6. Internal branding

Branded merchandise doesn’t always have to be distributed externally. Branded workwear, promotional mouse mats, branded water bottles, pens and customised notebooks, are all great for giving to your staff or keeping around the office.

When kept around the office, branded merchandise can help you maintain an on-brand image and make your employees feel as though they’re part of your company.

7. Seasonal Marketing Campaigns

Taking advantage of seasonal holidays and current events is a great way to ensure your marketing is fun and relevant.

It’s common knowledge that holidays like Easter and Christmas are the most profitable times of the year for many businesses, so why not capitalise on this fact with a seasonal promotional merchandise campaign?

Sending hampers full of promotional confectionery at Easter or festive branded products at Christmas can help you build your customer loyalty and keep you at the top of your customer’s minds during the holiday period.

Top Tip: When planning a seasonal marketing campaign, it’s always a good idea to send your promotional merchandise out early. This way, you can ensure you beat your competitors.

Want to know more?

Creating a promotional products campaign is simple and straightforward and can offer a fantastic return on investment for your company.

At Soar Valley Press, we offer a wide range of branded merchandise. Our brochure includes over 160 pages of it! Including everything from promotional pens and mugs to customised t-shirts and corporate workwear. Ensuring that you have everything you need to get your brand in front of your clients.

Click here to get your free copy, today!

Any questions? Our team are always ready and willing to help. You can contact us on 0116 259 9955 or email orders@soarvalleypress.co.uk. We’re always ready to get the conversation started.