When it comes to brick and mortar businesses, you need to share some benefits with the customer to make them come back to your store next time. These benefits can be in terms of customer service, good deals, excellent after-sales and likewise.

Many companies also have designated promotional products such as free trials, pamphlets, newsletters and a promotional email for its loyal or prospective customers. Many of these items attract several customers and if done rightly, these brands can retain customers as well for the long-term.

Why do businesses need promotional products?

Every business needs to offer some kind of benefit to its customers that would make the customer want to visit the store or use services repeatedly while spreading positive word of mouth among their social network leading towards business growth.

For an online business, the case is the same i.e. promotional products could help increase website traffic, the number of app users or downloads, etc. An example of this could be social media sites that sponsor and promote websites and apps leading towards an increased number of users.

Types of promotional products

There are numerous ways in promoting a business online out of which some are outlined below:

1) Eye-catching Business logos

The human mind tends to remember visual information more than textual information. Hence business logo is one of the most important factors in creating an image within the customer's mind. That is why business logos are most likely to be remembered for a longer time and could be used as an essential promotional product, such as printing company's logo on props like t-shirts, stationery, cups, key chains and giving it as free samples or with every sale. For online businesses, endorsing likable videos or games for brand identity promotion and logo retention.

2) Appealing Taglines

Other than the visual impact of the business logo, companies also need to have a catchy tagline. It lets the prospect know the benefits associated with the brand and creates a positive emotion as well. An example of this is Nike's tagline of 'Just Do it' which ignites a sense of motivation to keep moving despite obstacles in life. Therefore, an appealing tagline can be a very useful tool in promoting one's products or services.

3) Attractive Letterheads on Giveaways

You may have seen many companies giving away free calendars, notebooks, registers or sending out letters with the company's letterhead printed on top or bottom. This is yet another type of promotional product that introduces the product/ service to the new customer while this also works as a reminder to existing users, e.g. shipping Lines like Maersk, Happag Lloyd, etc. shares its yearly calendars with freight forwarders being their major customer.

Since freight forwarders have to use calendars more often, looking at a specific shipping line's letterhead on the calendar every day would keep reminding them about that specific carrier. Similarly, companies send out monthly updates letters or email to their customers with the company's letterhead to keep the customer retain the business's brand image.

What features of promotional products attract customers?

Promotional products need to be catchy i.e. there should be something attractive that catches prospects' attention. Below mentioned are some characteristics that could grab customer attention:

1) Color Combination

The combination of colors used for promotional products will have a great impact on the overall business. This is because every color has universal perceived meanings and businesses must choose a color that best suits the product or service it offers. An example of this is "NOKIA", which has used Blue color for its logo. The blue color is perceived to be a positive color as it portrays security, trust & responsibility.

Another example is that of orange which denotes cheerful, fun and friendly feelings, which is why "Nickelodeon" has an orange logo and likewise. Therefore, the correct choice of color on promotional products could positively increase the number of prospects. Vice Versa, usage of wrong color combinations could lead to a disaster as it would divert prospects' attention leading towards a possibility of decreased growth along with wastage of costs.

2) Significance of image

It is a famous saying that 'a picture is worth a thousand words' which is, in fact, a reality. Moreover, as discussed earlier, the human brain tends to remember images a lot more than other forms of nonverbal communication.

A business could use images relevant to the product or service offered to create a visual memory in minds of its prospects, e.g. Col. Sanders' picture on "KFC" chicky meal Toy would keep reminding children about the delicious chicken that they ate when they got the toy, hence asking their parents to visit again.

How expensive is it?

The cost of using promotional products varies from business to business i.e. luxury brands may not usually give away free samples because of the nature of its business. However, if it does, what it offers would be of high quality, e.g. a luxury cosmetic brand providing free makeup on its store.

The cost of getting your promotional products varies. It depends on the complexity of the image, colors and dimensions. Also the number or promotional products needed have a great impact on the pricing. A professional designer can cost you as low as $5 to as high as thousands of dollars, all dependent on your brand persona. However, it is a one time investment that could last for a lifetime.

Conclusion

Concisely, promotional products would be most effective if the image and color combination for logo followed by appealing tagline is likable and suits what is being offered. Hence, promotional products could turn an initial startup into a giant multinational or it could be the other way round, depending on the usage of colors, image, taglines, etc.

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