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Just H
02-27-2009, 09:05 AM
How many of you have tried promotional items - getting your name/logo and contact info on a little gizmo like a lighted keychain, one of those stress balls, or magnet and distributing to existing or potential customers?

What have you tried? Were you able to measure what business they initiated? How did you pick the type of product and how was it received? Did it seem cost effective?

greenoak
02-27-2009, 09:13 AM
we do magnets and pens.....and i think our magnets are on a lot of fridges...
...i would love to do yardsticks...but too high....also we have a couple of little paper giveaways that we publish in house.....also would like a calendar with our pictures...
who would use a cheapie 1$ keychain? ...i dont think my customers would even consider it...
ann
Green Oak Antiques--Located in Rochester Indiana. Privately Owned Antique Shop. Online Sales (http://www.greenoakantiques.com)

vangogh
02-27-2009, 11:37 AM
I've never done any. People give them to me all the time and not once has it ever led me to contacting the company. But that's me.

If you're going to send something out I think the best ideas are to find something that's really useful and even has a connection to what your business does. Everyone sends me pens. That makes sense if the business is a stationary store, but for every other business I never associate the pen with their company. I think when businesses first started sending out pens and magnets and calendars they were effective, but now that many of us are inundated with them they're don't work as well as they once did.

I'm saying all this as the person receiving them and not the business sending them. I couldn't honestly say they work or don't. I only know they don't work on me.

However I do think the right promotional item can work, but it probably needs to be something different from the usual. There was a similar thread on the old forum about this and someone had what I thought was a really good idea. I think it was Erin, but I can't recall the item she sent out.

I'll have to see if I can find it.

rezzy
02-27-2009, 12:12 PM
....the old forum about this and someone had what I thought was a really good idea.
I'll have to see if I can find it.

Are we going to the dark side?

If you are sending out something, you want your customers to see value in it. Although a different situation, while planning my wedding, we sent out save the day magnets.

As I have learned people did not even read all the information on them. The magnents contained minimal information, the wedding date, and a website. People didnt even notice the site address on it. And they cared about the event.

I would assume customers wouldn't care as much about your product or service as my family did about my wedding. (Not trying to be mean, but I was shocked myself) So be careful and focus the attention on your goal and be targeted about what you send.

KristineS
02-27-2009, 12:51 PM
We gave away magnetic rules with our company name and URL and phone on them at a couple of trade shows. The company is an embroidery supplies company, so we figured people could use a ruler and might stick it on their machine if it was magnetic. We have had people tell us they did just that, so at least our name and information is in front of their faces on a regular basis.

I don't think the rulers have directly inspired any business, but they do help keep the company information at the top of people's minds.

greenoak
02-27-2009, 01:27 PM
the ruler sounds good....and useful...
we put the magnets on our steel door...and the customers just take them...one was a smiley face,one the scream...with you need a break and our website........
i would figure everybody uses a pen...so if they saw our name that would be good....again they only get them if they come to the store... one guy griped becasue he was out of pens...
its kind of hard to find someting useful at under 1$ lol
ann

cbscreative
02-27-2009, 01:59 PM
I used to work with promo products, so I can give the perspective from that as well. I agree that pens are not all that effective unless they are nice pens that people keep, but the company I worked for sold a lot of cheap ones anyway. One of our clients was more clever about the way he used them. He said, "People often walk off with our pens anyway, this way they at least have our name on them."

The way you use promo products is very important. There are some very unique items out there that people like and will use, so that does keep your name in front of them. If you're in B2B, one of my favorites was from an inventor who had a great idea to modify a classic staple remover. It's something every office can use, it's called an Erkie (http://www.erkie.com/), and it solves that annoying problem of half removed staples.

As for how well these giveaways work, I think it depends on the person getting it, and how creative you can get about giving them out. Using the Erkie as an example, just handing them out would be kind of ho hum. Yeah, cool and different, even appreciated, but not as effective as being creative. If you were to staple the Erkie between two sheets of paper using at least 10 staples, with a note card inside that says, "I can solve other problems for you too," the effectiveness could skyrocket.

Steve B
02-27-2009, 07:16 PM
I've used a couple things. No measurable results, but I didn't expect any.

The last one I did was a latte sized coffee mug. The mug may or may not be effective but it gave us a good excuse to walk into lots of veterinary offices and gave us a purpose for showing up. Filling them with chocolate was helpful too. Because of the unusual size, I don't think too many got thrown away. I've also done plastic dog bowls (also with chocolate).

vangogh
02-27-2009, 07:39 PM
Are we going to the dark side?

I was there. It was cold and dark and very scary. Unfortunately I couldn't find the post I was thinking about.

Just H
02-27-2009, 10:01 PM
I like the mugs and dog bowls filled - how can places turn that down? Great idea.

KristineS
02-28-2009, 12:13 PM
Mugs do seem to stay around, I will give them that. We've tried them a time or two as well. Most of the mugs people drink out of at work are mugs that some business gave us.

I'm not sure how much they inspire business but, like our magnetic rulers, they do keep the company name in front of everyone's eyes.

nealrm
02-28-2009, 02:01 PM
It all depends on your business and what you are trying to accomplish.

A pen or other daily used item, can be a good way to keep you name and contact info convenient to a client. That is good if you offer goods or service they may need daily or weekly.

For services or goods that are used less often, I would look at other forms of advertising.

huggytree
02-28-2009, 02:25 PM
fridge magnets are a no brainer...95% of the houses i go in have fridges covered in magnets....id say make it special so it can be quickly picked out...mine is light blue with bubbles.....most are just white with black/red writing....mine stands out

everything else i think just gets tossed or not read....i thought about giving out balloons to kids at some chamber of commerce events/parades...

if you have alot of money to waste i think tee shirts is a great idea to hand out locally...it has to look nice and remind people that your the local 'whatever'

vangogh
02-28-2009, 03:35 PM
Maybe it's just me, but I find most of these promotional items completely useless. I'm talking as the consumer and not the business owner, since I've never sent one out for business. As a consumer, sure I've been given a lot of pens with company names on them. I may even at times reach for that pen when I need one. I can tell you I've never once looked at the name of the company and usually after a little use the company name is worn away.

Same thing with the fridge magnets. People send them to me and I think great I can use another magnet. But again I couldn't tell you what names are on any of those magnets and none has ever gotten me to call the company.

Again maybe that's just me. Between the two I'd think the magnet the better option in that it's normal use at least has your name displayed more prominently. Seriously how many of you ever look down at your pen and read the info on it? You really don't ever need to look at a pen to use it.

A calendar is probably a better promotional item to send out, particularly if it has images people want to look at and maybe even with some relation to your business. If you can get someone to use it then your name should be in front of them all year on something they would look at.

multiplexed
03-01-2009, 10:25 PM
An idea you might want to search for are tiny led flashlights. My generic one is the size of my pinky finger from tip to the first joint (tiny), but man is that led bright! It shines clear across the yard. It's definitely useful.

They are a bit expensive, but the led kind are awesome. A quick google shows this place for around $1.50 per flashlight. Here (http://www.westsky.com/flashlights.htm). Other places may be cheaper if you have the time to google them.

billbenson
03-01-2009, 11:59 PM
We used to give away letter openers. They worked well so the secretaries liked them. I doubt they sold anything, but got on the secretaries good side.

We also gave away those all in one knife / pliers / screwdriver things. They were expensive, so we didn't give away a lot. I would think more expensive, quality, useful gifts to key decision makers makes more sense than giving stuff to the masses. Probably industry dependent as well.

Just H
03-02-2009, 09:05 AM
I've done a few promotional items for my clients. One was a postcard that had a seed packet insert in the shape of a house (she's a realtor). The insert was filled w/ certain types of flowers that could just be planted in the ground. Seemed like a pretty cool idea for a "beautify your new home" marketing.

Another item I prepared was the label for a lip balm. Apparently the recipients loved these but I don't know if it generated any business.

I worked in the art department of a promotional company for a little while that did items for all sizes of companies. We printed lots of hats, tote bags, those canvas chairs that fold into little bags, pens, flashlights and keychains, highlighters, fanny packs, etc, etc. Was very interesting to see the what marketing companies were choosing, how much they were willing to spend although again, there was no way to see how much business these products generated.

Aaron Hats
03-02-2009, 11:41 AM
.....also would like a calendar with our pictures...


I've thought about this for a couple years and think I'm finally going to do it for 2010. Now that many of our manufacturers are providing high-res images it will be much easier. My idea has a little twist to it though. I want to put a different coupon on each month then sell the calendars. Sell them for $10 with the advertisement that they'll get $200 worth of coupons. Those numbers are just guesses at this point.


If you're going to send something out I think the best ideas are to find something that's really useful and even has a connection to what your business does.

Absolutely agree. I've thought about mugs and pens and all the other stuff and decided against it. Instead we put our name on as much product as we can. We sell a bunch of different hat accessories and they all have our name or web site on them. It doesn't guarantee they'll buy from us again but it does keep us first in mind.