Before we dive into how to leverage promotional products, it is important to understand the power of promotional products. According to industry research:
- Recipients of carefully selected items report feeling happiness, appreciation, gratefulness and thankfulness;
- The average promotional item is kept for 8 months, more for certain product categories;
- Promotional items average 3300 impressions during their useful life, more for certain product categories;
- Promotional products offer a very low cost per impression, while creating greater brand awareness.
Why Most Companies Fail to Fully Leverage Promotional Products
Most companies only scratch the surface of promotional products as a marketing tool. Typically, marketing departments place an order ahead of an event or manage a limited swag closet of goods that can be picked through by the employees who need promotional items for a specific purpose. What we’ve just described is not a comprehensive strategy that fully leverages the power of promotional products.
To fully leverage promotional products, your company will need a promotional products distribution platform, commonly referred to as an online company store. A well-built online company store from a vendor who both specializes in promotional products and e-commerce technology can have a massive impact on your brand.
An online company store allows you to:
- Offer in-stock inventory, making items available to order one at a time and ship the same day. This also makes it possible for your team to take advantage of last minute opportunities;
- Offer a corporate-approved, curated catalog of items that can be produced on-demand;
- Gain powerful insights and reporting;
- Account for the usage of promotional products throughout your organization, often by department, GL Code, Cost Center…etc.;
- Offer Gift Codes, Points and Promotions as an incentive to employees and/or customers;
- Allow your brand advocates to order merchandise by credit card.
Setting something like this up doesn’t have to be a lengthy, dragged-out process. At Coggins, we’ve simplified set-up, onboarding, and merchandise selection. To see how, contact us to schedule a live, one-on-one demo of our platform today!
