Five Ways to Boost Online Sales Using Promotional Products

Feb 29
09:49

2008

Gareth Parkin

Gareth Parkin

  • Share this article on Facebook
  • Share this article on Twitter
  • Share this article on Linkedin

You may have heard that the best promotional products and promotional gifts for online entrepreneurs are those that can be delivered electronically.

mediaimage

People shopping online,Five Ways to Boost Online Sales Using Promotional Products Articles the traditional wisdom goes, are an impatient lot. They want immediate gratification. That means that your online promotional products should be those that can be downloaded – free software, e-books and the like. Rubbish! The truth is that online shoppers like a free promotional gift as well as the next person, and are no more focused on immediate gratification than the bloke who runs down to the nearest high street store to buy something because he can't wait for it to be delivered. Your online promotional products and items don't need to be something that can only be delivered via modem in order to be effective. Here are five ways of using promotional gifts and products to boost online sales.

1.      Say Thank You with promotional gifts!

Pack a free gift with every order. If you sell products online, it doesn't take much to include a free printed pen or pad of sticky notes with every order that you ship. It's a tradition in the catalog sales world that translates well to online selling, and customers always appreciate a little thank you for their business.

2.      Encourage your customers to share!

Give your customers an incentive to share your site with others. Offer a special gift to those customers who refer new customers. It only takes a very simple bit of tracking software to track referrals. It can be easily done with a “Recommend us!” button or email program. When one of those referred by an existing customer makes a purchase, drop the existing customer an email with a promotional code that can be redeemed for a promotional gift at your website.

3.      Give your customers a choice!

Include a choice of free business gifts based on level of sales on your order page. Customers love a free gift. They love it even more when they get to make a choice. At the end of the order process, include a page where customers can tick off the free gift they prefer based on the amount of their order.

4.      Sell your name with promotional products!

Some promotional products make great sale items, so you get an added bonus. If you've done a good job of branding your business, you can sell t-shirts, mugs and other items with your logo on them from your web site and benefit two ways: once from the sale itself, and twice every time they use your branded promotional item.

5.      Use promotional products to stay in touch! Use promotional products and items to encourage return visits and further sales. Once someone has ordered from you or signed up for an email list, you can follow up on their visit a week or two later with an email offering a free giveaway. Keeping in touch with former and existing customers is one of the best ways to grow your sales. You can use a tool like an automatic email program to send out “reminder” mails that include a promotional code that can be entered at your web site to earn a free gift.