Why Promotional Products Rule

It’s official!  According to a recent advertising study conducted by ASI in 2010, promotional products- all things considered- give you more for your money than virtually any other advertising media.  The CPI (Cost Per Impression) of a promotional product or advertising specialty is $.005.  Simply stated, it only costs you half a penny every time somebody is exposed to your logo or company information on a promotional product.  For just a small investment, a small to medium sized business can achieve the same kind of advertising exposure that a large corporation (with a large advertising budget) can achieve.The study also confirmed that most people (83%) can remember the name of the company on an advertising specialty they received.  With most traditional advertising media like TV, print, internet, and radio advertising, it’s “in one ear, out the other.”  Most people consider these types of media to be more of an annoyance than anything.  What do you do when an advertisement pops up on your screen while you’re on the internet?  If you’re like most people, you click the close button without ever even looking at the ad.  And what about TV advertisements?  With the huge popularity of TIVO and DVRs today, most people record their favorite shows and watch them at a time that’s more convenient for them.  When a commercial comes on, the majority of people will fast-forward through the commercial break to watch the rest of their show.  The same is true for print and radio advertising.  When a commercial comes on the radio, you’ll often change the station.  When you’re reading a newspaper or magazine, you ignore the advertisements more often than not (unless it’s something you’re truly interested in – we’ll talk more about targetability in a second).  With promotional products, the item serves a purpose.  That is, it’s useful and contributes to the everyday needs of the user, so the user is more likely to hold your business in higher regards and thus commit your company name to memory.  Close to half of the people interviewed during this study had a more favorable opinion of a company or brand after receiving a promotional product from them.On average, people keep promotional products for almost half a year, using the product many times and resulting in upwards of 1,000 impressions depending on the promotional item.  Since promotional products ore considered useful, people keep them around, exposing your brand many times over.  Your cost per impression with promotional products is lower for items that are used very frequently, such as bags, calendars and writing instruments.The study also showed that more than half of the people who received a promotional product (60% of U.S. respondents) did business with the advertiser after receiving the advertising specialty.  Other forms of advertising media aren’t nearly as effective at getting potential customers engaged enough to take action.  Promotional products have the ability to engage all five senses because you can interact with them in many ways, depending on the item.  Since promotional products do a better job at engaging the end user than other forms of advertising media, the end user is more likely to have a favorable impression of your company or brand.One more area of interest when it comes to advertising (and it’s a huge one) is targetability.  The reason promotional products are so effective is that you can easily target who sees your message.  You can distribute promotional products to a targeted audience that is likely to have interest in the products or services that you provide.  Whether you distribute promotional products through direct mail, at trade shows or community events, you are giving them to the audience that is most likely to be interested in your product or service.  And you’re doing it in a way that actively engages the recipient and is more likely to initiate the recipient to take action.The conclusion: Promotional products rule!  For more information about using promotional advertising to increase your profits, please visit Red Canoe Promotions – Your Denver Promotional Products Authority!  Research provided by the Advertising Specialty Institute, Copyright 2010, All Rights Reserved.