How do people usually buy goods, when they go shopping? They usually act on impulse - buy those items that look good in a shop-window or due to the fact that these items are on sale. Hence, when selecting a promotional item for your product or service, business or company, you need to think carefully. Caring the image of your product, your promotional goods will represent you.
Before you even start browsing catalogues or websites, make sure you have defined some objectives like stimulating some trade show traffic; using these as sales aids; whether your promotional goods will be premiums; introducing a new product/service; thanking current customers; whether your promotional goods are for an event giveaway; motivating employees; trying to gain back a lost business or improving the customer service. This is a very short list of possible objectives. Remember that it is very important to know exactly for what purpose you want promotional goods.
Supposedly, you realise that a pen cannot be a thank item for someone with whom you have been working for years and you have made the right choice as for your promo products. The next step is working with vendors. There are very many ad specialty vendors. Most of them can professionally outfit you with almost anything you can find on the Web and beyond.
Most of them act as brokers. Instead of producing promotional goods for you, they will find manufacturers and manage the production process for you. Do not forget to pay close attention not only to the quality of your promotional goods, but to the visual appearance as well. You also should be able to inspect firsthand the samples before you finalize your decision.
In order to prevent 'last minute surprises', you may want to request a piece of material that shows exactly how your logo will look in an actual size and color. A set-up fee (around thirty five dollars) for preparing your artwork is required by many companies that offer logo merchandise. A minimum order (usually a few hundred for the smallest items, less for larger ones) is also set up.
What concerns prices, they depend on both the quality and the quantity of promotional goods you want. For instance, you can pay anywhere from five dollars up to twenty per a T-shirt. The price will depend on whether you go with brand names and how many you order. Your per-item price gets lower as your quantity rises, which is common with any bulk orders.
Make sure you do not spend the same amount on a prospect as you would on a loyal customer. You can use this as a suggestion: under five dollars- prospect; five - twenty five dollars - reward; over twenty five dollars- loyalty. It is also very important to avoid ordering promotional goods due to the reason that you like them. All your promo items should clearly be in the plan to help meet your business objectives.
Whatever item and price you choose, always try to follow three rules: avoid rushing (give yourself at least three weeks from start to finish in order to get a proper quality of your promotional products); measure results (it would be wise to do some tracking and you know how effective your promotional items are) and promote from within (provide your employees with a logo on t-shirts or baseball caps).