| "body"> | | | | your customer loyalty rating, how do you go about |
| In general, it's far easier to keep an existing customer | | | | choosing the right promotional gadgets and toys to get |
| than it is to attract a new one. Cultivating a long-term | | | | your message across? After all, there are thousands |
| relationship with your customers is an important part of | | | | of imprintable items available to help build your business |
| doing business. After all, it's your return customers who | | | | image and brand recognition, and nearly any of them |
| provide close to 80% of your annual sales and | | | | can be used to increase customer loyalty. The answer |
| business. What's the best way to encourage repeat | | | | is to keep in mind the three main keys in promotional |
| business and further orders from customers who | | | | marketing. The promotional items that you choose |
| have bought from you in the past? According to a | | | | should be: |
| number of studies in marketing research, customers | | | | - useful to your customers |
| who receive promotional items as sales incentives | | | | - coordinated with your business in some way |
| return sooner and order more than customers who | | | | - eye-catching and memorable |
| receive coupons for discounts on their next purchase, | | | | When you're sending out marketing materials with |
| and even more than those who receive no | | | | incentives to increase customer return traffic, you |
| acknowledgement at all of their purchases. | | | | should choose items that offer higher value than items |
| Promotional items make wonderful thank you gifts to | | | | that you send out or hand out to increase brand name |
| customers who make a purchase from you. When | | | | recognition. A key chain or imprinted pen is a great |
| you send a promotional gift item along with an order, | | | | way to publicize your business, but it won't draw the |
| you're letting your customer know that you value their | | | | customer response that you'll get with an item like a |
| business. That message comes through even more | | | | t-shirt, a calculator or a tire pressure gauge. |
| loudly when the promotional thank you gift is sent | | | | The more valuable your promotional gift is perceived |
| under separate cover. | | | | to be, the higher the response rate you'll get from your |
| Promotional items can also be used to entice | | | | customer base. If you key the cost of the promotional |
| customers to come back and order again. One | | | | items offered to the value of the return business, you |
| computer repair company leaves a free promotional | | | | should get an excellent return on your investment. You |
| mouse pad whenever they make a service call or | | | | can even offer fairly high value items like USB flash |
| repair a computer in house. Their return customer rate | | | | drives in longer term incentive programs keyed to |
| increased by nearly 50% after they began their | | | | number of orders or value of merchandise ordered. |
| marketing campaign - and why not? They gave away | | | | Promotional items are more than just gimmicks to |
| a free, useful gift that put their company information | | | | increase name awareness. When you use them as |
| literally at their customers' fingertips. The next time that | | | | part of a coordinated campaign to increase customer |
| they needed a computer upgrade or repair, who better | | | | loyalty, you'll begin to see the real value of promoting |
| to call than the name that had been before their eyes | | | | your business with customer giveaways and loyalty |
| for the past several months? | | | | gifts. |
| Now that you know that promotional items increase | | | | |