| choosing a promotional gift, you need to consider three | | | | determined who your audience is to find out what their |
| things to determine what type of gift you should be | | | | value will be to you if they take your desired action. |
| giving: your audience, your budget and your | | | | What will be the profit if a prospect who receives a |
| company’s image. | | | | pen from you opens an account with your company? |
| Identifying Your Audience | | | | How about if you sent them a desk clock? What is it |
| Nobody knows your audience better than you (ideally!). | | | | worth for bloggers in the industry to write about you? |
| But before ordering and sending promotional gifts, you | | | | Would they be more likely to write about a pen or a |
| need to determine who you will be approaching, and | | | | thumbdrive? It is important to consider return on |
| what you want from them. In the case of prospects or | | | | investment when you evaluate price, not just absolute |
| potential clients, you are probably trying to start a | | | | cost. |
| conversation, so a smaller gift like a pen or calendar | | | | Projecting Your Company’s Image |
| will keep your name in front of them. | | | | If your mission statement is to eliminate the hassle of |
| You also need to consider demographic factors. If you | | | | utility bills by allowing customers to pay them online, |
| are a software company with suites designed for | | | | then the last thing you’d want to send them is a |
| non-technical users (recipe software, quilting software, | | | | checkbook holder (unless you get very creative with |
| etc.) then sending a jump-drive or blue-tooth headset | | | | your marketing!). |
| won’t create a good image of your company. | | | | Your promotional products need to project the kind of |
| But an embroidered pot-holder or iron-on patch surely | | | | image you want for your company. If you want people |
| would. | | | | to think you are cutting-edge, send your best clients |
| Setting Your Budget | | | | and digital-picture frame with your logo. If you want |
| How is it that Google can afford to send branded | | | | prospects to see your company as reliable, send them |
| digital picture frames, lava lamps and computer-mice to | | | | a customized calendar with advertising campaigns |
| people who are already customers? Because they | | | | from your early days as the images. |
| know that their customers will tell others that they got | | | | When you consider these factors in your purchasing |
| a great gift for spend x-thousands of dollars this year, | | | | decision and add in a little creativity, you will find that |
| and those personal recommendations will bring in | | | | your promotional products exceed the traditional (read: |
| thousands of dollars of new business in the coming | | | | boring) pen and calendar sets, and turn into something |
| year. | | | | people will talk about. |
| It is an important consideration after you have | | | | |