• Survey
  • Book Becky to speak
  • The book: Small Town Rules
  • Shop Local video
  • SaveYour.Town

Small Biz Survival

The small town and rural business resource

A row of small town shops
  • Front Page
  • Latest stories
  • About
  • Guided Tour
  • Subscribe
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact
  • RSS

Do I Need Promotional Business Products?

By Jeanne Cole

According to David Hudson in a recent post I read, this can be important if you plan to market your small business for growth and success.

He’s given some guidelines to go by when planning your promotional strategy that include thinking about how your promotional product will meet your client’s need as well as fit with your overall marketing strategy. Here is a sampling:

  • DON’T PURCHASE THROW AWAYS If you’re going to spend money on something, it should be worthwhile. Make sure that your client will use the product. Don’t sacrifice quality. If you’re going to buy pens to give away, make sure that they are good pens that write well. If they aren’t, the client will throw them away and won’t see your name every time he needs to write down a phone number.

We can all relate to this one. How many “dud” pens have you tossed?

  • DON’T BLEND INTO THE CROWD Be creative. Try to find a product that speaks to what your company is and that your clients will appreciate. If you think you can pull it off, try to make your promotional items funny without losing relevance. Nothing would be better for business than for Jim to show Bobby the hilarious promotional items that you gave him. Now Bobby has been exposed to your company and will be more likely to contact you.

Gotta be a little careful with this one! Remember the fine line between humor and poor taste!

  • DON’T BUY ARBITRARY PROMOTIONAL BUSINESS PRODUCTS Make your promotional business products are relevant to your company and part of your overall marketing strategy. If you run a nature photography website, mail key chains with one of your nature photographs attached. All of your promotional business products should remind customers of what you do and the quality of your work. Don’t settle for a product with just your name on it. Make sure the product says something about you.

This one is probably the most important with regard to real marketing!

The final comment from this blogger on the subject is “if you’re not sure try a test market before you spend big bucks!“
small biz rural entrepreneurship marketing promotion

New to SmallBizSurvival.com? Take the Guided Tour. Like what you see? Subscribe.

July 18, 2006 Filed Under: marketing

Wondering what is and is not allowed in the comments?
Or how to get a nifty photo beside your name?
Check our commenting policy.
Use your real name, not a business name.


Don't see the comment form?
Comments are automatically closed on older posts, but you can send me your comment via this contact form and I'll add it manually for you. Thanks!

Comments

  1. Natalie Ferguson says

    July 19, 2006 at 6:12 am

    Man, I’m pleased to read this. A while back we found this company who makes environmentally friendly pens out of seaweed that can be branded for your company. What a talking point! Pity we didn’t need any, but anyone who is thinking of promotional giveaways, check it out

    http://epenz.co.nz/our_products.htm

Howdy!

Glad you dropped in to the rural and small town business blog, established in 2006.

We want you to feel at home, so please take our guided tour.

Meet our authors on the About page.

Have something to say? You can give us a holler on the contact form.

If you would like permission to re-use an article you've read here, please make a Reprint Request.

Want to search our past articles? Catch up with the latest stories? Browse through the categories? All the good stuff is on the Front Page.

Shop Local

Buy local buttonReady to set up a shop local campaign in your small town? You'll need a guide who understands how we're different and what really works: Shop Local Campaigns for Small Towns.

Best of Small Biz Survival

What is holding us back? Why does every project take so long in small towns?

How any business can be part of downtown events by going mobile

Concert-goers talking and enjoying the evening in downtown Webster City, Iowa.

Why do people say there’s nothing to do here then not come to our concerts?

Retailers: Fill all empty space, floor to ceiling

More of the best of Small Biz Survival

Copyright © 2021 Becky McCray
Front Page · Log in