NPN 360

Promotional products or branded merchandise are typically treated as an aside for special events like grand openings and sponsorships. With the right strategy, however, branded merchandise can be an effective component of your marketing strategy.
Branded merchandise allows retailers to show their brand’s personality, reinforce brand message, and help to understand their audience, allowing them to engage with customers. When implemented properly, 85% of consumers surveyed were able to recall branded merchandise and promotional products.
Of course, to achieve a commanding advertiser recall, companies need to do more than slap their logo onto a coffee mug or t-shirt. Companies need to have a well-designed marketing strategy in place in order to achieve high results using branded merchandise.

Here are a few tips to help you use your promotional products effectively:

  • Use products and merchandise that have high usability and perceived value.
    Think about what your customers need. They need something functional and there’s value in functionality. Now think about the most popular branded merchandise found at conferences and trade shows. You will see functional items like tote bags, water bottles, sportswear, and more. To extend the customer’s experience with your brand beyond your event booth, have three related products that event goers can collect at three different stages of the event. Combine fun and trendy participant gifts with your brand’s personality and messaging to encourage brand recall recognition.
  • Plan and implement an effective strategy tailored to your individual needs.
    Get creative using lifestyle-branded merchandise to reinforce in customers the feeling that your brand understands them. Try co-branding with well-known products that are popular among your target audience. It’s a great strategy because the affiliation brings brand recognition and a perceived value.
  • Ensure a maximum return on investment.
    Ask yourself what you want to accomplish with your branded merchandise. In what ways will this help with brand messaging? It’s important to evaluate the cost of your strategy and plan more efficiently. You want to ensure your product relates to your consumer. Whether your product relates to your internal associate base or your customers, the more your branded products relate to your target audience, the higher the chance of brand resonance, increasing the productivity and effectiveness of your branded merch.
  • Take advantage of order-automation.
    For custom merchandise, it just makes sense to take advantage of automated ordering processes. Using automated ordering for custom merchandise branding allows unlimited access to marketing solutions that are vital to achieving your revenue goals.