Many of us enjoy working from home. Working remotely allows you to tailor your work schedule to best fit your needs. If you are a business owner or entrepreneur with your own brand, you know that working from home allows for extra flexibility and freedom. You may enjoy being your own boss and setting your own hours. Building a business and a brand is its own full-time job. One of the perpetual challenges is finding a way to improve and promote your brand. Building your brand and expanding your reach from home can be particularly challenging. How can you improve your brand without the support of a PR firm, or office full of colleagues? One thing is certain – you need to make sure anyone coming in contact with your brand remembers it. Luckily, there’s an effective and easy solution. What is it? Promotional items.
What They Are
You may be wondering what a promotional item is… What is this key to brand recall and growth? Thankfully, promotional products do not need to break the bank, and there are a wide range of options to choose from that can usually be tailored to any budget.
A promotional item, simply put, is an item that carries a brand or logo graphic on it. Usually, promotional items are given out freely to potential clients. Once a prospective client has your promotional product, they will likely use it in their home or office. Through the process of using the item, a potential client can be turned into an actual client. By becoming familiar with your brand, a recipient of your product is likely to eventually choose your brand. When they find themselves needing the kinds of products or services your company offers, they will choose a brand that’s familiar – yours.
The Case for Promotional Items
Studies have found that promotional products are the best way to make sure your brand is recognized and remembered. The Promotional Products Association International has found that promotional items are highly effective for consumer reach and brand recall. In fact, a PPAI study found that 88% of marketers recommend promotional products. They’re that effective.
In addition to this, the same study found that more than 80% of promotional products are used for over one year. Imagine the amount of brand exposure generated by a year of using a promotional product. Day in and day out, your brand will be at the forefront of a user’s consciousness.
Brand Trust
Simply by placing your logo on a promotional item, you may be significantly increasing your chances of reaching potential clients. More than that, you may also boost the likelihood that they’ll become familiar with your brand. And we all know that familiarity is a major factor in choice. When we’re familiar with something, we’re more likely to trust it.
In fact, psychological studies back this logic up. There is a known psychological effect called the mere-exposure phenomenon. Also called the familiarity principle, this effect means that people will prefer something simply because they are familiar with it. What does this mean for your brand? Once someone prefers your brand over others, you’ve gained a client. This is why promotional items are so useful and effective in client reach and brand expansion.
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Spreading the Love
Once you have your promotional items, the next step is to give them away. Getting your promotional item into the hands of potential clients is easy. Give promotional items to friends. Launch a giveaway and offer them to potential customers. Attend conferences where promotional items can be displayed and handed out. Send out complimentary products to those who sign up for email updates. Ans finally, include a small item, like a pen or magnet, with every order you send out.
No matter how you do it, make sure they go far and wide. The more people who come in contact with your promotional items, the more potential clients you’ll reach. Client and brand growth go hand in hand. Both of these factors can translate into the success of your business.
Choosing an Item
Your brand logo can turn virtually any ordinary item into a promotional item. Options for branding include clothing, accessories, and other fun doodads. Popular options for clothing include T-shirts, sweatshirts, hoodies, pants, shorts, and tank tops. Accessory options include hats, aprons, and bags. For other fun and versatile options, consider pens, mugs, magnets, towels, and blankets.
Putting your logo on any of these items ensures that it acts as a brand reminder to potential clients. Consider tailoring your promotional item to different situations. Promotional blankets may be a good choice for keeping your brand visible during winter months, while branded beach towels may be a big hit in the summer. Be creative – you could host a barbecue and give out branded aprons, or pair branded pens with a small notebook, or even pair hot chocolate mix with a branded mug to make the gift complete.
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Making it Happen
When you’re ready to expand your marketing reach while working from home, choose a business that offers affordable, high-quality options. Visit the BYOG online storefront or talk to one of our helpful representatives today. You can use our easy templates to design custom promotional materials branded especially with your logo. Plus, we pride ourselves on having quick turnaround times. For more information, contact us at (925) 829-3950.