Promo products – 5 steps to the right way
From Jenelle Schembri, Brand Factor
Check out our list of merchandise FAQs before your next purchase, to ensure that your promotional products come out exactly as you expect!
You need to have a purpose for your promotional products. Do you need them for a giveaway, a thank you, a staff incentive, a customer gift, a prize, or are they for brand awareness, business development, an event, announcement or a launch? Knowing what you intend to use them for is the first step in picking the right item, instead of just jumping on the latest trend.
You need to know your target audience. Hand in hand with knowing their purpose is knowing who you want to receive them. You want to select a product that will fit well with that audience, and appeal to them (and make them think highly of you!).
You need to know your budget. Having a rough idea of how much you would like to spend on the project or per item is a great way of narrowing down your short list. There are so many options – you need to knock the list down somehow!
You will need your logo suite. Keeping your branding consistent across all of your marketing activities is a must do! It also ensures that your logo is not reproduced differently every time you get something printed – so everything matches.
You will need enough lead time. If you are wanting the products for a particular event or as a corporate Christmas gift, order early! You need to allow enough time for quotes, artwork design and approval and delivery. Generally for delivery, we allow three weeks from the date you approve the artwork. However, before you even get to delivery there is time needed for discussion, quotes and design. So around five to six weeks is generally perfect. Also take into account that a longer lead/delivery time for certain products could mean lower prices.
