Friday 25 January 2013

Why Your Social Campaigns Need Promotional Products

By Lorna Walkden | Ellenell


Social media has seen unprecedented growth in a short lifespan. For many businesses, a presence on sites such as Facebook and Twitter is now a necessity. Consumers often visit a social media page more frequently than the company website itself, and this has a vast influence on branding, public perception, and direct business growth.

But where do promotional products fit in? Social media is a great way to deliver information quickly and to a wide audience and is self-perpetuating as posts are liked, shared, or retweeted. But with such a bombardment of information, how much is really noted or remembered? Promotional products can help to make this activity more memorable by providing something tactile in return for ‘Likes’ and ‘Re-Tweets’.



In its simplest form, this relationship can simply see promotional products being offered as a thank you for ‘following’ a given social site. But, it can also be used to obtain marketing data, such as an email address or phone number. For example, a company can use Facebook as a point of contact for consumers to register their details in exchange for a free gift such as a pen or a branded bag. This has a twofold benefit; whilst brand exposure is created by the distribution of giveaways, the company is also adding valuable information to its customer database.

Creating a particular buzz or vibe around a business can greatly enhance its brand image – an activity that is so well suited to social media. When combined with promotional products, it can be even more powerful. There are many ways to do this, but one idea is to create an online competition where the first person to re-tweet a post (or picture) receives a branded gift.

For businesses with a ‘bricks and mortar’ presence, promotional gifts can be used one step further - as an incentive to drive footfall. For example, Facebook followers could be incentivized to ‘check in’ to their local store, in return for free merchandise. Social sites such as FourSquare can also be used for this purpose, helping to generate a local buzz. For this kind of activity, it is worth investing in some high-quality merchandise – such as a branded leather iPad case – to create demand and interest.

The visual nature of social media, in particular photo and video sharing, is one of its key benefits – underlined by the growth of sites such as Pinterest. Companies can look into creating profiles on image-sharing networks to promote photographs of their services and products. However, an often underutilized area is their use in branding campaigns. Promotional products are arguably one of the most effective tools for this purpose since a photograph of someone using or wearing a branded product can help to promote both a company and its logo.

Businesses can take advantage of this by finding brand advocates, who are willing to endorse a brand or company. Then, it is simply a case of sending these advocates free company merchandise to promote via social channels!

In these ways, promotional products can support and enhance social media campaigns within businesses, offering something more tangible to the virtual world. Despite being a technological society, we all still benefit from the simple and traditional approach, as it has an undeniable impact on the consumer and a real effect on the psyche, that simply cannot be replicated by using online marketing alone.

Lorna Walkden is part of the marketing team at Ellenell, a promotional products company based in London.

Contact your local Promotional Products Specialist for more trends.

Friday 18 January 2013

Marketing Idea: Calendar Card


A calendar card is an easy and cost-effective marketing idea. A calendar card is a name card size card that has a calendar on one side. We can put company details or artwork at the back. This is to make the card attractive. It is a very effective way to promote the brand message to customers.



How does this marketing idea work?

Customers would keep the calendar card in their wallets for reference when they need it. Every time they take the card out to refer, they may also see your company details. This serves as a constant reminder of your brand, encouraging repeat purchases.

Another way this marketing idea works is when customers with the calendar card take the card out and their friends ask them where it comes from. This would be an opportunity for the customer to advertise your company.

This word-of-mouth advertisement is good for the company as people trust word of mouth more than other kinds of advertisement. This would help you to gain customers.

Benefits of this Marketing Idea

One advantage of this marketing idea is that the item is useful for customers. The compact-size calendar is a must-have item in the wallet for easy reference to dates and days. This makes the marketing idea effective as the objectives of the marketing efforts are reached.

Another advantage of this marketing idea is that it has low production costs. The templates for the calendar are easy to come up with. The tricky part may be designing the other side without the calendar. We need to make it attractive enough for the customer to place in their wallets over other calendar cards they may receive.

However, this is not a major problem. ODM has an in-house design team who can assist with the designing part. This will help to keep your costs low. Hence, this is an economical marketing idea for companies with low marketing budgets.

Wednesday 9 January 2013

Corporate Gift Idea - Leather Passport Holder Set

Giving corporate gifts can be tricky. Often, we are stuck on what we can give our business partners or prospective clients. If you are looking for one, let's look at leather products. Leather gives a classy feel and has high perceived value. Let's take a look at this passport holder set below. It looks so perfect that it can go perfectly well with your personalized luggage.




This passport holder is simple yet functional. A set consists of a passport cover, travel wallet, and branded luggage tag. All the items are made of the same material and use the same thread for the stitching. The concept is to have matching designs for all the items. This set does have a practical function of holding travel documents together. How wonderful it is for the product to have great aesthetic value as well. Therefore, spending on such great item is totally worth it for your marketing budget.

Having matching designs shows the exclusivity of the set. Exclusivity increases the perceived value of a product. With high perceived value, our clients and partners will surely appreciate our gift. The golden rule of designing corporate gift is to brand the products.


Clients and partners may be pleased with our gift. But will they remember who we are or what we are selling? This is why branding is very important. With your logo on the product, it will serve as a tool for better brand recall.


Not just brand recall, branding your promotional products will facilitate free advertising and heighten brand awareness. This can happen when the products are used in public. Be sure that you have branded your products to win greater market share.


Why use leather products as a corporate gift?

There are a lot of branded travel accessories or other promotional items that would look more valuable in leather. Take the luggage tag as an example. Using leather will make it much more desirable. It does not have to be a real leather. Imitation leather made of PU will look great too! 

The effect of using leather and the flexibility it has will make leather the perfect material for corporate gifts. We can choose leather material that suits the image we need to create. Also, we can choose a lower grade material to suit our budget. Overall, it looks nice and you can be hopeful that your relationships with partners and clients are strengthened.




Wednesday 2 January 2013

Promotional In-Bar Tool - LED Drink Stirrer

The new year is finally here. Surely, you have planned a line of marketing campaigns already. Here is something that can make your promotional events interesting. This LED drink stirrer is very suitable for night events. Whether it is a beach party or an indoor event, this LED stirrer will excite your guests.




This LED stirrer is highly customizable. You can use different colors for the LED light according to your brand color or the theme of the event. The star shape can be replaced with your logo. This product will make your events more memorable.

Making Promotional Events Effective

Promotional events often take a huge portion of your marketing budget. But how effective are promotional events actually? Most of the time people will not remember the events for long, not even the next day. Unless you are inviting famous public figures to attend the events, when the event is over, it's over. But, good news for you, inviting public figures is not the only way to increase brand recall. This can be done by handing out marketing gifts.

Imagine your successful promotional events are happening right now. People are enjoying their drinks and this LED drink stirrers just light up the place. Your guests may find this stirrer unique and interesting. Now if you tell your guests they may bring these stirrers back home, imagine how delighted they would be. Besides, would you want to use the same idea for your next event? It will eliminate the element of surprise.

Having something to bring back from the event can increase brand recall. To ensure that your guests will remember your brand, modify this LED drink stirrer a little bit. Incorporate your logo into the design somehow. You can change the star shape completely to resemble your logo. You can also go with the low-cost option. Screen print your brand on a flat shape that is already available in the market. All in all, remember that giving away branded promotional gift is very important in ensuring long-term effect of your promotional events.

If you would like to customize your very own promotional product, do not hesitate to contact us.












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