What is the benefit of promotional activities?

By Samantha O'Rourke

Depending on your primary business objectives, the right promotional activities can significantly impact your success. From traditional methods, like paid advertising to more interactive avenues, such as attending trade shows and conferences, there are many options to consider.

In this article, we’ll focus on the importance of promotion in business and why distributing free promotional products is an effective strategy. We’ll also explore the best promotional items to give away and how you can maximize the benefits of promotional products for increasing brand awareness and driving sales.

What is the importance of promotional activity?

The importance of promotion in business lies in getting people to notice your brand—to promote your business! Let’s discuss how to prioritize the right types of promotional activities.

Different activities serve unique purposes:

• Paid advertising and SEO: These practices are essential for increasing brand visibility and reaching a broad audience.
• Industry events: Conferences and trade shows offer vital networking opportunities. Distributing branded promotional products at these events further enhances the ability to connect with potential customers.

What are the four purposes of promotion?

Generating ideas for promotional activities can be streamlined by considering the different purposes of promotion:

• Increasing brand awareness
• Generating interest in your products and services
• Filling your sales pipeline and driving conversations
• Cultivating brand loyalty and repeat business over time

It’s important to note that promotional activities should not be one-off events. Effective promotion requires ongoing effort to transition from basic brand awareness to closing leads and turning customers into loyal brand advocates.

What are examples of promotional activities?

If you’re looking for inspiration, there are numerous successful promotional activities examples that span across a wide range of industries. Here are some popular strategies:

1. Paid advertising: A traditional approach that effectively positions your business in front of potential customers, especially effective as part of a comprehensive strategy.
2. Increasing your online presence: Successful organizations understand the importance of enhancing their online presence through social media, influencer marketing, SEO and content marketing.
3. Leveraging existing customers: Many of the best promotional campaigns leverage their existing customer base to their advantage through activities like referral marketing and customer loyalty programs.
4. Attending industry events: These centralized gatherings are filled with prospective customers eager to learn about new brands, products and services—what’s not to love? They offer unmatched networking opportunities for brand growth.
5. Distributing promotional products: Offering free, branded merchandise is a powerful way to increase brand awareness and attract new customers. You can give these items away at industry events to introduce your brand to a large audience, or use them as standalone promotional campaigns. By choosing the right products—and making sure they are made of high-quality materials—companies can increase their chances of success.

What is the most effective way to use promotional products?

Giving away useful, well-made promotional products can complement other marketing strategies and significantly increase exposure to your brand.

If the primary purpose of promotional products is to increase brand awareness, you’re likely to achieve the best ROI by distributing them at industry events, like trade shows and conferences. These events draw a large audience, a vast majority (92% opens in new window) of individuals attend these events specifically to explore new and exciting products and services.

There are several ways to distribute promotional products. For example, you might offer them to prospects after meetings or sales demos as a memorable alternative to traditional business cards.

Many companies also gift branded merchandise to their employees, which can boost morale and enhance brand visibility every time an employee wears their customized company apparel out in public.

Customize your own promotional products today

At 4imprint, we provide organizations with a wide range of customizable promotional products with a guarantee of on-time delivery—even 24-hour rush orders. Whether you choose promotional apparel, desk accessories, or any of our other numerous categories, you can count on great products made of high-quality materials. Visit our website to check out what’s new!