~by Emma Miller

There are various ways to promote your business, such as printing and handing out posters, brochures, or catalogs and giving presentations. Put as much effort as you can into creating a good promotional strategy and take advantage of every promotional tool out there. We suggest some of the most efficient ways of promotion for any company, but it’s up to you to find inspiration and design your own promotion strategies.

The Give-and-Take Strategy

This is the most simple and straightforward way of promoting a business. You give promotional materials to companies and organizations, and expect them to become your clients. Consider which companies could use your products or services, and give them a package of promo items – branded mugs, pencils, USB sticks, calendars, etc. It’s a nice gesture that will make them feel obliged to use your services in the best-case scenario.

Re-gift

Promotional materials should be passed on. It’s a sort of a silent agreement among businessmen, and it’s avoided in every other area except, you guess, business promotion. More and more people will know about your brand as your promotional materials get passed hand to hand. It can be understood as recycled advertisement, and don’t forget that it’s a two-way street – if you have some branded products that you no longer need, give them to somebody else, and just think of it as doing someone a favor.

Draw Attention

The easiest way to attract new customers is by giving away free stuff. And where should you do it? At trade shows, of course! Companies can benefit from giving away promotional items, and those benefits often exceed the expenses. Whether they see an interesting branded T-shirt or they need a pen and hear that they can get one at your booth, they will come to check you out.

Brand Recognition

Increased brand recognition is crucial to your success, but how to achieve it? The answer is: repetition, repetition, repetition. We tend to remember things, even unwillingly, if we see or read them often enough. I bet that you can remember and visualize the McDonald’s or Coca-Cola logo and letter font at any moment. That’s because their ads are everywhere and you see them on your everyday routes. This is exactly what makes T-shirts an excellent promo material, because people who wear them basically become your moving billboards.

However, you should be cautious when putting your brand logo (which should be designed by a professional, by the way) on a clothing item. Doing only that won’t be enough, and it’s advisable to include a catchy, fun, inspiring slogan as well. The slogan should be appropriate and represent your company’s motto. If people find it appealing, they’ll want to wear your branded clothes.

Try Reaching Out to Others, Not Just Your Target Audience

Every business expects most of their clients to come from this group, which makes focusing exclusively on the target audience understandable. However, you should give others a chance to hear about your business and consider choosing your products or services. You can’t track and predict everything, which means you’ll have a number of unexpected clients that would want to use your services. Don’t miss out on them; a client is a client.

Avoid Short Shelf Life

When choosing the right promotional products to hand out to your business associates, clients and target audience, you have to choose wisely. Selecting long-lasting products will get you the best results for the most reasonable price. For instance, it’s better to choose holders instead of sticky notes because they can last for years and can be used multiple times.

Your company will progress if you manage to follow some basic rules of advertising. It’s important to be truthful in your marketing endeavors at all costs while trying to present your company in the best possible light. Beside the fact that the issue of truthfulness in marketing materials is regulated by law, people respond well to good attitude and honesty. Your audience will surely appreciate it.

Meet the Author: Emma Miller

Emma Miller is a Sydney based writer with a degree in marketing. Her interests are digital marketing, social media, start-ups, and the latest trends. She is also a contributor at Bizzmark blog.