Events Draw People…Promotional Marketing Draws Their Attention
I hope today’s post will be eventful for you. I’m continuing our series on how your business can take full advantage of promotional marketing programs. Today’s topic: special events. I plan to show you how to do two things. First, make them more memorable for your customers and prospects. Secondly, make them more effective for you and your company.
I’ve planned this post especially for those of you who fit into one of two categories:
- Your company doesn’t use special events for marketing purposes
- Your company hosts or sponsors special events but doesn’t use promotional products to magnify the benefits. (Or perhaps doesn’t use the right promotional products.)
What Special Events Call for Promotional Products?
I could just say “all of them” because I believe that. But this list will give you an idea of the kind of events I’m recommending.
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Internal Company Events
Your company may well bring employees together for a specific purpose. You might be focusing on team-building, or introducing a new product or procedure. And often, the goal is simply goodwill and camaraderie, so you choose a picnic or a group attendance at a sporting event.
It’s a good investment, and worth a bit of thought, time and money, to make sure those employees get the right message and a positive “vibe’ from it. Promotional products accomplish that, providing a long-lasting “memory assist” to the theme, reinforcing your goals for the event.
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External Industry Events
This one covers a lot of territory. Your company might sponsor an educational event related to your industry. Many such events have proven successful for companies in the professional services sector, such as insurance or legal issues. Others have drawn considerable consumer interest and participation in areas like home improvements and security, landscaping, nutrition and cooking, and more. Often these events are sponsored by a single company, or a group of companies and suppliers working together.
Promotional marketing can capitalize on that consumer interest and focus it on your business specifically. Hand out a relevant item carrying your logo to attendees. It will provide a tangible reminder of who provided the information, and more importantly, the company to call when they are ready to do business.
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Non-profit Event Sponsorships
Many companies participate in charity or community events to not only raise awareness of their brands, but to make a meaningful contribution to a worthy cause. Perhaps your company participates with others to stage a 10k race or other running event to raise funds for medical research. Or your company might sponsor (or help sponsor) a special exhibit at a local children’s or public museum.
Customers and prospects will appreciate your efforts in this area, but they will remember it longer with promotional items to commemorate the event. Put your logo on a water bottle or other item in the registration pack given to runners. Or provide an appropriate item for visitors to the exhibit.
What Are the “Right” Promotional Marketing Items to Offer?
This, of course, varies with the type of event, the audience, and your company’s marketing plan or theme. Obviously, begin with cost/benefit considerations. But the best choices fit two criteria:
- The item is useful. You can see it playing a part in the recipient’s business or personal life for months, or even years.
- The item is well-chosen. It has a creative connection to your company, industry or your marketing theme.
Where Can You Get Valuable Input?
Superior has nearly 100 years’ experience in helping businesses become more successful. As a result, we have acquired a strong sense of what promotional items work best in many different situations. In addition, we have access to research that tells us what items are most popular with consumers based on demographics, geographic location and other variables.
If your company is not promoting itself via special events, we can brainstorm some ideas that make sense for you. It’s a promotional marketing opportunity too good to pass up.
In Any Event, We Are Here to Help
Many excellent promotional tools will help grow awareness of your company and help build your customer base. We can help you with all of them. And that’s not an empty promise; our customers are so satisfied with our impact on their businesses that they voted us a Best of Print and Digital award for the second consecutive year.
Few companies in our industry carry ISO certification. We do. That ensures our procedures are designed smartly and executed efficiently to provide consistent results for our customers.
Contact Superior today for a promotional product audit. Let’s figure out how event marketing or other promotional marketing programs can generate results for your company.
