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Are promotional products (also known as promotional items), corporate gifts, etc, an effective way of marketing your business?

Yes, absolutely, if it is done with the 3 key rules. What are they? The 3 rules are the essence of marketing with promotional products, or even having a logo on employee clothing. The 3 rules generate results and create greater outcomes from any campaign. They work best when you work them to your best.

In today's business world, customers are more educated and aware of marketing in business and every customer will work for a business that uses promotional products of some sort.

So, the first rule is making the products associate with your image and business. This may be travel, medical, or even trade but the product MUST have a theme for your business or event. Theme gives more structure and much better selection to your products and generates results for your business.

Businesses today also run on low budgets in order to maintain higher profits. They require fast service, quick solutions and affordable outcomes, yet many businesses and consumers also want something extra. Something for FREE - It is an unspoken word of the consumer that the same product, the same cost, even the same service is evaluated by the one thing someone offers that is FREE.

The second rule of your Promotional items use is the purpose with which it is given away. Purpose focuses on outcome and creates the best affect in the market for your business. It also clearly defines a very competitive edge for your business.

People don't recall trade shows, or conferences, and they generally don't recall too much detail about the sales people or the service, unless it was really BAD! Yet they will always hold onto a product that was given to them if it is useful, trendy, or creates for them attention.

The third rule is to make your product as original as possible and as useful to people as possible. This can be done very economically as many importing companies pride themselves on providing low cost items for a high perception value. Your spend MUST equate to a planned 30% minimum return above investment ' 50 clocks cost $12 each, you give them to 50 potential clients ' You will make an average of $25 per gift in return from these clients. It is the law of economics.

There are millions, literally, of products and items available to businesses today. There are agents and importers who manage many campaigns and designs for businesses and by taking the time to sit and work with these extensions of your business; you will find a huge leap in the response and growth of your marketing targets.

So many businesses fail to use agents effectively and buy products based on price and the simplistic view of time and tradition. When you buy from an efficient agency that has range, price and solution, you are buying a marketing assistant. You are creating a relationship with someone who has the ability to make you more money than you spend and they are also dedicated to the purpose, theme and budget of your campaign.

The more you pay for promotional items, the more you will have returned and the more dedication you will create for your business from an agent.

Using promotional products to market your business is paramount for the following reasons:

1. You are seen as a real business that is serious about its place in the market

2. You appreciate the client and customer support and offer generously a Thank You

3. You have great style and taste and present in the most modern and professional way

4. You invest in yourself first, so you can continue investing in their business.

5. You give more than you get!

These factors make marketing work and marketing is perception and creativity. You wouldn't run a black and white ad in a colour magazine? You wouldn't run a 30 second ad on TV and Radio only to tell people you have annoying music and a forgettable phone number?? You wouldn't build a website no one sees, or understands? No, you would enlist professional people to structure the three rules for maximum result.

You would budget, plan, review, redesign and then test and measure the campaign before you commit. This is why you are successful in business and this is why marketing with promotional products is the extension and enhancement of any other marketing your business does. Also it is the cheapest and most personal form of marketing you can utilize.

So remember, use agents ' find a good one and make them work for you. Don't worry about expense - focus on return. Plan a promotional campaign and only invest in small ranges to start and keep the things that show best results. Make a statement and become more than your business plan ' become a promotional product that says more about your business and people than any other advertising you use.

With all the competition out there for your business to contend with, wouldn't it be great to have an advantage over your competitors?

Thanks for your time and serious consideration of your business.

Brad McBride http://www.promoproductgroup.com.au/