Use promotional items to build a brand

The average human’s attention span is now only eight seconds long – one second less than a goldfish, according to a recent study commissioned by Microsoft. An increasingly faster and more digital world is changing the way people think, act and make decisions both large and small.

The public is also more savvy to marketing and advertising, as many television viewers fast-forward through commercials with the use of digital video recorders. Some businesses are trying to get their message out through the use of video ads that are so short – almost 15 seconds – that you can’t skip them on TV or before your selected YouTube clip starts playing, Adweek reported.

With all this vying for attention, how can a business rebrand itself or a new venture seek to establish a brand in an everyday environment that’s increasingly hostile toward marketing and commercials?

The answer can be found in promotional items.

How to build brand awareness
While our attention spans are shrinking, can the average customer even recall a 15-second commercial? Probably not. However, studies show the public can remember promotional items they received from a company, including branded bags, hats and pens. A 2014 global survey from the Advertising Specialty Institute found 85 percent of consumers polled recalled a branded product a business gave them.

The better recall means a greater return on investment for a brand trying to reach the buying public and a greater chance at turning them into paying customers. The ASI’s study found that promotional products are the most inexpensive and effective form of marketing a brand when compared to Internet, TV, national newspaper and magazine ads.

Building a brand – whether it’s a clothing line or sports team – is hard work and there’s no guarantee that the venture will stick around. However, promotional items can be a great tool in increasing or developing your brand awareness. Unlike a TV commercial, pop-up ad or radio spot, promotional drinkware, branded pens and other tangible products stay with the person you gave them to. They aren’t forgotten in the digital ether.

Your business’ name, phone number and URL address will always be with that person as long as they keep the product. Even if they give it to someone else or donate it, the item will continue to make more impressions on every one who comes into contact with it.

Cultivating customers with kindness
Promotional corporate gifts aren’t only a means of marketing – they’re also an act of kindness if your giving them away to the public. Everyone can use free stuff from time to time and giving away branded items with your company logo will create a good impression for your business.

According to The Economic Voice, handing out promotional pens, USB drives and T-shirts is an effective branding strategy since it acts as both a marketing tool and a gift to potential customers. Someone who receives free branded shirts or mugs from you will remember your company fondly and be more apt to do business with you.

Sports teams both amateur and professional already employ these marketing and promotional tactics through branded apparel, hats and trinkets as giveaways to attract fans to the stadium. A couple of pro clubs in Washington, D.C., took a creative route when the Washington Wizards offered snow globes to fans and the city’s pro baseball team, the Nationals, handed out branded Chia pets, according to The Washington Post.

Clothing, along with tech and writing instruments that feature your company’s logo, have a great chance of making impressions throughout the life of the item. Every time someone wears your company T-shirt or uses a pen or promotional thumb drive they received from you, they’ll remember your company along with the gift you sent them.

Fighting your way through the noise
Branded giveaways have the power to cut through all the static and noise and get your customers to sit up and pay attention to your brand. Not only do they have a much longer shelf life than traditional paid advertisements online, on TV or via the radio, the buying public will also view them as a gift and be more likely to repay the favor by becoming a loyal customer.