Infographic: Promotional Products Work!

Have you ever wondered how well promotional products work—that is, whether they’re popular with potential customers and how well they contribute to lasting brand recognition and recall? Promotional products are considered very desirable and are often well received, perhaps more than you might expect. Here are some research findings that illustrate just how powerfully promotional products can represent your brand.

Consumers like promotional products, especially if they find them useful

• 83% of consumers say that they like getting promotional items with an advertising message
• People especially value promotional products that are useful to them
• 48% of them want to get promotional products more often
• 79% of people use promotional pens

Curious whether or not your customers liked the promotional t-shirt that you recently offered as a giveaway? They likely did. The vast majority of people enjoy receiving promotional products, and many of them would like to get them more often. Consumers particularly like to get promotional products that they think are useful. While this may sound kind of a no-brainer, it has a proven effect: something that they need, like a kitchen tool or a desk accessory, is much more likely to be kept over a long period of time, increasing their awareness of your brand.

Taking care to select a promotional product that gives value to your customer can make a difference. For example, power banks do quite well at trade shows since attendees’ smartphones and gadgets are often running low on power. Office and desk products, including pen sets, desk diaries, and note pads, are another great choice since they can immediately be put to productive use at work. While some people might think pens are a bit unoriginal, they’re actually very effective: 79% of consumers use promotional pens.

Most people have promotional products, often more than one

• Eight out of ten consumers own between one and ten promotional products

Related to our earlier point about how people enjoy receiving promotional products, it turns out that the majority of them have promotional products right now—and, in many cases, they have more than one. And once they have promotional products, they tend to keep them for a long time.

Customers keep the promotional products that they get, especially if they’re useful

• 91% of that people surveyed said that they have at least one promotional product in their kitchen, while 74% have at least one in their work area and 55% have at least one in their bedroom
• 53% of people surveyed use a promotional item at least once a week or more.

People tend to hold onto the promotional products they receive—particularly if they think they’re useful. If you give out promotional products, the likelihood is good that they will be kept and used for quite a while, increasing the length of exposure that potential clients have to your brand. 

People remember the promotional products they receive for a long time

• When asked to think of a specific promotional product they had received in the past two years, 76.2% of those polled could recall what the product was, the advertiser whose brand was associated with it, and the message.
• 88% of people were able to recall the advertiser alone.

You’d be surprised at how well people remember the promotional products that they have—88% of them remember the advertiser who gave the product to them, and 76.2% of them remember other specific information such as what the product was and what the message was. That recognition represents a powerful impression that is not easy to achieve using other advertising methods.

Certain products lead to better consumer recall than others

• The types of promotional products that lead to the best consumer recall are wearables (41%), including shirts, caps, other headwear, and outerwear.
• Writing instruments are a strong second (35%), while drinkware also does well (19%)

People remember certain types of promotional products better than others—wearables, writing instruments, and drinkware tend to do especially well. Even calendars rank highly on the list of products that perform well. If you’re contemplating a promotional giveaway in which you really want to generate lasting brand awareness, you may want to keep that information in mind.

People do business with the brands that give them promotional products

• 85% of people surveyed said that they did business with a brand after receiving a promotional product from them.
• 59% had a more favorable impression of the brand after getting a promotional product from them.

Most importantly, promotional products lead to sales. Promotional products not only give consumers a positive feeling about your brand; they make them more likely to want to purchase your products and services.

So now we’ve seen that promotional products clearly do work and that they have a strong and lasting impact for your brand—particularly if they happen to be items that the customer feels is useful and relevant to their life. Stay tuned for future blog posts in which we share more insight into promotional products: what types are most effective, trends in the industry, and how businesses can best use them to connect with their target audience.

Are you looking for custom branded promotional products that can make a difference for your brand? Interested to learn more on what types of products might be a fit for you? We’d be happy to share some recommendations and creative ideas with you. Connect with us on Twitter and Facebook or call us at 877-881-6845 and we’ll advise you on branding ideas that can represent your company with style and grace.

Much of the research in this post was sourced from the Promotional Products Industry International (PPAI). For more information, visit www.promotionalproductswork.org.