Is there value in using sale or clearance items to promote your business?  You bet!  Why not?  We all know advertising costs are high, and these days the more we can save the better.   (Amen!)  And just because an item is included in a clearance flyer doesn’t denote it’s “worthiness” or value.  How you use that item, maybe as part of a larger advertising campaign or used at a targeted demographic, will determine it’s value.

One of our manufacturers just sent us such a flyer.  It included a handful of items, including a strawberry shaped stress reliever.  What could you use that for?  Well, San Antonio neighbors Poteet, TX.  Poteet is the home of the Poteet Strawberry Festival!  Some quick ideas:

• Small markets or grocers
• As part of a campaign promoting health
• Restaurants!
• Daycares (“our kids are berry good”)
• Real estate or business coaching (“You can grow here” or a related message about the “fruits of your labor”)

The strawberries were listed at $.80 ea, minimum 250.  Setup charge is $40.  So a minimum order of 250, one color, one location imprint, would be $240 (+s/h).  $240 to put your name in 250 hands!

The flyer also included a stress reliever shaped like an ice cream cone, pocket magnifiers in many shapes, lanyards, and of course pens!

So get creative with your advertising.  The product itself won’t necessarily sell your business, but when used with smart advertising it can do wonders for self promotion!

George
www.promo-sa.com
www.network-sa.com

– 84 percent of consumers remembered an advertiser based on a product they received.
– 42 percent had a more favorable impression of an advertiser after receiving a promotional product.
– Nearly one quarter (24 percent) indicated they are more likely to do business with an advertiser based on items they receive.
– The majority of respondents (62 percent) have done business with an advertiser after receiving a product.
– Writing instruments are the most commonly owned tchotchkes, with 54 percent of respondents owning them, followed by shirts, caps and bags.
– Most (81 percent) promotional products were kept because they were considered useful.
– More than three-quarters of respondents have kept their items for about seven months.
– Among wearables, bags were reported to be used most frequently, with respondents indicating that they use their bags on average nine times per month.
– Bags deliver the most impressions, with 1,038 impressions per month on average.

In 2007, promo products were a $19.6 BILLION industry.

That’s BILLION, with a big fat B on the front. Tells you something about where ad dollars are spent?

George
www.promo-sa.com
www.network-sa.com