Find solution
What is some ideas for merchandise?

What are some good ideas for innovative free marketing merchandise?

  • Answer:

    The answer is - it depends. First of all, you should never consider these materials as "free," even if you are giving them away at no charge. Someone is paying for those materials, so there should be a reason why you are giving items away that justifies the cost. The primary reason are:    -  Recognizing or rewarding desired behavior (reaching goals, etc.)    -  Encouraging desired behavior (respond to your call to action, safety education reminder, etc.)    -  Building brand recognition and goodwill Most organizations only focus on the third criteria without too much thought, which is why you see a lot of cheap plastic pens given out at trade shows. Those companies are usually just throwing money away without realizing it. To be effective, promotional marketing materials should incorporate at least two of the above criteria. When you select materials to give away, follow these objectives to get the most value for your investment. 1. Set A Goal. Map out exactly what you hope to achieve. Who are you targeting? What message do you want to convey? What do you want to get in return? 2.  Make the items relevant. The items should be tied to your message and be relevant to your target audience. A cheap plastic blinking pen may not have any relevance to that mobile app user you are targeting, but one with a capacitive stylus might. 3.  Make it memorable. Even a generic promo item can be memorable if it reinforces the unique message you are trying to convey. My company once produced trade show tote bags for a print buyers conference. We suggested they add "I LOVE PRINTING" above the sponsor logo, and that made the bags in high demand. 4.  Make them earn it. Promotional merchandise should always motivate the people who are receiving them to respond to a goal that you have determined in advance before they get the free item. Make them opt in to your marketing program by providing their contact info so that you can reinforce the message you promoted when they first received your item. So, in answer to your question, the best and most innovative ideas will depend on what your objectives are for using free marketing merchandise to for promoting your organization or program. The biggest waste of money happens when someone (maybe your boss) thinks something is a "good idea," when really they have no idea what they are doing.

Jamie Bradley at Quora Visit the source

Was this solution helpful to you?

Other answers

There are several free http://www.arcadiaonline.co.uk options available online these days. But only thing I am really concerned about is their effectiveness for your business. One of such effective free marketing merchandise is the social media. You can use social media like twitter, facebook and pinterest for promotion your products effectively. If you use it effectively it can be great promotional tool.  Always try to get in grasp with social media promotional activity of your competitor this will help you to prepare a befitting counter strategy. Always remember to put your strongest videos and promotional materials on the networks like Youtube or Pinterest to increase your follow base.  Apart from social media it is really important to understand your perspective customer and get engaged in promotional activity like contest at the place of their interest.

John Tarantino

I'll second Jamie's Answers!  All of his responses are great and I'll just add in a few tidbits about artwork.  Keep it simple and don't "junk it up."  Notice how things with "big brand" logos are always desired by most audiences?  Ever notice how they also don't feature every piece of contact info for the company, with a qr code, fax number, sales rep name and cell number, and every social media platform link...  Keep it simple and clean.  Create wonder, if audience is interested, they will definitely look you up.

Melissa McCauley

Jamie, thank you so much for your succinct response, and apologies for not responding sooner! The truth is I completely forgot about Quora until and amazing post about growth hacking brought me back here. I love the memorable tip, its just sparked an idea for something we're exhibiting at in a couple of months. Melissa, spot on, less is definitely more! Ive started to create marketing videos for the sales team to use as pitches and our marketing girl wanted to conclude all for the outros with our email address, telephone number ...etc etc ... I put a stop to that straight away. People arent stupid, they know how to find you if they want to. Great suggestions. Thanks guys, I hope to share some useful nuggets soon!

Laith Marmash

Related Q & A:

Just Added Q & A:

Find solution

For every problem there is a solution! Proved by Solucija.

  • Got an issue and looking for advice?

  • Ask Solucija to search every corner of the Web for help.

  • Get workable solutions and helpful tips in a moment.

Just ask Solucija about an issue you face and immediately get a list of ready solutions, answers and tips from other Internet users. We always provide the most suitable and complete answer to your question at the top, along with a few good alternatives below.