Today’s marketing world is a battlefield of messaging apps, video ads, email marketing, digital banners, and more, all fighting for your attention on your screens. But what about the marketing off screen? Your brands face to face recognition where people look up from their phones to interact with your brand. Many brands today are forgetting this as they are so focused on the fight for 5 seconds of your time before you press the skip to video button on YouTube, or popping up on your Facebook feed.

Most companies are already putting their logo on items, which are called Promotional Products. These are a must for your offline marketing and before you say, “We already have pens and stickers with our logo on them” let me give you a few quick facts.

1. REACTION - 83% of consumers are more likely to do business with a brand after receiving a promotional product. Compare that to Mobile, Broadcasting, Print, and Online which only had a 52% rating combined!
2. RECALL - 9 in 10 consumers remember the brand from the promotional product they received. The closest following was Broadcast with a 3 in 10 ratios.
3. REACH – Promotional products had an 89% target audience reach versus only 73% from online.
4. RANK – Promotional Products ranked as the number one most effective form of advertising for Millennials, Gen Xers, and Baby Boomers. This was followed by Broadcast across all three generations.

Now while you may be thinking “Well I don’t see how promotional products would be useful in marketing my company, “let me offer a few scenarios.

Do you go to trade shows or sponsored events and only bring a set of pens and business cards? Did everyone seem to be flocking toward another vendor that had bags or chargers or some other higher perceived value product that the attendees “Had to have?” How about the time when you showed up with nothing but your booth decorations and a laptop, had little booth traffic and called the event a waste of time? (I have seen it, so it does happen)

Now that I have shown you the data highlights, you are probably thinking,” Well what products should I order? “That is where your creative side will come into play. There are many ways you can use promotional items as part of your marketing plan. Need some ideas?

1. Reward your customers for upgrading from a free version to an annually paid version by sending them a usable promo product that ties in with your product.
2. If you're hosting a webinar with many attendees, offer branded swag to the first x number of people who tweet they are on the webinar with you.
3. If you're presenting or speaking at a trade show, mention that anyone who says you (the presenter/speaker) sent them can get a unique gift at your booth.

So now you have learned why Promotional Products are better uses of your marketing budget. If you’re wondering about how the best way would be to go about securing promotional products for your company, feel free to read my “Top 5 Tips for Buying Promotional Products” .