Companies, foundations, and organisations use practical promotional gift items as a way to promote their brand, event, or corporate identity. Onto these gifts cum promotional products, the name of the company, their logo or tagline is usually printed onto them. Such gifts are given to clients, customers, and even the general public through events like conferences, seminars, trade shows, exhibitions, expos, etc. Although the companies might distribute these useful business promotional items at no cost which means no initial revenue is gained from them, they do gain something worthwhile in return. This will be further explained later on.
Origin
Like all things, there must be a beginning or point of origin where it all started or in this case, how the idea of giving away promotional product items began. According to written records, the first known use of promotional products was during the 1789 election in the United States. Back then, custom printed pin badges or commemorative buttons were distributed to George Washington’s supporters. However, the use of promotional gifts and products probably began earlier than that; unfortunately, there are no known records to support it. After the 1789 elections, the demand and popularity of the gifts grew until it became an indispensable marketing material that we often see in today’s world.
Importance
As mentioned in the intro, through the use of promotional gifts that are printed with their logo, name or tagline, companies such as yours are able to promote their events, identity, and brand. Why is this important? It serves as reminders of your company’s services and products. By providing them with promotional gifts printed with such information, the customers and clients of your company will be less likely to forget about what you can help provide as they’ll be reminded of it often through the special custom-printed gifts. Besides, promotional giveaways are great for marketing purposes as it helps to get your name out to the masses in a cost-effective way.
We also mentioned that typically little to no revenue is initially gained from giving away promotional items; however, through the relatively free exposure garnered from the distribution of such items, you gain customer awareness which will further translate into loyalty once they’ve become familiar with your products and services. Their loyalty means that they’ll often use your service or purchase your products which will then increase your revenue and sales. In a nutshell, like most business endeavours, you need to spend money first before you can earn it.
