Guide to Choosing a Promotional Gift Supplier

This marketing method can go beyond simple brand exposure to promote sales and customer responses, as well as generate customer goodwill and employee morale, which is in turn very beneficial for business. Promotional gifts also generally have a relatively long advertising life, promoting your business on a daily basis. This marketing tool therefore has the potential to be very effective in extending and maintaining your marketing and business reach, but simply buying and distributing products will not necessarily equate success. It is the role of a promotional gift supplier to maximize the potential of promotional gifts according to your business and goals, and it is thus imperative that you choose a professional supplier.

The following steps should help you in this task. Define your goals and budget As with most business ventures, preparation is key in ensuring the success of your promotional gift campaign. This step requires a detailed investigation into why you want to distribute promotional gifts and how you want to do this. Be as specific as possible, establishing (preferably measurable) goals you want to achieve, what kind of image you want to project about your company and the target audience you want to reach. The latter is a particularly important consideration. Determine your target market (whether it is your employees, the general public or your existing customer base, for example), and also research this market segment's behavior, interests and purchasing trends, as well as the type of distribution they would be most responsive to (whether the gifts should be hand-delivered, posted or handed out at point-of-purchase).

This should leave you with a clearly defined strategy which will help to match you with the right consultant who can in turn supply you with appropriate and effective promotional gifts. Gifts can range from affordable and common products like plastic pens to more up market products such as watches or more novel products like picnic blankets, depending on your target audience and the corporate image you want to convey. Gifts can also simply expose your brand, or prompt action by the receiver, e.g. the offer of a discount upon purchase of your product. Your budget will obviously affect the types of products you can buy, and a more novel or unusual gift idea requiring extra effort may be more expensive. However, as long as your choice of gift has been determined by a thorough outline of goals and strategy, your return on investment (ROI) should be good. This stage of the process should also include the development of a means by which to measure the results of the gift distribution, in order to improve upon your strategy.

Research companies and evaluate their services:

Once you have a clear definition of requirements and goals, you can begin to look for companies by searching the web, asking for recommendations or contacting the company responsible for a gift that caught your attention. In this preliminary search, you should be able to ascertain to a certain extent the various suppliers' suitability in meeting your gift requirements, according to the types of products and services they advertise. Beyond this, a more in-depth assessment of the companies' expertise and service delivery should narrow down your scope. Consider the following factors in your selection process:

Product quality

Many suppliers have catalogs (often viewable online) that display the range of products that they regularly produce. However, you should also ask to see actual product samples to check the quality more closely. Although ordering from a catalogue can be beneficial in that quality has usually already been established and products are normally quite affordable, the disadvantage is that there are likely to be many other companies distributing the same product but with a different logo. This can be more than adequate for certain gifting strategies, but if your campaign requires the development of a novel or custom-made gift, be sure that the supplier can sufficiently meet your needs and that manufacturing quality is assured. Also check that the supplier is primarily interested in your goals and in matching these with the appropriate gift solution, rather than promoting their products first.

Previous clients

Some suppliers may display the gifts developed for previous clients (ask to see samples if they are not readily available), and may even complement this with a case study of the clients needs and the results of the promotional gift campaign. Assessing a case study is particularly useful in determining a suppliers ability to produce an appropriate and effective gift. Contact the clients to find out more about the companies service and also whether the promotional gifts gave them the desired business results.

Marketing expertise

The supplier should not be merely a promotional item supplier, but should be well versed in marketing strategies. They should partner with you in developing solutions to your business goals, ultimately providing an effective product for your campaign. A good supplier will add valuable insight to your strategy, while being open to your suggestions and questions. They should understand that results of a gifting campaign are high priority.
Experience
Experience in the marketing industry in general as well as in the promotional gift field in particular should mean that the company has valuable knowledge about a gifts potential effectiveness. A long-standing company generally means a successful one, which consequently should result in a successful campaign for your business.
Proximity
Choosing a local supplier will have obvious benefits in that you will have less cost in the transportation of the goods. A local company will also allow you to meet the supplier in person, enable more efficient communication and make approval of products much easier.
Cost
As mentioned earlier, price will vary according to your goals, but you still want your venture to be cost-effective and provide you with a high return on investment. When examining the quotation, be sure that you are clear on the separate costs involved and that there are no hidden fees that will be added once production is complete.

Start production At this point you should be able to identify at least one suitable candidate. Before approving the start of actual production, be sure that you are provided with a sew out or sample displaying exactly what your logo and other information will look like on the chosen material. Also be sure that quality assurance is guaranteed in the contract. Allow at least three weeks for production, although the time period may vary according to the type of product being manufactured.

This article was provided by the Approved Index. They have created a directory of Promotional Product Suppliers. Use their free site to compare and request free quotes.