Branded merchandise is an effective way to generate brand awareness, communicate your brand story and establish your position in the marketplace.

With thousands of options available there are plenty of options out there for all demographics and recipients. Making branded merchandise a marketing channel that can be utilised by any organisation.

So why should you be using branded merchandise in your marketing plan? Here are some of the top benefits:

Low Cost Per Impression

Because promotional merchandise gets seen hundreds or thousands of times over its lifetime they have a very low cost per impression. A pen that costs $2 that gets seen 1000 times has a cost per impression of just one-fifth of a cent. Beating out many popular advertising methods for ROI.

Promotional product campaigns can also be scaled to meet both small and big projects, making them great for small businesses all the way to big corporates.

They Improve Brand Exposure And Recall

There’s a reason why big brands like Coca-Cola frequently invest in product placement in blockbuster movies and general awareness campaigns. Because even the subtle exposure to a brand or product can influence buying decisions.

Because promotional merchandise gets used regularly, your logo is seen regularly. This increases awareness of your brand, brand recall and increases the chances they will become a customer or stay a customer in the future.

Someone can’t buy from you if they don’t know you exist or have forgotten who you are. Better brand exposure means more sales and more profits.

They Work And Play On Psychological Factors

Promotional Products work. They play on key psychological factors that guide our decision-making.

Essentially when you do something for someone they feel an obligation to return the favour, people love free things, people develop a preference for things simply by being exposed to them and people value something more if they own it. All things that gifting promotional merchandise plays on.

They Synergise With Other Marketing Channels

The beauty of promotional merchandise is its ability to synergise with other marketing channels (even some digital ones too).

Social media, TV, trade shows, offline events, influencer marketing, PR, direct marketing or account-based marketing.

Merchandise makes for a great photo op and is a great icebreaker for the recipient to open up and hear what you have to say.

They Increase Customer Loyalty And Long-term Value

It’s expensive to acquire new customers and much easier to sell products or services to people in your existing database.

So all businesses should have some form of customer loyalty strategy in place.

By putting awesome merch in the hands of your brand advocates and customers increases their loyalty to your brand and empowers them to refer others.

Whether it’s giving away merchandise as a loyalty reward, using promotional products in a referral program or simply giving them as a gift with purchase there are plenty of options available.

They Can Be Used For More Than Just Marketing

Although marketing is definitely the most popular use case of merch they’re also great for HR and communications.

Whether it’s onboarding a new employee, rewarding a job well done or fostering a healthy organisational culture.

Not only does this help employees to be happier, but it’ll also help keep your best talent within the organisation and reduce churn saving money on hiring and training.

They’re Useful And Have A Purpose

When was the last time you were happy to see an ad?

Promotional merchandise is one of the only advertising channels where someone will actually thank you for being marketed to. In fact, people will actively seek them out.

Because branded merchandise has a dual purpose they provide value and thus are seen as much more favourably.

Summing Up

Promotional products have many benefits to brands of all sizes. They’re one of the secrets to brand success hiding in plain sight.

Want to dip your toes into the wonderful world of promotional products or have a question about how everything works? Speak with one of our brand experts today to help find the perfect match for your customers and team.