How Much Should You Spend on Promotional Products?

Engaging in any promotional campaign can be tough. There is a lot of work that has to be done, ranging from the planning of different events to the purchasing of special products. All this is done in the hope that you will increase the amount of business you receive. With all the things going on during this time one of the most important questions to ask is how much you should spend on promotional products. The simple answer is to spend as much as you need to get the results you want. However determining exactly how much you should spend is a bit more complicated than the simple answer would lead one to believe.

Asking the Right Questions
There are many questions that go into determining how much anyone should spend on promotional products. What kind of promotion is it? Is it a long term promotion? Or a short term promotion? Is the promotion meant to launch a new product? Or is the promotion designed to lift sales of an old product? Is the promotion designed to attract new customers? Is the promotion designed to reward loyal customers? All these questions and more need to be answered before one can even begin to think of how much to spend on promotional products. With a little thought and some preparation, however, this question can be answered for almost any circumstance.

Considering the Length of the Promotion
A good place to start when considering the question of how much to spend is what the length of the promotion is going to be. If you are planning a long promotion than it means you will probably be spending more than you would on a shorter promotion. However, this is not always the case. Most long term promotions (a promotion lasting longer than three months) is generally designed to reward a loyal customer base, or to encourage new customers to continue visiting. In this case it could be cheaper to run this promotion than a short term one.

A very common long term promotion tactic is to give away a small but useful item such as a pen or key chain with the company’s logo or slogan on it. This does two things. First, it makes the customer feel appreciated (everyone likes to be given something), and second it can act as a constant reminder of your particular business. After all if the pen you use each day has the name of your favorite grocery store, chances are you will think of them first. Because many smaller items can be bought in bulk for very cheap this is a great and inexpensive form of long term promotion.

Putting Together a Short Promotion
When dealing with a shorter term promotion again it is good to look at what the goal is. Most of the time, short term promotions are designed to either introduce a new product, or to spur sales of an older one. Often, when introducing a new product the amount to spend on promotional products is much greater than even the longest term promotions.
Generally a promotional product that is useful with the new product is given away when a certain purchase threshold has been reached. For example, a short term promotion might include giving away a free bowel with the purchase of two or more boxes of a certain brand of cereal. In fact most of the time when introducing a new product most companies are prepared to receive a bit of a loss because of the need to buy promotional products, so when going this route, remember that a short term loss can be very acceptable if the long term gain works out.

Whether your promotion is meant to last a long time or a short time, there is no hard and fast rule to how much to spend. However give careful consideration to the goal of the promotion and the realistic expectations of its results. Balance this with what you have available to spend on any given promotion and you should have a good idea on how much to spend. However a good rule of thumb is to spend a little more than you may need too as having enough promotional products on hand is a very important part to any promotional campaign. In the end enjoy this special time as there is a lot of memories to be made.