The Quality of Free Giveaways Matters

Free giveaways, which are a form of promotional giveaways, are among the most important tools marketers have to promote their businesses.

Unfortunately, most businesses fail in their free giveaway marketing campaigns. They usually fail because they do not clearly understand how free giveaways can work for them. Often, they either fail to spend enough time considering the most appropriate items to give away or they fail to spend enough money to offer quality products. While there is clearly a limit to how much time and money a business can afford to spend on free giveaways while achieving a profitable return, most businesses’ free giveaway failures result from a simple lack of understanding of the significance of the items they give away.

It’s All About Positive, Conscious Brand Awareness

The chief purpose of your free giveaways should be to keep your brand in high regard in the typical customer’s mind. In other words, when a potential customer with one of these products has a need that you can serve, his first thought should be a positive thought about the free giveaway.

A good example of a typical promotional product that is often given away free is a pen. Pens are very popular because nearly everyone uses them at some point and they are easy to label with logos, slogans, and contact information. However, if the pen just doesn’t write well, it will be discarded or stored out of sight. If that pen is one of the best pens that a potential customer has ever had, you can be pretty sure he’ll use it often. The high quality of the pen will naturally transfer itself in the potential customer’s mind as a representation of the quality of the work you do or the products you sell.

Unfortunately, if you give out a poor product, your brand image will suffer significantly. It can suffer more than enough to offset the name recognition it generates. If your pen leaks in a potential customer’s pocket, he is unlikely to become a customer.

The general idea to take from this is that your product needs to be something the consumer will want to use or have in plain sight over a long period. Most people will take anything you offer for free, but that doesn’t mean anything you offer for free will boost goodwill toward your business. In addition to promoting brand awareness, the effective use of free giveaways will create positive brand associations.

Free Giveaway Product Considerations

Beyond quality, there are a few key points you’ll want to consider when choosing your free giveaway products. The durability of the product is closely related to the quality of the product, but it also describes whether the product is of short-term or long-term benefit regardless of quality. A durable free giveaway product is something that consumers will want to have on hand for years. If it is something they’ll regularly pull out and use or admire, it is of even greater value.

The other key feature that you need to consider is how that product relates to your brand image. For example, a lumber store that gives away durable, branded tape measures in the shape of a block of wood will stay in the forefront of the minds of its target customers when they need to buy more lumber. You’ll receive a lot more conscious brand awareness if the product somehow ties into the type of business you’re promoting. Unfortunately, many marketers grasp this concept without embracing quality, which leads to products that provide negative impressions before being quickly discarded. If you can find a good product that relates closely to your business that won’t break your budget as a free giveaway, you’ll receive marketing windfall.

The other key feature that you need to consider is how that product relates to your brand image. For example, a lumber store that gives away durable, branded tape measures in the shape of a block of wood will stay in the forefront of the minds of its target customers when they need to buy more lumber. You’ll receive a lot more conscious brand awareness if the product somehow ties into the type of business you’re promoting. Unfortunately, many marketers grasp this concept without embracing quality, which leads to products that provide negative impressions before being quickly discarded.

If you can find a good product that relates closely to your business that won’t break your budget as a free giveaway, you’ll receive marketing windfall.

Speak to a Promotional Product Expert

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