How to Interest a Brand in a Promo Product

Have you ever struggled with a new company’s skeptical attitude towards promotional products? ‘I wish I knew exactly how to prove that this works' - is a prevailing thought for distributors.

Although promotional products industry is significant and growing every year, there are still many companies that are skeptical about the effectiveness of the promo swag.
Some might say - ‘We tried it once and didn't see the effect,' or ‘I don't know if we should try because promotional products are cheap knick-knacks,' or even ‘No-one ever uses promotional products nowadays.' Underneath these phrases lie promotional products myths, that are common not only among the end companies but distributors as well.

Related article: Biggest Promotional Products Myths Busted

‘All promotional products are the same' - this thought is a fly in the ointment. In reality, promotional product producers lean more and more towards high quality, because that’s what makes all the difference today. Companies want to stand out; they want to satisfy demanding customers, which is impossible when selling cheap generic swag.
‘We tried it once but didn't see an effect' How does this happen? Promotional products don’t work instantly, but an average user keeps a promo item for at least a year, and if that doesn’t make a perfect brand ambassador, what does?
All of these doubts are based on the lack of promotional products value to the company. A distributor is the one changing their understanding.
Of course, their understanding will change if you will actually sell them something worthy. Customized promotional products, as well as unique promotional products, gain popularity because end customer is fed up with cheap swag that so many producers still sell. This is the reason brands still think all promotional products are the same and have doubts about buying any of them at all.

The Story of a Secret Buyer
Everyone wants to get the best brands to work with; everyone wants to know who buys promotional products; the secrets of the promotional product industry. On every promotional products-related website you’ll find an article with the big headline ‘Biggest promotional products buyers’ or ‘Top Secret Biggest Promo Product Buyers.’ You know what I’m talking about, right? But what if instead of looking for a ‘magic’ industry that will buy all of your swag, we would change our perception and pay more attention to those who seem reluctant at first?

Some would say that a particular company or a certain industry is just not interested in promo swag. But is that really so?
One of the distributors with more than 15 years of experience said It's like a bad student and a good techer. Just as a teacher can show the value of his subject even to the worst student, if you know your business, and you know that you can be useful to your client, you can show the value of a promo product to any company.

In a minute we’ll talk about one ridiculously effective way to help your customer see the value of the product you sell.
Here’s what we know by now
- Promotional products are not the same
- If you don’t communicate with a product producer you won’t see the value of the product
- If you don’t see the value of the product you can’t show it to your client
- If you can’t show it to your client he won’t be interested in getting it
The distributor is an important link between a production company and a client company, and he is the one who cares, who sees the value of a product, how effective the campaign can be because he’s seen this before.

When the End Customer Gets Lost
Very often situation is that company, after receiving a swag from you, for many different reasons, won’t get feedback from end users. This is the problem because then they won’t know if it worked, and you won’t know it either. So the best option is for you to actively interact with your client. What do we mean by that?
Don’t only sell him the good promotional products, establish a follow-up connection. Connect with the end user.

Kill two birds with one stone:
Collect data for excisting client. Don’t ask a company to gather feedback on the promo product quality - do it yourself. Ask for information, collect the data and give it back to the company. They’ll see that your product works, and they’ll come back, guaranteed.
Showcase to a new client. Whenever a client is in doubt, it is a great idea to show how a certain product worked for other companies. Not just say it, but provide received analytics.

Collect feedback from an end user on the provided promo product. Photo by rawpixel.com

Kick off with this set of questions:
- Did you like the product and quality of the product?
- Do you like the quality of branding?
- Was it fun/trendy/functional?
- Do you use it? How often?
- What are your associations with the company?
It takes time and effort but pays off in spades.
The task is to show to the company that you don’t just sell the product but are interested in the feedback, in the result. For perfection and quality growth of your company, it is important to collect not only positive feedbacks but negative as well.
When done right, this is a powerful tool for winning more clients.

Often distributors struggle to show the value of a promotional product to their clients. Scepticism and lack of interest are common attitudes, based on myths that all promotional products are the same and hardly work. Even though promotional products industry is constantly growing, client companies should be educated out of these misconceptions.
Stop asking question: who buys promotional products - everyone does. Of course, it is easier to concentrate on top industries or top companies that buy promotional products, but to gain more loyal clients it is necessary to teach clients to see the value of the product you offer. Sell good promotional products, customized promotional products. Actively interact with a client. Collect data from the end user and present it to the client, showcase it to your prospects. It is a statement of successful promo campaigns, it is a proof, backed up with analytics. This is a powerful tool of influence that should not be ignored.