Conventional Advertising vs. Promotional Products
As a business owner, you have a very simple mission – to ensure that the close to one million people in Edmonton and surrounding area are aware of your business so that they can purchase your products and services. How to best facilitate that marketing strategy, though can often feel like a very complex and costly endeavour. While there was a time when conventional media was the recommended path to ensure the widest possible reach, that may not be the case anymore. In fact, many merchants just like you are taking a hands on approach to their marketing, steering away from traditional campaigns for a more personalized connection with their audience. Promotional products have proven to be very effective in this regard.
Consider Your Budget
No matter how big your business is, ultimately it comes down to your budget. How much money do you have to spend on marketing? Your budget will inform what your capacity is to pursue any of the options you are considering. As television has migrated away from a local focus to deliver a more standardized national format, that has driven the costs of television advertising out of reach of most homegrown operations. Television, in many cases, has become the exclusive domain of national brands.
Promotional products allow you to scale your marketing efforts by starting with a minimum order and increasing your volumes as you determine your own success. No, your message won’t be delivered as widely and quickly as television, but the personal connection that you make with people accepting your item is more valuable.
What Is Your Actual Reach?
Local radio continues to keep its finger on the pulse of community and many radio personalities now have become so familiar to listeners that we feel like we know them. The challenge with radio is that with the competition in the market and the aggressive efforts of salespeople with each station, how can you best be assured that you are going to connect with your target audience? With the cost of radio campaigns, you may not be able to afford campaigns on multiple stations to hit different demographics, so radio becomes a gamble.
With promotional products, you are reaching out personally to individuals that have expressed an interest in what you do and who may become clients now or in the future. You can verify that every single item that leaves your hands is connecting with an individual and not lost in the myriad of advertising that barrages radio audiences every single hour.
Let’s Talk About Shelf Life
Maybe you’re thinking about newspaper for your advertising needs. The challenge with print media is that it has a very specific shelf life. A daily paper may have a great reach, but if your ad hasn’t jumped out at the reader on that particular day, you may never seen a return on that investment. Consumer behavior is influenced over time, so you would need repeated ads with the same message to generate the attention you’re looking for and those costs can add up quickly. Also consider that the growth of digital media, which allows customers to digest just the content they are interested in, without ads, diminishes the effectiveness of print advertising.
Quality promotional products have been found to have a life span of one to four years in the homes of consumers. 73% of people will use their item at least once a week, and this creates the repetitive exposure that your brand needs to become memorable.
We can help develop a brand and message that will connect with people, will endure the test of time and can adapt to any budget. Visit us at Mero Sportswear at 5615 – 94A Street Northwest in Edmonton, or check us out online at merosportswear.com Our team can help you select the most popular items, get ahead of emerging trends and get a jump on your competition.