Buying “Throwaways” vs Giveaways

Part #1 of the 7 Deadly Mistakes Exhibitors Make When Purchasing Promotional Products For Trade Shows

David Blaise, an industry consultant, probably sums it up the best when he says,

“Nothing beats promotional items for getting a targeted message to a designated recipient on a repetitive basis”.

The key part of this statement is “on a repetitive basis.” This fundamental benefit of promotional items is probably the most overlooked and misunderstood factor in the promotional product buying decision.

Here’s a typical call I get, “I need some trade show giveaways for my next show. Do you have blah blah blah? They are really cute and I saw an exhibitor giving them away last year.”

Just imagine… billions of dollars are wasted every year - Most exhibitors only get a fraction of the return on investment. Why? Because they spend their money on giveaways and not repetitive message senders.

The bottom line is this – Our industry is widely misunderstood and misrepresented.

Promotional Products Work

Studies show that 7 out of 10 people who receive promotional items at trade shows can recall the name of the company that gave them the product. Sounds great, but that’s not all - not even close.

That’s just the tip of the iceberg. While most people would be thrilled at these results, they are missing one simple fact. If your prospect has a “RE-USABLE” product, your company gets seen over, and over and over again. The result? Your cost per impression goes down and your return on investment goes up. Retention is the key to maximizing effectiveness.

Mistake No. 3: Marketing to some customers and not others.

You need to get a handle on the demographics and buying patterns for customers in each of your sales channels. Customers who like to touch, feel and buy in the store are usually different than online buyers. Those customers are different from people who pick up the phone in response to catalogs. "Retailers shouldn't skimp by marketing to only one group," says Rick Segel, author of "Retail Business Kit for Dummies." Tailor your holiday promotions to motivate each of your customer segments. Of course, that's only possible if you've built a customer database and kept it up-to-date all year, so make it a priority year-round.

Want to Maximize Your Budget?

Think about this. Say you spend $1 on 1000 items. If 9 out of 10 get thrown away, only 1 in 10 is reused. Your cost per retention is $10 each and your $1000 got your message re-used by 100 people.

But if that $1 item is kept and reused by 5 out of 10 people, your cost per retention is $2 each and you have exposed 500 people on a repetitive basis for $1000. Hmmm, for $1000 if I had the choice of being seen by either 100 people or by 500 people over and over, what should I do?

Here it is again broken down:

So Why Doesn’t Everybody get Maximum Results?

The reality is, our industry (unfortunately) is more concerned about selling products than about maximizing their customers return.

Have you ever met a sales rep that has taken the time to educate you on what will and will not WORK FOR YOU, instead of trying to up sell you on what is most popular?

The second biggest problem is this. Customers go to catalogs, websites, and salespeople who simply sell products and not solutions.

Still not convinced? Go to any trade show promotional product website (not ours, poorrichardspromos.com of course) and you will find thousands of products. And most of these – about 9 out of 10 - if you think about it, people will never use. Astonishing, isn’t it?

What’s New?

I love this one. 99% of the time “What’s new?” is code for “What can I buy that no one will ever use.”

Remember the “Carabineer” craze? For 5 years everyone under the sun was selling these things. (You know, the clips that rock climbers use.) Not only was everyone selling them, but then they made 500 variations of the product.

They had Carabineers with compasses, Carabineers with flashlights, with key chains, and clocks built in. They came in plastic, aluminum and steel. And they became available in 90 colors!

Now tell me this. How many people do you know that carry one around on a daily basis? I bet the industry sold 5 billion dollars worth of them. 2 billion at trade shows. Why? Because it was new. The colors were cute. They matched the booth. “Oh it has a compass, this will come in handy if I get lost on my way to the office!”

Let’s face it. How many of us have used a compass in our life after boy scouts and girl scouts? The landfills are full of them. My point is this: There are items that have a high retention rate that have been around a long time and there is a reason they are the top items bought and sold. They simply WORK.

Let me be a bit more specific. Here are the top selling categories of promotion products and percentage of overall sales.

I have probably sold 5 million T shirts in my career. They are the highest retained item in the industry and there is no greater value.

Look around your desk: Mouse pad, paper cube, pens, highlighter, letter opener, carabineer (I’m joking), coffee mug, calendar, ruler.

Look in your house: bag clip, jar opener, refrigerator magnet, coffee mugs, tee shirts, hats.

Get in your prospect’s house, on their desk, in their briefcase, on their backs, and in their drawers. Every day items have the greatest return. Remind them of you products and services and you’ll micro brand them (we’ll discuss later). You’ll never buy a throwaway again and you’ll no longer see the promotional product budget as an expense. You’ll know what the Wise Buyer knows, you bought an asset.

RJ Williams, is the owner of Poor Richards Promos. Our goal is to help educate exhibitors and give them the tools to maximize their trade show results.

Email for free marketing tips, “52 Ways to Trade Show Wealth.” For a copy of our full report, “7 Deadly Mistakes Exhibitors Make When Purchasing Promotional Products for Trade Shows” visit www.poorrichardspromos.com