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How To Choose Promotional Products | Hawaii

How To Choose Promotional Products | Hawaii

Photo By snoopy63 at Shutterstock

When you’re looking for promotional products for your business you really want to match both expectations for your business and the expectations of your customers. When you’re ready to make a case for what you need to get the word out there are multiple things to think of. Hawaii presents its own unique consequences so you have to make sure you make the best decision possible.

So what are those factors for your business’s product decisions? We’re going to go over things like price point, type of product, where the promotional product is going to be used, and what you put on the product. We’ll go over each of those points to ensure you are doing the right thing to spread your message effectively without killing your marketing budget.

Price Point

When you’re looking at promotional products price should be a major starting consideration. Go too cheap for a professional giveaway and you’ll look like you don’t belong, spend too much for a mass giveaway and you may not see the returns you expect. We’ll start with under one dollar per item. Things that go for under a dollar are the most common giveaway you’ll see in most product giveaways. In general usage this will get you things like lanyards and pens. When you move up you start increasing quality or longevity of items but so will your costs.

Product Type

Your next major consideration for your promotional products should be the type of products. We all know the normal pens and lanyards as they’re fairly useful and will get a lot of visibility, but do you really want something that is considered that universal and sometimes forgetful? Lanyards are great for your employees and having pens to giveaway or to at least attempt to hold on and to be used by your employees help deliver a constant message. Another popular item that can come in many versions are air fresheners for giveaways. Although they may not get the use of a pen they are more visible for those who aren’t customers. Magnets are another major common item for customer giveaways that aren’t expensive and allow you to have something vibrant to have.

Apparel promotional products are higher end items that are great for visibility and may make your items more desirable by potential customers. If you work in an office setting or have drivers getting employees drinkware as promotional products can be a great way to have consistent messaging in your office, or can be used as something handy and unique for your potential customers. If you’re looking for office based items like binders, mouse pads, or calculators you will want to ensure that you’re spending an amount that makes sense, as many people use these as a “forget it” item but if you’re in certain industries they can work, and we’ll get to that next.

Application Of Product

In Hawaii the application of products you’re using for promotions will be critical to ensure their success. We’re in a laid back, tourist-like, area and you have to ensure that your promotional products are going to be taken seriously. When you’re looking for a product for the tourists if you’re in the hospitality industry, make sure that you’re using some items that are quick to use, easy to forget, don’t cost too much unless you’re in a luxury business, and that they work. The obvious choice for tourism would be ink pens, note pads, or apparel that you may give away or sell.

If you’re in a professional setting you may think “well I can use those same things” but you can expand to better fit your clientele. Do you work a lot with computers, why not a mousepad? Do you run competitions like employee of the month or best ideas, how about little awards. Do you interact with your vendors for sales visits, why not just load your brand onto your entire repertoire of your sales pitch. That would mean pens, business card holder, drink carrier, your shirt, your mousepad, your binder or portfolio, heck make your whole personality your brand with the right products.

Message On Product

Now comes the part of promotional products that people overlook. What exactly do you want on your product? Well the obvious thing may be your name and a phone number. But do you have enough space? Every item you look at will have a different size to fit your information and a differing character limit per line. That could lead to some decisions as to what you put on each line of your item. For example most pens can only do two lines, and most won’t allow you to put a single color logo. For apparel you can put almost whatever you want on if you’re doing across the entire front of the article, but if you’re doing a logo just on the left chest of the article you have to ensure that your logo is visible and text is legible.

What about colors? Your businesses should have two colors that they use at the very least. Try to ensure that products you get follow some sort of color and design standard, it doesn’t have to be particular but you ensure you have consistent messaging wherever possible. This will improve the chance that you’re taken seriously, increasing your credibility. Next you want to ensure that your color scheme melds well. The company you go through for your products will be able to tell you if your colors are compatible enough to be easy to read.

When you’re ready to purchase promotional products check out RPA Hawaii for all your printing and promotional needs. They offer everything from basic promo item giveaways to custom apparel choices and even do check printing for your businesses. They’ve been around since 1984 and will work with you to ensure that your promotional products and printing needs meet the needs of the Aloha State and your business.