The unbeatable impact of promotional products

Companies have been using promotional products for several centuries. Yes — you read that correctly. The physical promotional gift is a tried and tested marketing instrument that works extremely well. But what makes promotional products so effective to this day? How does the psychology of giving work? And how do you make sure your promotional gift or employee gift has the greatest possible impact? We explain it in this post.

How does the psychology of giving work?

How do promotional products work? Why do they matter more than ever in the digital age?

Twing pro tips: how to get the most out of promotional products

How does the psychology of giving work?

Before we explain exactly how promotional products work, we really should know a few basics about the psychology of giving. Gifts have always been an essential part of our society and they even serve an evolutionary purpose (see Süddeutsche Zeitung). Giving helps people make a connection and build community. You can apply the same thing to your company.

Giving does not only bring joy, it also creates a closer bond between people.

Besides the stronger bond, and therefore client loyalty, handing over a gift has an interesting economic effect as well. A basic principle of moral behaviour (see Spektrum.de) shows that people help those from whom they have received help themselves. So if you give your client a gift, he or she is more inclined to return the gesture, in the form of a purchase from you for instance. In this context people speak of the reciprocity principle. It is a psychological principle anchored deep within us. You will know the everyday situation: when a colleague buys you a Coke, you automatically feel the need to make up for that kind gesture, to give something back.

How do promotional products work?

Quite apart from the fact that a gift of course gives your audience pleasure and earns you points for likeability, promotional products work differently from other marketing measures. Thanks to the fact that you can touch them, they are the only marketing instrument that speaks to several senses at once (see IFH Köln). That means your message is processed faster by your audience and stored more easily, so your brand stays in mind more strongly.

With a promotional product that is useful to your audience, you stay in their memory for longer.

This effect is stronger still when your audience uses your promotional product regularly in daily life. That way they come into contact with your brand again and again and build a psychological bond with your company.

Why do promotional products matter more than ever in the digital age?

You will know it too: wherever you look there are advertising posters, banners and screens. On the web and on social media we are positively flooded with advertising as well (see Wirtschaftswoche). For your company that means enormous competitive pressure and a constant fight for your audience's attention.

In the digital age, physical promotional products help you stand out from the mass of advertising messages more than ever.

This is exactly where physical promotional products can make the difference. Unlike an advert on Instagram, a promotional product can be touched and used in real life. That way you manage to stand out from the mass of advertising messages and draw attention to your company.

5 Twing tips: how to get the most out of your promotional products

If you want to win your audience's attention, the promotional product you use should of course show your company in the best light. Here are 5 valuable tips on how to do that well.

1. Choose a product that suits your brand and your values

The promotional product you use should carry your brand message or your brand promise authentically. So if you position yourself as a sustainable company, for instance, you should use an environmentally friendly product as well.

2. Pay attention to quality and a long service life

The quality of the promotional product transfers automatically to your company — for better or for worse. So do choose a high-quality product. Worth noting: an inferior promotional product harms your company more than it helps. And the longer the service life of the product, and therefore its use, the greater the brand awareness you achieve.

3. Make sure it is genuinely useful to your audience

A gift should give pleasure to the person receiving it. You achieve that if your audience finds the promotional product practical and can genuinely use it in daily life. Useless or ill-fitting promotional gifts (“as long as we give something”) are to be advised against in every case.

4. Match the design of the promotional product to your brand identity

A promotional product does more for you if it can clearly be traced back to your company. For your brand to be recognised properly, the finished product should therefore not only be useful and of good quality, it should also be in keeping with your corporate design. At the very least the logo should be printed or engraved in a fitting form.

5. Create the wow effect

Is the quality right? Is the product useful to your audience? Does the promotional gift or employee gift suit your brand? Then only the finishing touch is missing: the wow effect. You achieve it with a particularly unusual product idea, for instance. But it can also be a useful everyday product that is simply beautiful and finished in your company colours down to the detail.

If the wow effect is there, you have a very good chance of having got the most out of your promotional product. Your brand is then associated directly with positive feelings of joy and surprise, and stored that way in the memory. That has a lasting effect on building a positive image, and a positive return on investment on your promotional product follows.

Giving joy with Twing: whether several product ideas are already going through your head or you are still at a loss as to the right promotional product for your company, Twing is happy to advise you on the way to your individual promotional gift. Simply send us an enquiry without obligation or call us now. We look forward very much to hearing from you.

PS: do ask us for free samples of the product you have in mind. 😉