Gareth Parkin

Promotional Items Primer

If you are considering promotional items or gifts for your next advertising campaign then this articles can provide you with a brief summary of what to look for.

If you’ve never had to order promotional items before, it can be a little bit confusing. Here’s what you need to know to make the whole process of choosing, pricing and ordering promotional gifts for your business and promotional needs.

Where to find Promotional Items

One of the best places to start when you’re choosing promotional items is on the internet. There are many UK businesses who specialize in customizing and selling promotional items and other promotional items. If you’ve been thinking of promotional items as printed pens and coffee mugs, you’ll be surprised at the wide variety of promotional items available. Poring over the online catalogs is a good way to come up with ideas for promotional items. Many of the best promotional items firms also employ sales representatives who know the market well and can help you choose and customize the promotional items that you order. The top firms also employ their own art departments to create artwork for your projects based on your design.

What Kind of Promotional Items to Choose

The best promotional items have several things in common:

-         they are items that your intended gift recipients will find useful in their daily lives

-         they can be customized with your name and/or message

-         they fit your promotional budget

-         they are aligned in some way with your business or message

The reason that business gifts like printed pens and customized coffee mugs are so popular with those who buy promotional items is that they fit all of the above criteria for nearly any business. In addition to those general guidelines, though, you should also choose promotional items that are appropriate for your intended use or promotional campaign. Printed plastic pens may be appropriate to hand out at the till in your store, but if you’re wooing a corporate account, you’ll need something with a bit more oomph.

How Much Promotional Items Cost

Reading the pricing charts for promotional items may seem like trying to read a foreign language if you’re not used to them. Generally, the charts will list the price per piece dependent on the quantity that you order – the more you order, the less you’ll pay per piece. The price of the item nearly always includes printing in one color on each item. You’ll pay an additional cost per piece for each additional color. In addition to the per piece cost, you’ll pay a one-time set-up fee for the entire order. Usually, that fee is per color used in the printing process.

Printing Area

Promotional products have a designated “printing area”. The size of that printing area will be listed on the product’s pricing page. Some products have more than one printing area. Printing on more than one area will generally add to the cost of your order.

Timing Your Order

Most companies that provide promotional items to businesses do not manufacture or stock all of the items that they sell. Since they have to order the items from the manufacturer and complete the printing before filling your order, they generally require at least 14 days lead time for an order. There are some items that they can turn around more quickly, sometimes with as little as a week’s notice. Short notice like that, though, will severely limit the choices that you have.

Article Tags: Promotional Items

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