It’s Autumn and You Should Be Thinking Spring Promotional Items

The best promotions are those that are planned in advance, and that includes choosing and getting your artwork prepared for your spring promotions. If you haven’t started thinking about your spring advertising yet, here are a few hints and tips to get you started.

1. Plan your goals first.

The end of the fiscal year is a good time to set up your goals for the upcoming year. Do you want to increase the number of customers that you serve? Expand into another neighborhood, town or area? Add a new product line? Increase customer retention and repeat orders? There are different ways to use promotional items and advertising to accomplish each of these goals, but before you can start planning, you need to know where you’re aiming.

1. Choose the best strategies to accomplish your goals.

Once you’ve decided on your priorities and goals for advertising this year, you can start devising strategies to reach them. While there are many different types of promotions that can be tailored to fit each goal, these are a few types that fit particularly well with specific goals:

-          increase customer retention and repeat purchases

Loyalty programmes are among the best ways to increase customer retention and repeat purchases. When you give your customers a chance to earn specific promotional items by making purchases, you’ll be appealing to their desire to get something for nothing. It’s also very easy to track the response to this kind of promotional items strategy.

-          attract new customers

While loyalty programmes can attract new customers, they’re best at keeping existing ones. Instead, you might offer promotional items to those people who sign up with new accounts or make a first purchase from you. Direct mail with a coupon that can be redeemed at your shop or business for the specified promotional items is a great way to spread the word about your business.

-          Expand your service geographically

Direct mail is one of the best ways to introduce your business into a new geographic area. Send out a direct mailing explaining your service and include a small promotional item like a refrigerator magnet or picture frame as a gift.

1. Most promotional items suppliers will have spring catalogues out in the early winter so that you have plenty of time to order your gifts and rewards for loyalty programmes. While there are always new items coming out, you can get a jump on your planning by sifting through last year’s spring offerings to get ideas.

1. Take full advantage of professional help.

The best promotional items suppliers employ professionals who have years of experience in helping companies design promotional items and programmes. Take full advantage of the knowledge offered by the art department and sales representatives.