Momentum - Business to Business Online Magazine MOMENTUM March 2020 | Page 14

MARKETING
ANDREA SMITH/BRIAN STOTTLEMYER
Vernon Graphics & Promotions
832-274-5245
www.myvernon.biz/brianstottlemyer
Your business is about YOU,
but your promotional products
are about YOUR CUSTOMERS
H
ave you ever received a gift that seemed
like it was intended more for the person
who gave you the gift than it was for you?
A fruitcake perhaps? Only someone
who loves fruitcake themselves would
think to give another person fruitcake as a gift. When
purchasing promotional products for your clients,
remember; it’s not all about YOU, it’s about THEM.
Although your logo is about you, and your business
is about you, the gift (promotional product) you give,
should be about the client. If you want to make a lasting
impression that keeps your business top of mind, it’s
important to understand your customers as people, not
just consumers.
Will the item itself be useful to your clients? When
and where will your client use this item? Does it serve
a purpose beyond singing your company name to
them when they come across it in an all-American junk
drawer? Is it relevant to your client?
Let’s use a family doctor’s private practice for
example. Dr. Smith might think it’s a great idea to hand
out giant syringe shaped pens to his patients because
the item is relevant to his business. But is it relevant
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to his clients? Is little Johnny’s mother going to carry
something that could possibly be alarming to airport
security in her purse or pull it out to sign a check at the
local supermarket? Probably not. This item would likely
end up in little Johnny’s toybox. Does Dr. Smith want his
clients digging in the bottom of a toybox for his phone
number to schedule an appointment? Wouldn’t it make
much more sense for Dr. Smith to give his patients
personalized ice packs? It would be so handy for
Johnny’s mother to see Dr. Smith’s name and number at
the exact moment of nurturing a scuffed knee.
Go ahead and give your customers a koozie to use
at their next backyard barbecue IF you own a lawn care
business because a backyard barbecue is a perfect
time for conversations about how great your lawn looks.
Don’t give them lawn mower shaped mouse pads. The
only person who wants a lawn mower shaped mouse
pad is the owner of the lawn care business.
If you want your promotional products to be valued
as a thoughtful gift, as well as work for you as a business
card, make them relevant to the customers. Make them
think of your business when they’re actually using it.
Don’t think so much about you that your promotional
product ends up at the bottom of a toy box.