As a marketing professional, you probably don’t need to be told that branded promotional products are big business.
Companies today devote millions of their annual marketing budget to corporate-branded swag, apparel, and various other promo items for prospects, customers, partners, and employees. According to an article on LinkedIn, companies allocate 15% to 20% of their marketing budget to events, trade shows or external branding, a large portion of which is earmarked for promotional products. In the U.S. alone, that translates to between $21.2 billion and $26 billion annually, depending on the source; worldwide, that figure is far higher.
That is a lot of money. Yet shockingly, despite the huge budgets devoted to this space, many companies have no idea what promotional materials they currently have in inventory, where those items are, or how much of that inventory has actually been handed out.
Of course they know how many POs have been cut for promotional merchandise, and they know how much they’ve spent down to the penny, but they have relatively little idea how that material is actually being used or whether it’s contributing to the company’s bottom line. In meetings with prospective customers, when we ask how they manage their branded merchandise, the answers we get reflect a lot of uncertainty. “I think it’s stored somewhere in our office,” or “our promo house shipped it all to a warehouse.”
When asked how it’s being used, most of the responses mention generic event giveaways and vague marketing campaigns. As for internal use, it seems that “everyone has some stuff,” but very few can point to specific programs or strategic campaigns that use branded promotional items such as apparel to spread the brand and increase morale.
Clearly businesses need to manage these assets more effectively to optimize their promotional items budget and reduce—or even eliminate—waste. The key is to gain control over the process, proceed cautiously and deliberately, and produce items more efficiently to ensure you don’t end up with excess inventory or get caught short and end up paying rush charges to make up for the deficits. This requires adopting a more strategic approach to branded promotional items, coupled with a healthy dose of discipline to follow that strategy closely.
Make the Most of Your Branded Promotional Merchandise
The following strategies can help you maximize the impact of your promotional branded products budget and strike a balance between cost efficiency and effectiveness.
Shop Judiciously
Don’t get seduced by the latest fads. Purchase products that your target audience—whether customers, prospects, partners, or employees—will actually use. This could be something like tote bags, drinkware, office supplies, or tech accessories. If you’re securing items for an upcoming event, look for products that attendees will find particularly interesting and memorable.
It’s equally important to buy items that align with your corporate values. For instance, if sustainability is a priority for your company, focus on eco-friendly products that will reflect well on your brand.
Finally, to ensure the greatest possible selection, work with multiple vendors and seek their advice when looking for a certain type of item. Leverage their expertise—they know the inventory better than you do. Using state-of-the-art software such as Facilis to source high-quality swag can help broaden your horizons.
Buy in Bulk
Once you’ve decided on a purchase, and if projected usage warrants it, try to buy the items in bulk. Many suppliers offer significant discounts for higher quantity orders. Seasonal promotions also present cost-saving opportunities; take advantage of these special deals or, conversely, order your items during off-peak periods to avoid paying a premium.
Base Your Purchases on Needs, Not Assumptions
Buying in bulk sometimes presents challenges by forcing you to project consumption patterns. This is particularly true when purchasing apparel and trying to determine the proper sizes.
There are ways around this issue. Here’s a purchasing hack that can pay significant dividends provided you have a flexible vendor who is willing to work with you.
Let’s use branded T-shirts as an example. You want to buy 1,000 shirts to take advantage of bulk pricing. Normally, you would have to decide on the proper mix of sizes—so many XL, so many large, etc. The problem with this approach is two-fold: first, you’ll need to store these 1,000 shirts somewhere, and second, chances are you’ll run out of one or two sizes while being overstocked on others, leading to waste.
One way to avoid this scenario is to pay for the 1,000 shirts up front but only take delivery on, say, 250 each quarter. This allows you to order a combination of sizes that reflects your actual usage over the past several months. Or, if you have an event planned in a specific region and want to use the shirts as a giveaway, you can order sizes that are optimized for the people in that area of the world—larger sizes for the U.S. and some European countries, for instance, while smaller sizes for certain Asian countries.
This requires a vendor who is willing to sell you all 1,000 shirts at the discount price and silkscreen 250 at a time over the course of the year, but they are out there.
Centralize Inventory
Once you’ve purchased the branded merchandise, you need to store and manage it. Keeping it all in a marketing closet at corporate headquarters, where people can grab what they need when they need it, isn’t really a solution.
The best approach is to centralize storage, ideally through your promotional vendor. Orders should be routed through a single system so consumption can be easily tracked. Better yet, inventory could be monitored online via software, ideally through a system that would proactively alert you when levels drop below a certain threshold. The ability to print real-time reports detailing what’s in stock would be a definite plus.
In addition to handling storage, the right vendor would also offer comprehensive shipping services to deliver materials wherever it needs to go, quickly and efficiently. Not only will they have access to the best rates, the ideal partner will also have the ability to ship internationally without incurring customs or other regulatory delays. They are the experts; take advantage of their skillset.
Track and Measure Impact
To maximize your budget, you need to know where your investments are having the greatest impact. This means tracking leads and tracing them back to their origin so you can tell which events or campaigns using branded promotional items are generating actual or potential income.
If you are particularly ambitious, you could even conduct A/B testing with campaigns using different products to determine which delivers better results. This can guide your future purchases and ensure your precious marketing dollars are being spent on items that resonate with prospects, customers, partners, and even employees.
If you’re looking for even more direct and unambivalent conclusions, a simple survey or other feedback tools shared with recipients can help you gauge how useful or memorable recipients found your branded products.
The Right Partner Can Help You Optimize Spending
Maximizing your budget isn't just about getting the cheapest products—it’s about selecting items that align with your goals, engage your audience, and generate measurable results. This requires engaging professionals who can help with the procurement, storage, delivery, and monitoring of your branded promotional material.
With 25 years of experience, OnFulfillment possesses the expertise needed to help you get the most out of your promotional items budget—all while reducing or even eliminating waste. In fact, if we can’t reduce your obsolete branded swag inventory by 20%, we’ll store it for free.
Want to hear more about how we can help you manage your branded merchandise and optimize your marketing dollars? Let's work together.
