We’ve seen that there’s a vast range of promotional products available – with something for every conceivable opportunity – but you cannot escape the Return on Investment question. In other words, what value will giving the products out deliver? And intimately bound up with the answer to that question is, what will they cost?
The BPMA (British Promotional Merchandise Association) reveals that over 10% of organisations are spending more than £50,000 a year on promotional gifts. Which of course, means that the vast majority are spending less. Most typically spend between £1 and £5 per unit.
So how do you decide what to spend? It’s more than gut feel – although that shouldn’t be under-estimated – there is some science to it:
- Percentage method. Determine your budget by allocating a straightforward percentage of sales, margin, or other measurable metrics
- Goal method. Think about your goal, and then the promotional products required to achieve that goal
- What is affordable method? As the name implies, the budget is determined not by desired outcomes but by how much you can spare on the promotion i.e. it is considered an expense not an investment. There is nothing inherently wrong with this approach by the way – it’s very much a case of “horses for courses”
- Competitive method. Your spend is simply based on what your competitors spend. Don’t fall into the trap of being at the mercy of their spending patterns
In reality, your budgeting decision may end up being a pragmatic mix of these, but however you reach that decision, and whatever the agreed budget, remember to think carefully about why you are selecting any particular promotional products – and then decide how to allocate the budget
- lower cost, higher volume
- higher cost, lower volume
- premium
In each category you will find numerous options … and in each case think about the 5 key criteria:
- quality
- memorable
- relevance
- usefulness
- long shelf life
We’ll be writing further articles taking you through every step on the journey; guiding you through the important decisions; offering advice when you have options; and ensuring that you make the right choices.
Click on the infographic below to see all the areas which we’ll be covering, and how we’ll approach them.
You can click here to learn more about many of the brilliant promotional products that we have, here for our home page, or if you wish to contact us use the contact form or call us any time on 020 8391 3001 and we’ll be delighted to help you!