Like so much in life, marketing moves forward at an astounding rate, with new strategies and methods seemingly emerging every other day. For small businesses making their first foray into the murky world of marketing this pace of change can be difficult to adapt to, and even more difficult to actively engage with and use to reap some advantage.

Thankfully, for small businesses struggling to acclimatise to the requirements of new marketing approaches and digital transformation, one of the oldest and most effective strategies is still in use today, and that’s promotional product marketing.

Related: How to improve brand awareness with promotional materials

Easy to implement and incredibly effective, promotional product advertising is a great option for small businesses. Sure, promotional giveaways and merchandising isn’t the flashiest of strategies, but studies show they’re still incredibly effective in boosting brand exposure, and ultimately increasing sales.

In fact, 90 per cent of recipients who receive a promotional product end up using the item on a weekly or daily basis, and 87 per cent are likely to keep the item for over a year. In this time and age, the exposure garnered for your brand could be significant, leading to increased revenue and turnover, as well as masses of exposure, and all for the price of a batch of customised pens, notebooks or key rings.

If you remain unconvinced by the power of promotional product marketing, here’s a list of the benefits small businesses can achieve through a considered promotional strategy.

They’re extremely affordable

While spending your business’ capital on promotional merchandise might feel a big gamble, investing in this sort of marketing strategy is considerably cheaper than other forms of branding and advertising. Provided you know your target market inside and out, there’s no reason a promotional campaign shouldn’t work in your favour, and pay dividends from a financial perspective.

Promotional marketing experts, Leighmans, believe the trick to a successful and affordable promotional campaign rests with choosing the perfect product for your audience.

The company says, ‘Whether you’re trying to reach 100 or 1,000 new customers, a successful promotional product campaign can be implemented very cheaply. Familiarise yourself with the needs of your customers, budget wisely and employ measurable KPIs to accurately calculate your prospective ROI.’

They’re tangible and trusted

Amid the huge number of marketing campaigns fighting for the attention of consumers, a brand’s identity and overall mission statement can often become muddied in the tussle. Consumers are quick to distrust but slower to trust brands, so you’ve got to get them on side from the off.

Promotional product campaigns are not only easy to implement, they’re easy to absorb from the perspective of the end consumer. Being given a physical product affords complete tangibility, and ensures your offering isn’t mired by excess. Plus, depending on the product you choose, it will slide right into the everyday life of the consumer, catching them unawares.

Promotional campaigns go the distance

Advertisers have always struggled with the longevity of a marketing campaign, with few managing to gain a permanent foothold in the public’s conscious. Other traditional forms of marketing and advertising, such as television and radio spots, lack the longevity needed to fully gain the attention and trust of consumers, but this is something promotional product campaigns can do very well.

By creating a batch of branded promotional products and giving them to potential consumers, you are effectively investing in a long-term marketing strategy that will reap excellent ROI over a long period, not necessarily in the short term. The products you giveaway may find themselves being lost at the bottom of a handbag or thrown in the bottom of a drawer, but eventually someone will read the brand name and want to find out more about what your business can offer them.