Imagine accepting a delivery at your work for an order you placed for promotional products. You confidently open the box only to realise you’ve received the wrong items.
You check the order confirmation and realise you made a mistake when entering the product code. You now have to contact the supplier and wait for them to send you the correct items. This is a frustrating experience and can be costly for your company.
Ordering promotional products is an important job. These products will connect with your customers, and if you order the wrong ones, you negatively affect the company’s marketing strategy.
That’s why knowing what mistakes you can make ahead of time can help you avoid them. Luckily, this article is here to help, so keep reading and learn.
Ignoring Your Audience
The first mistake you can make when ordering merch is ignoring your audience. You’re thinking, “We’re buying promotional products for our customers; how can we ignore them?”
Ignoring your audience is not considering what your customer base will enjoy. For example, buying a random promotional item because it’s first on the list and you’re very busy won’t do a good job connecting your company with clients.
You want your products to have an impact on your customers. If you don’t offer things your audience will like, your brand image will suffer. People will either quickly forget your brand or remember it because of your poor promotional products.
Placing Late Orders
Placing late orders happens sometimes; we get it. However, if you make it a habit, it’s bad for two primary reasons.
First, you risk getting stuck with whatever the company has left. This can leave you with fewer choices or lower quality promotional items, negatively impacting your marketing strategy.
Second, if you’re buying more bespoke promotional products, they will take longer to manufacture. As such, you won’t get your products in time when you place a late order.
Not Ordering Enough Promotional Merchandise
It’s easy to underestimate how popular your product will be, so a good rule of thumb is always to order more than you think. It’s a small investment that can pay off big in the long run.
It’s not a waste because you can store any leftovers for another marketing occasion. However, it’s much worse if you don’t order enough because some clients will miss out. This could leave them with a negative image of your company.
Ordering Promotional Products Without Help
When companies purchase promotional products, they sometimes assume it’s quicker, easier, or cheaper to order them online instead of using a promotional product expert. Ordering promo products without help can be risky. Here are some of the potential problems you may encounter.
You May Pay Too Much
Many promotional product companies require you to order a minimum number of items. This can drive up the cost of your order, especially if you only need a few products.
You May Not Get the Right Product
When you order online, it’s easy to make mistakes. You may accidentally order the wrong products or the wrong quantity. This can lead to delays and frustration.
You May Not Get Good Customer Service
If you have problems with your order, getting help from a promotional product company can be difficult. They may provide lousy customer service and be slow to respond to your emails or phone calls.
To avoid these problems, working with a promotional product expert is a good idea. They can help you choose the right products, get the best prices, and ensure that you have a positive experience.
Buying Cheap Promotional Products
It is essential to buy good-quality merchandise regardless of where you obtain it. Many companies make the mistake of buying cheap merchandise to save money, which can hurt their reputation and brand. Cheap promotional items are often poorly made and don’t last long.
Instead, it is essential to go through a reputable brand merchandising company and insist on seeing samples of the promotional products you are considering. This way, you can be sure you are getting good quality products that your customers will enjoy for a long time.
If your audience sees you’re using cheap products, they may think your company is not reputable or you do not care about your customers. However, if your customers know that you are using high-quality products, they will be more likely to trust your company and do business with you in the future.
Not Having More Than One Logo
Some promotional merchandise is better suited to vertical logos, and others to horizontal. If you don’t have more than one iteration of your company logo, you will either be limited in which merch you can select or your logo will print incorrectly.
Another issue is if your logo is the same colour as the corporate merchandise. This is not ideal because your logo won’t be visible.
Instead, you should have another logo variant in a different colour. This gives you more options when choosing a promo product to attach to your brand.
Being Too Wordy
When handing out promotional gifts to people, you want those gifts to include enough details that the client can find you again. For instance, you might want to include the company logo, name, phone number, email address, physical address, etc.
If you’ve chosen smaller promo products, it may not fit all your provided information. However, if they make it work, it might be too small to be easily legible.
Buy Custom Printed Promotional Products
There are many things to consider when ordering promotional products. If you want to ensure your merch is effective in helping you achieve your marketing goals, you need to avoid common mistakes. Some mistakes include forgetting who your audience is, ordering without seeing a sample first, ordering too late or not enough stock, and not having a suitable logo for the products you’ve chosen.
If you’re looking for high-quality promotional merchandise, choose from our collection of branded mugs. At Prince William Pottery, our experts can use your logo to create bespoke promotional gifts your customers will use and appreciate.
Related Article: Are Promotional Products Worth the Investment?
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