Despite late-season snow and cold snaps in the Midwest,
summer is right around the corner. Summer means beach sports, trips to the
pool, camping, barbeques, traveling, and more. Consider these marketing ideas
to make your company part of your customers’ summer fun!
The Beach, the Pool,
and Waterparks– When even the hottest of summer heat keeps people indoors,
beaches and pools are guaranteed to be filled with people socializing, playing
games and enjoying the sun. They’re also bringing promotional products like coolers, towels, sunscreen,
beach games, flip-flops, sunglasses and chairs with them. All of these are great
customer loyalty gifts, event giveaways, new client incentives, or a gift with
purchase that are sure to be used ALL summer!
Camping – Across
the country, families and youth organizations will hitch up campers, put up
tents, roast marshmallows and spend time enjoying the great outdoors. They will
also be using can coolers, barbeque sets, drinkware, sunscreen, compasses and
insect repellant with a company logo on them. With some well-placed giveaways
or gifts with purchase, that logo could be YOURS, guaranteeing customers
associate you with their fond outdoor memories.
Summer Safety – Summer
fun can be enjoyed well into the PM thanks to long days, late dusks, and cool
evenings. Help keep bikers, joggers and children at play safe in these summer
evenings with visibility promotional products while making your customers associate your
brand with community impact and safety!
Summer Sponsorships and Donations
Summer approaching also means an increase in sporting
events, music festivals, car shows, community picnics and many other
opportunities for sponsorships. Here are some tips for improving your
visibility at sponsored events and increasing the value of your donations:
Product
Donations –If the event allows, take advantage of the opportunity to donate
products that are being used to promote the event or given as a registration
gift. Always donate products that will be used in-event (such as lanyards or
water bottles for a run, balls or ball markers for golf tournaments, baseball
caps or wristbands for a softball team, binoculars for professional sports
events, tote bags for car shows and festivals), as they are much more likely to
then be used post-event. Any promotional product donations should have your logo AND the
event logo – commemorating the event makes any product received more meaningful
to the recipient.
Event
Promotion – Any time you have a table or booth at an event, always promote
it through your social media channels with a link or tag back to the event,
talking about any in-event promotions or giveaways (IE: Join Safety Insurance
at Summer Music Jam, where you can get a free 2013 car buyer’s guide and enter
for a chance to WIN 1 of 5 awesome prizes!).
Your
Table/Booth – Summer events present an amazing opportunity to showcase your
brand and share your message where every member of the audience has something
in common. Make your booth visually appealing and as easy to identify as
possible with bright and attractive signage, branded table throws, and matching
imagewear for all of your employees and volunteers. Take this opportunity to
have another giveaway for anyone that walks by, along with a gift to give as an
incentive for a desired action, and make sure both are prominently displayed.
Efficient Advertising
Looking to stretch
your advertising dollars? Consider investing in promotional products that carry a high
number of impressions per month and extended shelf life. According to a recent
study by the Advertising Specialties Institute, imprinted bags (totes, backpacks, gym
bags) and writing instruments are extremely efficient ways to spread your message,
with an average cost of just one tenth of one cent per impression!
Need a medium with
long staying power? Consider beach towels – in addition to having a very
large imprint area, people tend to keep beach towels for a very long time. For this reason, towels are great for (and are more likely to be used with)
commemorative messages.
1.
Guess The Flavor/Scent – promotional hand sanitizer
sprays, lip balms, mints, and even pens are available with a variety of
scents/flavors. Turn this giveaway into a guessing game by asking customers to
guess the flavor/scent for an incentive (coupon, discount, etc). A credit union
did this at a baseball game and had a huge
response – customers were sending in guesses for weeks following the game,
generating a lot of extra traffic! 
2.
Put Them
Together – This is a great way to drive traffic to a physical location
after an event or drive traffic to a table or booth at a tradeshow/run/sporting
event. Customers receive the accessory to a product (such as a sanitizer sleeve
or lip balm sleeve), but have to come to you to get the product that goes
inside, along with a coupon or other special offer. What else works? Distributing the cap only to a bike bottle (several
are available for around $1) for runs and races, encouraging participants to
come in for the rest of their water bottle and an in-store discount. 
3. Crossing Channels – Promotional products
can enhance and improve your digital marketing and help you drive traffic to an
Advergame, mobile landing page, or to your Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, or Pinterest pages. You can even use
promotional products to boost app downloads/purchases. 
