Promo Products as a complement to your digital strategy

We all want more clicks, likes and traffic.  Companies have invested heavily in to the digital marketplace to build brand ambassadors and drive revenue to the extent that traditional Ad spending - T.V., print, etc - has been pushed aside for digital content and social media responses.

I would contest that digital-centric marketing can be pushed to higher levels by mixing in message builders such as promotional products to help drive business.  Look to bloggers as a perfect example of how brands have leveraged branded items to push recognition through blog programs.  My wife is the epitome of this, her website www.missinformationblog.com was built as a recipe/DIY site that made recommendations and reviews of certain things.

Brands would send branded merchandise to her as a thank you gift or an invitation to check out their products - and drive viewers back to their sites.  Recommendation selling in the consumer products industry has increased due to mixing promo with digital to increase sales.

Want to blow up a hashtag - try a T-Shirt, you get a walking billboard for your brand and it's message.  Better yet, post to Instagram someone wearing your hashtag shirt in public, then you have something cool.

Don't forget branded items folks - remember that you can't keep a banner advertisement on someone's desk every day to remind them of your awesomeness!  For more info, check out this article in Forbes on Promo Items: