Is your company planning to attend a trade show at some point this year?

If so, ensuring that your booth is well-stocked with a variety of high quality promotional items is one of the smartest marketing investments you can make.

Not only do promotional products increase booth traffic during the show, they also boost brand awareness, brand perception, and customer loyalty long after the event has ended.

Promotional Items Draw Attention to Your Booth

There’s no denying that competition can be fierce in trade show environments. Expo halls can be chaotic and crowded, filled with hundreds of booths all vying for customer attention.

In other words, your booth needs all the help it can get! Set yourself up for success with branded promotional items, which have been shown to increase foot traffic to booths.

One study by Exhibit Surveys Inc. found that organizations who display promotional products at their trade show booths experience higher levels of traffic than those who do not.

Setting up an eye-catching, visually pleasing display of free branded products is a great way to capture interest and facilitate initial interactions with attendees.

Promotional Items Maximize Your Reach

Promotional items are great for more than just drawing attention to your booth during the trade show; they also maximize your reach after the event.

Did you know that 87% of people who receive a free promotional product keep it for longer than one year? This means that your product has the opportunity to make many impressions over time, both on the recipient and other people they interact with while using the product.

Consider how many people your brand might reach if someone sets up your promotional calendar on their office desk for a year? Or brings your promotional bag to the grocery store every Sunday? Or uses your promotional mug at the local coffee shop every morning?

In these scenarios, potentially hundreds of people will be exposed to your company logo every time the product is used. Powerful reach and long-lasting impacts are among the most compelling reasons to utilize promotional items at trade shows.

Promotional Items Strengthen Your Brand

People remember brands that give them something of value for free – it’s as simple as that. Below are a few compelling statistics about promotional items and brand image.

Out of all people who receive free promotional products:

• 9 in 10 are able to recall the brand
• 8 in 10 are able to recall the specific messaging
• 8 in 10 conduct research about the brand

Additionally, 82% of people develop a more favorable impression of the brand after receiving the free item. If you want trade show attendees to remember your company’s name and leave the event with a positive impression of your brand, promotional items are a great way to achieve that goal.

Promotional Items Encourage Future Sales

What does all of the above data mean for your company’s sales potential? The increased reach, brand recognition, and brand image that you’ll gain from promotional items can be highly effective at encouraging future sales.

A whopping 83% of consumers say that they’re more likely to do business with a brand after receiving a promotional product from them.

Think about it: if you hand out a free product that provides real value to a trade show attendee, there’s a good chance they’ll remember your brand the next time they’re in the market for a product or service you provide.

Promotional items are a great addition to your overall marketing strategy, especially if you are planning to attend trade shows or other events. The Markey Group has access to more than 900,000 promotional items – get in touch with us today to learn more!