7 Questions to Lead a Promotional Product Marketing Campaign

Author: Joy

Jun. 16, 2025

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7 Questions to Lead a Promotional Product Marketing Campaign

You know you want to promote your business with promotional products, but where should you start? Remember that promotional products are a part of marketing, and any good marketing campaign starts with one thing: a written strategy.

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Before you order a single product, you need a strategy in place first. This will serve as your playbook for the entire campaign, making it much more likely that you’ll get results from your promotional products.

The better questions you ask, the better your promotional product marketing strategy will be. Ask yourself these seven questions to design an ROI-positive promotional product campaign.

1. Who is my audience?

Who are you speaking to? Your brand isn’t for everyone, so it’s essential to define your target demographics first. Depending on the campaign, you might be going after internal employees, potential leads, or even media outlets.

If you haven’t already made customer personas, now’s the time to write them. You’ll need to consult this persona when it’s time to order your promotional products. This preparation ensures that you’re ordering products that your audience actually finds exciting and valuable. Because the more people use these products, the more powerful your campaign will be.

2. What are my goals?

What are you trying to do here? Do you need brand awareness at a conference? Are you trying to bulk up your list? Or are you trying to persuade a prospect to sign a contract?

Define what, exactly, this campaign should do for your brand. An overall goal like “brand awareness” is good, but you also need to ask yourself, “How do I measure brand awareness?”

And that means defining quantitative metrics for your goal. For example, if your goal is brand awareness, you might choose metrics like:

Booth visits
Products passed out
Social media mentions

If you’re having a hard time measuring results, consider adding a custom URL or QR code to your products. This way, you can attribute every visit to that URL as coming from your promotional products.

Every campaign has a start and end date, so schedule a follow-up meeting with your team to evaluate the campaign’s performance. Track your metrics to see what did well and what needs to change. This type of summation meeting is the best way to design better product campaigns in the future!

3. What are my competitors doing?

Every good marketing strategy looks at the competitive landscape. If your competitors are also handing out promotional products, it’s important to know what they’re doing.

For example, if your competitors are giving away seed pods, you probably shouldn’t do that. You want to stand out, so do a little recon to ensure your promotional products are different from the competition.

4. When and how will I use promotional products?

What are the particulars of using these promotional products?

When will you give them out? Set start and end dates for using these particular promotional products. By defining your campaign dates, you’ll be able to match ROI attribution. It also helps you set solid deadlines for ordering products, which can save you a lot of money on last-minute preparation and shipping fees.

You also need to define how you’ll use your promotional products. Do you hand them out at events? Are they leave-behinds to sweeten the deal after a business meeting?

Make a plan for how you’ll store, ship, and manage the products. For example, if you’re sending one rep to a conference with 10+ boxes of bulky T-shirts, that might be too much to handle. In this situation, you could also use QR codes for gift redemption to reduce onsite logistical issues (which can also help you track goals).

5. What’s my budget?

How much money do you have to spend on this campaign? You need to see a return on your investment, so it’s essential that you minimize expenses where it matters. For example, if you pay $20 for a really nice promotional item but the client only spends $10 with your business, it doesn’t make good financial sense. Make sure your per-product costs are significantly lower than your average order or contract value.

You’ll need to order the right amount of promotional products, too. If you order too few, you’ll lose out on a lot of potential connections. But if you order too many, you’ll waste your budget and have boxes of unwanted products lying around.

It’s hard finding a good balance. That’s why it’s so important to work with an experienced promotional products provider like Boundless. We put our marketing hats on and learn about your goals, helping you order the right amount of products to maximize your budget.

For more Promotional Gift manufacturerinformation, please contact us. We will provide professional answers.

6. What should people do next?

So, you’ve done the work and passed out hundreds of yoga mats to potential customers. That’s wonderful!

… But now what?

Every promotional product should pull customers through to the next step. Don’t let this be the end of the relationship! Make sure your products have a call to action. That might be going online to play a game, signing up for your list, or requesting a demo from your website.

7. Does this item effectively represent my brand?

Before you order a promotional product, you need to make sure it represents your brand. If you want your message to be more serious, it might not make sense to pass out fidget spinners, right? Tone and style matter here.

Always choose a promotional product that makes sense to your company’s branding. For example, if you’re an eco-friendly brand, instead of passing out leather-bound notebooks, go for recycled paper notebooks instead.

You should also ask your promotional product partner about customization options too. Be sure to choose products that come in your company’s colors—and always remember to add your brand messaging!

Ask the right questions with promotional products

In a world overrun with digital content and ads, promotional products are a strategic way to connect with consumers in real life. Whether you’re trying to deepen your bonds with employees, customers, or vendors, you need a solid marketing strategy in place to see ROI. Knowing the answers to these seven questions will ensure your promotional product marketing strategy is as airtight as possible.

7 frequently asked questions about corporate gifting - Sendoso

KEY POINTS

Apply marketing solutions to real-world account-based marketing campaigns.
Overcome hesitation about corporate gifting.
Don’t shy away from sending gifts to the corner office.

[seewhysendoso]When it comes to jump-starting sales performance and developing healthy pipeline, there’s no question: Sendoso is a must-have.The leading Sending Platform™ offers endless B2B marketing solutions using automated corporate gifting. That’s exactly what Automox’s senior manager of account-based marketing, Laura Partyka, calls it. Now, she’s doling out expert advice on how to rack up the wins with Sendoso.“Anything unexpected that arrives, that is the sweet spot,” she says. “It’s why I brought in Sendoso in the first place.”

Account-based marketing advice from the expert

Automox is a B2B IT cybersecurity company. The company hit record pipeline numbers in one quarter, totaling $6 million, after implementing Sendoso.Do the math. That’s $500,000 in pipeline per week for sales development to turn around and convert into revenue.With Sendoso in their toolbelt, Automox is now an industry leader in connecting with their tech-focused targets and hitting their quotas. They’ve learned what closes deals quicker. Automox recently crushed marketing goals with a Star Wars–themed marketing campaign.So if you’re looking to bring on a Software-as-a-Service marketing solution and want to hear more from a company that has learned some lessons along the way, read on.Partyka is answering the most frequently asked questions about using Sendoso. She’s also revealing her best practices for account-based marketing strategies and gaining ground in busy industries.

FAQ: Why do I need to use corporate gifts?

“This is a critical tool for our account-based marketing program,” Partyka says. “We use Sendoso to get in the door to companies who may not realize we have something incredibly valuable to offer.”Anyone can send a branded t-shirt or pen.Instead, see what happens when you send a custom gift with thought and care. It can really make a prospect take notice of your messaging and want to hear more.It’s Partyka’s top tip.“Anything that’s personalized, that’s probably the number one thing.”

FAQ: Can’t I just ship corporate gifts myself?

Bad idea. Automox had the same struggle before using Sendoso.“Team members were manually shipping items from their home and storing items at their home,” says Partyka, recalling the problems. “Nothing was tracked in Salesforce, and there was no visibility of ROI.”Automox was won over by the thousands of gifts and eGifts available through Sendoso with just a few clicks. Sendoso handles address confirmation, warehousing, and both local and international shipping.“Sendoso gifts just look so cool, and the delivery is awesome,” she says.

FAQ: Is Sendoso for marketing or sales? Who should own it?

More than 100 Automox employees can access gifting with Sendoso. From business development to human resources, they’re all using Sendoso to build relationships.It started much smaller than that.Partyka’s team in account-based marketing were the original users. But she grew the user base because of Sendoso’s ability to help hit goals.A champion mindset is key, so she hosts regular trainings with examples to demonstrate specific Sendoso achievements.“Every Thursday, we have a sales boost. We bring everybody together, we do some sort of enablement message, and Sendoso is often a topic,” she says. “We support 32 sales teams throughout North America, so every single day they’ve got multiple questions.”But she welcomes those questions. Now, users are getting more comfortable and more creative.“Everything from ‘I think this is a great touch from the catalog, can we add it?’ to ‘I want to get some extra funds to try something out,’” she says.

FAQ: How do my teams start using Sendoso?

“Just try and test,” says Partyka. “Don’t be so rigorous, because you’re not going to know what works unless you try it. Then you’re going to find out what sticks.”Sendoso is great as a conversation starter for prospecting, a reminder to continue discussions, and a way to celebrate customer success.Partyka urges managers to give teams a little bit of freedom to find out what works for them.“I give [reps] the link to the catalog and say, ‘Whatever you want to do, test it out, try it out,’” Partkya says. “The biggest advice I would give is just to use it.”

FAQ: How do I break the stigma around corporate gifts?

Partyka hears this kind of discussion a lot. But she pushes back.“Any time I train a new user, I always address the elephant in the room: If you feel weird about sending a gift, don’t,” she says However, “People love getting gifts! When was the last time you got a gift? You loved it, let’s be honest!”That said, some industries, such as legal and finance, do adhere to gifting policies. No worries; Sendoso works within those parameters too,“Don’t be worried about people not being able to accept gifts. Just choose nominal gifts,” Partyka says. “Choose something that’s $25 or less. You still have options to send them.”

FAQ: What business gifts get the most attention?

“I am such a big fan of physical gifts. I think they stand out more than anything,” Partyka says. “The physical wow factor is what I think makes Sendoso so special.”The Sendoso Direct marketplace has thousands of options that fit every taste, mood, or occasion. Automox hit a home run when they connected with their target accounts over Star Wars. It was part of what kickstarted their $6 million in pipeline in a single quarter.

FAQ: What other corporate gifting tips do you have?

Don’t overthink it, says Partkya. Here’s her expert advice for sending gifts that can turn opportunities into deals:

Personal gifts make a difference.
Give unexpectedly. It will brighten someone’s day.
Try new things. If you have an idea, go for it.
Every department can use Sendoso in a different way. Explore options.
Insert gifts into every stage of the sales cycle.
If you have a deal closing, send a gift.
Don’t be timid. Be bold and original with gifts.
Let teams use their budgets however they see fit.
Throw around gift ideas with your colleagues.
Use metrics to learn what works and what doesn’t.

And Partyka’s favorite tip: Don’t shy away from sending gifts to the corner office.“I’ve gotten so many opportunities from big companies from sending donuts to C-suites! It works!”

For more information, please visit Custom Gift Manufacturer.

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