It’s often said that the British Empire was founded on cups of tea – so it makes perfect sense for you to build your own using vessels that carry it. Branded drink-ware has long been at the top of promotional product lists and continues to dominate the industry, largely due to the eternal appeal and consistent practicality of the mugs themselves.
Promotional Mugs for your Business
Here are a few tips on how you can leverage the power of promotional mugs to wow potential clients and partners, reward those who have already opened a business relationship with you and enhance your company’s standing among everyone that your marketing campaign reaches. Follow these steps and you can’t fail to elevate your business to the next level – all thanks to the humble but effective mug.
1) Get your foot in the door with prospects
Consumers are inherently more conducive to doing business with a name that they recognise. If you’re starting out from scratch or haven’t yet built up a reputation to rival that of your competitors, one way to establish trust and create a positive impression is by making yourself a household name – literally. If you give free mugs emblazoned with your company name and logo, you’ll ensure that your credentials are seen by the recipient every time they open their kitchen cupboard. Over time, that will subconsciously engineer an understanding between you – even if they’ve never done business with you before.
2) Set the tone with new leads
It’s a simple fact that the majority of people are suspicious of sales pitches, making them more predisposed towards saying “no” than “yes”. One way in which you can encourage leads to take a more positive view of your company is by setting the tone with a friendly gift before any transactions have even taken place. It’s no surprise that top diplomats from countries all over the world routinely open their negotiations by exchanging gifts, since it sets a precedent for cooperation. If it’s good enough for the UN, it’s surely good enough for your business.
3) Reward repeat customers
Securing repeat custom is the cornerstone upon which the continued success of your business rests, so you shouldn’t reserve your generosity only for prospective clients, but also ones who have already given you their custom. This can either take the form of sending out a branded mug on a special occasion (such as Christmas, the opening of a new store or, if you have the information to hand, the birthday of the recipient themselves) or by offering them additional value on their next purchase by including the mug as a freebie. This latter avenue is especially effective, since it encourages them to renew their interest in your company again.
4) Encourage loyalty among employees
It’s a good idea to take care of your own staff, as well as those partaking of your services. After all, there’s no better advertisement for your business than word of mouth, and who is more well-placed to spread that word than those working inside your own office? Distributing printed mugs among the entire workforce will help to establish your company as a caring and compassionate one which rewards its employees – and expects they show loyalty in return. Retaining your best talent and reducing staff turnover is a valuable but often overlooked objective of promotional items, too.
5) Include in promotional bundles
Given their relative affordability compared to some other promotional items, branded mugs make ideal ingredients in a promotional bundle. You could tailor the gifts to your unique target market, thus increasing the perceived value of the bundle and setting your company apart from its competitors. For example, a mug could be partnered with a notebook, pen and USB stick for a comprehensive office bundle, or an umbrella, ice scraper and winter wear for one intended to be sent out during the colder periods of the year. In either scenario, the brand consistency and blanket practicality ensure that the bundles will reflect positively on your company.
6) Access the millennials market
If standard mugs are the traditional choice when it comes to promotional drink-ware, travel mugs are their younger, hipper and more forward-thinking cousins. Millennials in particular are fond of these highly practical accessories, since they offer the chance to get their caffeine fix on the go (conducive to a hectic modern lifestyle) and care for the environment by eschewing single-use coffee cups (environmentalism is the hottest of topics right now) in one fell swoop. As the sector of society that will soon become the biggest spenders, you can’t offer to neglect the millennial market.
