A recent promotional merchandise survey by the British Promotional Merchandise Association (BPMA) asked buyers of promotional products what the key influences are when making a buying decision.
Researchers interviewed 291 qualified buyers of promotional merchandise at Marketing Week Live 2018 and B2B Marketing Expo 2018.
Respondents use 32% of promotional gifts as tradeshow giveaways and 26% for customer engagement. Meanwhile 23% are used as a sales incentive and 13% for employee engagement, with 6% reporting ‘other’.
The survey found price, product usefulness, and relevance to the campaign are most important when choosing a promotional item. Leadtime, uniqueness, durability and convenience are next.
71% or those questioned research what product would be suitable for their purpose before purchase with 18% saying that don’t. However, 77% answer that they expect or appreciate creative input from their promotional merchandise supplier.
Asked if they have ever kept an effective promotional product for a long time, fully 78% said they had. Promotional charging cables topped the list with USBs, notebooks, mugs and pens following.
When asked whether they had a regular promotional merchandise supplier, 56% said no. When questioned about loyalty to a supplier the top three reasons were high-quality customer service, ability to deliver and brilliant service.
However, there are some things the industry could do better. According to the promotional merchandise survey, the biggest annoyance is poor quality (55%). Suppliers’ lack of innovation (16%) and too many emails (14%) follow.
Furthermore, 58% of those asked said that the environmental impact of plastics will influence future decisions on purchasing plastic items. Just over 70% said they were seeking recyclable and eco/environmentally friendly promotional product alternatives.
Click here to download the full report.
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