Customers who receive promotional products, on average, return sooner and more frequently, and spend more money than customers who receive coupons. In two separate studies, SMU researchers tested whether promotional products would outperform coupons in the area of repeat business and sales.

FINDINGS

Study One - Food Delivery Service - 1993

* Customers who received promotional products reordered up to 18% sooner than those who received coupons and up to 13% sooner than those who received no promotion.

* Customers who received promotional products also averaged up to 18% more orders than those receiving coupons and up to 13% more than those who received nothing.

* In summary, customers who received promotional products reordered more quickly and ordered more often that those who received no promotional products.

Study Two - Dry Cleaner - 1994

* Over an eight-month period, new...

Promotional products help encourage to provide you with the names of friends and associates whom you can contact in the future. A 1993 study by Baylor University found that customers who receive promotional products are more willing to provide these leads than customers who don't receive promotional products. This study was conducted with 20 Mary Kay beauty consultants, half of whom distributed promotional gifts (imprinted lint removers) to customers; the other ten offered no promotional gifts. Both groups then asked customers (200 in all) to refer the names of acquaintances. Findings are presented below.

FINDINGS

* Customers who received a promotional product were 14% more likely to provide leads than those who did not.

* Salespeople who gave promotional gifts to their customers received 22% more referrals than salespeople who did not use promotional products.

* 40% of the salespeople who used the gifts commented on...

Promotional products, when used in conjunction with a sales letter or as incentive to respond, can make a significant difference in direct mail response rates. The use of promotional products can also significantly improve a business' effectiveness in converting leads to sales appointments. The following are findings from a 1992 direct mail study by Silver Marketing Group.

FINDINGS

* Adding a promotional product to a mail promotion increased the response rate by 50%.

* The use of a promotional produc

ts as an incentive to respond generated four times as many responses as a sales letter alone.

* The use of a promotional product as an incentive to respond reduced the cost per response by two-thirds. The study was conducted in 1992 with 1,482 businesses divided into three groups. Each group received either a personalized sales letter, a sales letter plus a promotional product or a sales letter with the offer of a...

Just how effective are promotional products as giveaways at trade shows? A 2003 study by Georgia Southern University explores how promotional products impact recipient's perceptions of the company, usefulness of the product and much more….

This study was conducted at four trade shows representing the gift, jewelry, dry-cleaning and close-out (house-wares, toys, clothing, etc.) industries. Data was collected through exit interviews consisting of 18 multi-part questions designed to determine what attendees remembered about the promotional products they received at the shows, their perceptions about the promotional product and its usefulness, and their impression of the companies giving them the product. Some findings are presented below.

FINDINGS

* 62.6% of trade-show attendees stated they had received a promotional product.

* 71.6% of attendees who received a promotional product remembered...