* Demystifying Vector Art *

Top of Mind Awareness

For decades, business owners have placed their names and logos on promotional items and have given them to customers and prospects. This was not intended simply as an act of business generosity. Many business owners don't fully understand the benefits of this form of advertising and don't maximize its advantages. We would like to explain why promotional advertising works and illustrate how companies and organizations have applied this targeted medium.

A company once ran the following headline: It's more important to reach the people who count than to count the people you reach.

This is smart advice to business owners when planning their advertising. Money spent reaching the wrong prospects is money wasted.

Look at your desk, office, and computer monitor. Did your insurance agent, bank, or vendor give you a calendar this year? How many brand impressions were made?

A "give away" should not be misinterpreted as an act of business charity. There is a reason for presenting promotional advertising gifts. When used properly, promotional advertising can be one of the most effective means of promoting a small business. The trick is to use it properly, and we can help you understand what it is and what it can do for your company.

What Is Promotional Advertising?

Promotional advertising is defined as useful articles of merchandise which are imprinted with an advertisement and given to customers and prospects. Unlike premiums, they are not earned or awarded in exchange for a purchase. The imprint may be no more than the name or logo of the sponsor. More than 20,000 types of merchandise are used in the medium called promotional advertising.

Each advertising medium offers specific advantages. Each has limitations. We can help you be familiar with the strengths and weaknesses of the various media in order to make the right choices for your business.

Why Use Promotional Advertising?

Let's look at some of the advantages offered by promotional advertising. Unlike newspapers and television, which are mass media, promotional advertising is one of the targeted media. Newspapers and television deliver a message to a broad audience. The vast majority of this group may not be interested in what you have to sell.

• Cost Efficiency
  • Targeted media such as direct mail and promotional advertising can deliver your message specifically to prospects, thereby saving you the expense of buying non-productive circulation.
• Budget Realities
  • Budget limitations may restrict an entrepreneur's use of costlier mass media. Fortunately, promotional advertising offers a variety of price ranges. Costing a few cents to a few dollars, promotional advertising enables any advertiser, regardless of their budget.
• Goodwill
  • People like to get something for nothing, regardless of how inexpensive the item may be. They tend to look favorably on companies giving them free products. There is statistical evidence that people prefer to patronize businesses giving promotional advertising products as opposed to those that do not, all things being equal.

How Can I Use Promotional Advertising?

There are hundreds of applications for promotional advertising. These are some of the most frequent uses by businesses just like yours:

• Grand Openings and Special Events
  • Whether a business is brand new in town or has been around awhile, it needs to make prospects aware of its existence. Create an event to bring prospects to your establishment so they may see for themselves what the firm's capabilities are.
• Store Traffic
  • Promotional advertising can help develop patronage. All it takes is a little imagination.
• Promoting Image and Goodwill
  • Reliability, quality products, fair prices, fast service, and concern for customers are typical images businesses like to portray. The right promotional advertising product can help.

Promotional advertising is a wonderful tool. We at True Summit Promotions would like to help you put it to use so that you Get Remembered and Stay Remembered!