I bet you receive a lot of promotional pens. Promotional product companies send you one now and again with your company information on it, to show you what they can do. If you go to a conference, you pick up pens with the conference organizers\’ information. Some you get by mail, as a thank you, as a reminder, as an inducement to buy. Mostly, as an inducement to buy. And, often, you do buy.

Personalized pens are one of the most popular items. They are useful, and useful promotional items are kept longer. They are used often, so the recipient is going to see your logo, company name, or whatever else you imprinted on the pen often. However, pens are not the best for every occasion.

Yes, people who receive them keep them for a bit over 4 months. Yes, a good number of people see them (363 a month, according to a study by ASI). Almost 40% keep them at home, almost 40% keep them at the office, the rest keep them in the car or in their purse or pocket.

But if your goal is to have your message seen the most number of times, bags is what you should be using. Most people keep them at home. They\’re used, on average a bit over 9 times a month, but they are seen more than 1,000 times on average (1,038 to be exact, according to the same study).

So, promotional pens are great. But their usefulness varies based on your goals. They\’re more suited for some goals than others. Of course, that is true of all promotional products. Your job is to select the one that best fits your needs.

The reason pens and bags are some of the most popular probably has to do with usefulness and looks. You see, most people who receive promotional products and keep them for a while do it because the product is useful. The next big reason for keeping a promotional product? It\’s attractive. So, it stands to reason that a useful and attractive promotional item has the best chance.

If you want promotional items that people keep for a long time, besides bags, you can give caps, calendars, coffee mugs. Among items that can\’t be worn, promotional pens and mugs get used the most, though pens are kept almost half as long. Recognition awards are, perhaps, not a great choice. Yes, people hold on to them, on average, over 7 months. However, 64% of them never look at their recognition award. In my pre-marketing days, I was one of the 64%.

No matter what promotional items you use, the success of your marketing campaign hinges on the same old 3 Ms: medium, message, market. In other words, you still need to know your market like you know the palm of your hand. Or, if you\’d rather, you need to segment properly, have the right message, on the right personalized product. Assuming personalized products are fit for your particular market.

Which, sometimes, means that personalized pens are not the right fit. One such case is when the life time value of a customer is high because of purchase size. And personalized pens are not a great way to say a big thank you, either.

Author Bio: Dan M. Kennedy\’s been the recipient of countless personalized pens. He\’s also received one or two personalized coffee mugs. Coffee mugs make good promotional products because they’re useful, which is the #1 reason people keep promotional products.

Category: Marketing
Keywords: personalized pens,personalized coffee mugs,promotional products,promotional items