Wholesale Custom Promotional Gifts Direct From China

Promotional gifts are the order of day for almost any business. Today the time is such that when we buy a good, it is taken for granted by us that another good (a free gift) is around the corner as a reward for buying the former one. This poses a big question to the vendors. How would a vendor make lucrative profit if he spends on giving free gifts to customers? The answer lies in resourceful and productive countries like China. Most brands and companies prefer China for buying wholesale, customized, promotional products.

Here are some tips to buy Wholesale Customized Promotional products from ChinaGoods should be useful on a regular basis- One thing you should keep in mind when you purchase any promotional product is that you should make sure that the item you choose can be used on a day to day basis. What are the things which are useful on a regular basis? Chinese goods such as toys, tees, watches, mugs, staplers, caps, backpacks are generally used on a regular basis. Such products and many more are readily available in China.

Low Cost Goods- When you are look for promotional products, you are obviously looking for low cost, value-for-money goods. China's excellence in high technology production and the advantage of having readily available resources and low cost workforce has resulted in the production of cheaper goods, thus becoming viable for other countries to import from China. The capital city Beijing is the prime wholesale marketplace in China and certainly one of most renowned in the world. However, it is suggested you should get yourself acquainted with the nitty-gritty of the logistics issues.

Professional Business Attitude- For cheaper goods, it is important that there is enough space for your logo to be embossed or printed and that it is lucidly visible when used by the people. Chinese manufacturers are extremely professional and would provide tailor-made products to cater to your exact requirements.

So now you know that for your wholesale promotional products requirements, China is undoubtedly your one stop destination. China is undoubtedly the hub for buying wholesale, customized, promotional products.

Why Promotional Products?

Standard advertising mediums such as billboards, radio, and television have some major limitations, especially for small businesses. They're expensive and space is limited. The customer can easily ignore the message. If they do listen, it only stays in the mind a short while without reinforcement. Companies pay billions of dollars every year to ensure their brand doesn't leave the public's consciousness. This presents a problem for businesses who want to get their names out, especially new ones.

Then there's the problem of appropriately thanking clients and customers for their continued service. The old ways of certificates, wall plaques, and thank you cards aren't cutting it in today's marketplace. These items have become so common that they're seen as the minimum. What can be done?

In this book, I want to show you how you can use promotional products to solve both these problems, as well as other advertising, goodwill, and incentive challenges you have with your business. The clever use of promotional products can help you sneak past your competition and get your business noticed. Giving away free or nearly-free items to people that have your name and logo on them plays on our instinctive love of getting free stuff. When the proper item is matched with the proper audience, advertising magic can happen on a scale much longer than normal media advertising, and for far cheaper too.

According to the Promotional Products Association International (www.ppai.org), every year businesses spend close to $20 billion on this type of advertising. Moreover, a recently conducted survey by Promotional Products Association International revealed that promotional items have now become an indispensable part of the marketing mix.
Gifting promotional items means you are enticing your customers to use your products and services. This is one of the best ways to maintain a positive presence within your client base.
With the wide variety of products available on the market, this also lets companies find suitable gifts for their employees to reward and encourage positive business habits.
Employees will love you if you can figure out just the right gift to give them for a job well done, just as a loved one will cherish you for a well-picked gift. Promotional products are also an easy way to set stretch goals. Would you work hard to make the company $1 million in a quarter if you knew you could get a branded tablet computer to show your achievement off to your colleagues?
First we'll discuss what promotional products are, a bit of their history, and the reasons you may want to start using them in your business. Then we'll cover the absolute basics of a promotional products campaign and the strategy to go along with it. Lastly, we'll go through the strategy step-by-step to flesh it out with further details. Sprinkled between these sections will be informative lists to further your education.

What are promotional products?

Promotional products are items used to promote your business. They can also be used as a reward for particular activities such as buying a certain amount of business or attending a company function. They differ from other forms of advertising media such as flyers and business cards in one important aspect. Promotional products have some sort of utility for the recipient. This can range from a simple ball-point to a USB drive to a wine set. This utility is the key to the success of a promotional product campaign.
According to a recent Advertising Speciality Institute (ASI) study (www.asicentral.com), recipients of promotional products had greater recall of a company? name than of similarly placed company names from television, radio, or newspaper advertisements.

Clients use branded items thrice weekly on average and for an average of seven months; that compares favourably to the few times per month that potential clients are exposed to advertising via radio or television.

A promotional product can be just about any object that you can think of. One provider of promotional products lists over 5000 different items in their online catalogue! A promotional product can range from a simple key chain to a full set of crystal glassware.
If it has space to put a logo on it, chances are you can find someone who can make it for you.
Have you ever thought of those freebies you get at trade shows and corporate functions as portable billboards before? Well, in a very creative way, they are. They are ads disguised as innocent freebies. It is generosity combined with pure wit and ingenuity.

Top 10 Promotional Products

Another study conducted by the University of Southern Missis- sippi for PPAI provided the following list of the top 10 best-selling individual branded merchandise:
1. Pens and Highlighters
Custom imprinted pens and highlighters are the simplest and most effective way to get your brand name and logo out on the market. By providing local businesses, and clients far away, with a supply of your quality pens, your potential clients are sure to become familiarized with your brand and logo. Not only this, but it is almost inevitable that the pens will be left at other offices and shared unintentionally, spreading the word about your business even further. Each promotional pen or highlighter can travel a surprisingly-long way with barely any cost!
2. Travel Mugs & Sports Bottles
Travel mugs and sports bottles alike have become very popular in recent times due to increasing environmental awareness. As people look for convenient ways to alter their habits without giving up the things they love, things like refillable drink containers are the perfect alternative to everyday coffee habits. You can also use them to sponsor sporting events to show your community that you do care about environmental issues.
3． Stress Balls
Compact desktop items will keep your information nearby and give a more fun visual appeal to an otherwise boring work setting. Stress balls are one of the best tools for this, and it doesn't necessarily have to be a ball either. One company put their new help-desk number on squeezable fire extinguishers. Plus, few people can resist picking them up and giving them a squeeze.
4． Mouse Pads
As long as businesses rely on computers, mouse pads will be a necessity in any office, even with today's optical mice. One tactic that has been used by IT service companies is bundling a free mouse pad with their logo with every new computer sold. Because they are viewed and used all the time, an eye-catching design with your businesses logo on a mouse pad will greatly increase the amount of time your customers think about your brand.
5. Apparel
Wearable promotional products are the most common type of promotional products.
Every uniform that you've seen in a fast food restaurant advertises that company immediately. By customizing these simple everyday products, you are allowing your customers to sport your logo and share your brand with everyone that sees them that day.
They almost become a brand ambassador as much as they are a client. Wearable items are also very common in sponsorship situations, such as sports teams and fitness events.

Major sports leagues make most of their money through promotional apparel.
6. Key Chains
When it comes to marketing your brand at trade shows and other business related events, key chains are one of the best quick marketing give-aways for your brand. These small wonders have the power to expose recipients to your logo every time they start their cars or unlock their houses and offices. From branded bottle openers and miniature flash lights to simple customized logos on a plastic tab, key chains are a neat attraction that everyone loves.
7. USB Flash Drives
Office electronics are a great way to remind your clients that you're there for them. USB flash drives are one of the simplest and cheapest ways for people to store and transport their data. Companies can create custom flash drives, or simply put in a small brochure or PowerPoint presentation on every drive for the customer to see when they use it.
8. Personal Planners
Love them or hate them, some people just love having a personal planner. While these mini calendars are not necessarily shared with the general public, they provide value to individual clients. This allows your brand to again be looked at as reliable when your client is in need. A personal planner with your phone number and email address printed on it will keep you well in the mix for potential clientele. This is an excellent example of a B2B gift as well as a year-end gift.
9. Mugs & Bar Glasses
What better way to think about business than over a mug of coffee or a glass of beer, or any drink for that matter? Custom imprinted coffee mugs and bar glasses are the perfect gift to your clients to have them stock in their company kitchen. Your brand will always be on their desk when they're thirsty and in the hands of their clients when they visit.
10. Tote Bag
So you have all these great custom imprinted marketing items to send your client home with, why not throw in yet another custom imprinted bag to put everything inside? Custom imprinted tote bags are the perfect way to show your environmental awareness and give your clients something to use regularly. A sturdy tote can be used to haul around everything from their office supplies, daily lunch, and even bring it to the supermarket to fill up and save some plastic bags; you are allowing them to share your brand with the general public daily.

Top Promotional Product Categories

(Data source: Information from the branded merchandise Association International) These products make up 73% of industry sales 31% Wearable's:T-shirts, golf shirts, aprons, uniforms, blazers, caps, headbands, jackets, neckwear, footwear, etc. 10% Writing Instruments: Pens, pencils, markers, highlighters, etc. 7% Bags: Tote bags, shopping bags, satchels, gift bags, drawstring bags, cosmetic bags, paper bags, duffel bags, briefcases, etc 6% Drink ware: All glass, china, ceramic, crystal, plastic and stainless steel drinkware 6% Desk and Office Accessories: Folders, desk pen sets, calculators, nondated paper products, cubed paper, scratch pads, adhesive notes, stationery, etc 6% Calendars: Wall and wallet calendars, desk diaries, pocket secretaries, etc. 4% Recognition Awards/Trophies/Jewellery 3% Computer related accessories: USB drives, Mouse pads, monitor frames, disk carriers, wrist pads, software, etc

2012 Sales By Promotional Product Category

There are some supplier lines that limit themselves to a select number of suppliers and others offer any item at the best price. You can meet the needs of the customer from any one of a number of competitive suppliers.

Promotional products comprise useful items that are used in marketing and communication programs. The items include wearable's, writing instruments, calendars, drink ware and many other items, usually imprinted with a company's name, logo or message.
Distributor sales of promotional products in the US declined by 13.61% in 2008 to $15 638 571 468. This is the lowest since 2002 and the sales volume is a direct reflection of the tough economy that affected advertising media across the board in 2009. Although there is no data available in South Africa regarding the promotional product sales, key suppliers have noted a clear decrease in sales in 2009 due to the economy both internationally and locally. The global financial crisis wiped out a number of economies so it is no surprise that the industry took a hit in 2009. Larger companies in the US experienced smaller decreases in sales (2.35%) while smaller companies experienced a huge decrease of 22.62%. A number of printing, packaging and health supply companies (dental, eye care, medical and veterinary supply) now report significant sales in promotional products and this could account for the smaller decrease in sales by the larger companies.

A 13.6% sales drop isn't good but in comparison to other media, it looks pretty good. Other media that saw considerable losses were print advertising, with newspapers losing 28.6% in advertising sales and consumer magazine and revenue dropping 18.1%. Billboard sales dropped 15.6% last year and internet advertising, which had been growing in double digits in recent years, was down 3.4%. The biggest surprise was a 15.6% drop in sales for direct mail, which hadn't had a loss in modern times until now. Although the drop in sales for other media doesn't make matters better, it does help us to know that the drop in promotional product sales was not abnormal.