I love LinkedIn, in fact I’d say it’s my favorite social network. It’s so underrated and utilized by most professionals! However, this post in our series of how to start your first Swag campaign is not about LinkedIn!
The reason why I wanted to touch on LinkedIn is because I like to scroll through my LinkedIn news feed just how most of us scroll through our Instagram feed … you know for about 5-10 minutes 5x daily (c’mon you know you do it too)!
Anyway, I recently saw a friend of mine, Josh Steimle, post a comment about Swag and the powerful emotional connection of Swag to his prospects and clients.
Here’s the original post…
The point of sharing Josh’s post with you is that he is not in the promotional products (Swag) industry. I often times see my network posting about the greatness that is Swag but that is somewhat diluted to me because we are all in the same industry preaching the same gospel since we drink the same delicious kool-aid. Ok, enough of the hyperboles and back to the point…
I’m rebranding my company, ValueBP, to SwagWorx simply because SWAG WORKS (and hey, if you live in Silicon Valley as I do – it’s only natural to spell things wrong).
PPAI, the Swag industry’s largest and oldest not-for-profit association serving more than 15,000 corporate members of the $23.3 billion promotional products, reports that …
9 in 10 recall the brand when using promotional products
That’s 90%…
90% of people that receive Swag remember the brand. Not only that, but 83% are more likely to do business with the advertiser! (also per PPAI)
These numbers can’t be argued. Especially when end-users and influencers such as Josh Steimle are believers in the effectiveness of this powerful advertising medium.
Here’s the thing folks…
Swag is the only advertising medium that can touch all five senses, plus a sixth, the sense of ownership.
There’s a reason why we overpay for ticket prices and wait around in long lines to receive game day giveaways.
There’s a reason why we stand up out of our seats and shout among 18,000 other fans in an arena just for the chance to receive a stiff oversized t-shirt at a basketball game.
Swag is almost like music… in that it brings back that memory and joy that you felt when first receiving it.
As for Josh’s example in a client gift in a one-on-one setting … these type of interactions happen more often than we might notice and the beauty of this valued advertising medium is that even if they don’t keep it … 8 in 10 pass it along to someone else if they don’t keep it for themselves (per PPAI).
The point is there is no denying that Swag Works. The fact is you must be intentional with your Swag and choose items that reflect your brand and design them in a retail inspired way so that the recipients don’t feel like a walking billboard.
To learn more on how to start your first Swag campaign, check out the initial post in this series HERE.
By the way, if you like podcasts… I have a podcast that will be released on my “Brand Hero” pod with Josh Steimle as my guest. Click here to open the pod on iTunes to subscribe so you won’t miss when this podcast goes live!
As always…
Swag On,
Sam AKA SwagSam