Our Top Picks For Promotional Products

If you can buy it, you can brand it. From clothing and bags to bottles and umbrellas, you can help to spread your brand a lot farther by offering merchandise with your company’s name and logo. 

To determine what is likely to be a good investment in promotional products, you need to consider who is likely to buy them and when they will remember to use them. 

The following are the six categories we will consider to help you determine what popular promotional products are likely to be a good fit for your offerings:

• Durability
• Cost-effectiveness
• Eco-friendly
• Versatility
• Ease of customisation 
• Turnaround time

Most Durable

Some popular promotional products are built to last. If you want to have people associate your business with durability – or if you simply want to offer a product that is designed to withstand a bit of punishment, here are four items that are likely to last: 

• Umbrellas are a great example of a durable product that can help promote your business. They have so much space and can be designed to reflect virtually anything. You can choose umbrellas for rainy days, but there are many other types, such as beach and golfing umbrellas.
  
• Cooler bags are meant to be durable, but they are also associated with having fun. They keep things cool so that you can have snacks and drinks while out having fun in the great outdoors.
  
• Sports bags are another product meant to be durable and fun. Of course, they’re fun in a very different way since you are probably going to be working up a sweat if you are toting around one of these. Typically, they hold clothing items, but that often includes shoes. People also tend to store things like keys and other sharper implements in them, so you want something that is durable.
   
• Stress balls, by definition, have to withstand, well, stress. They are also incredibly cost-effective, but in terms of products made to last, there aren’t many items designed to be durable quite like a stress ball.

There are a lot of other potential products that are made to be durable but are more niche, such as cheese boards. If your business is food-related, this would obviously be more useful than a sports bag. 

If you offer specialty services or products, take the time to check out durable products that can help show off your business in the right context. 

If you are curious, the promotional product that is kept the longest is the umbrella. That’s what makes that particular item such a great investment if it fits your business’s industry. 

Most Cost-Effective

If you are interested in offering quality products that are cost-effective for your promotions, there are a lot of simple yet useful products:

• Pens are a popular promotional product for a very good reason – they are incredibly cost-effective. Even with smartphones and other mobile devices, people still need pen and paper.
  
• Notepads go right along with pens. Technology simply can’t replace these items because they are so useful – even if you don’t have Wi-Fi. They are also relatively low-cost to produce, making them great for giving away for free at events.
  
• Tote bags are easy to mass produce, and something people are likely to take with them everywhere. With many people opting to use their own bags in stores, your business can get free advertisement whenever someone takes their promotional bag out in public.
  
• Coffee mugs are a little more expensive than the other items on this list, but they are also incredibly useful. People will take them to work and leave them there, meaning that you are getting a free promotion with this product. 

Most Eco-Friendly

Most of the products listed under the previous two categories are also eco-friendly. However, this list includes items that people actively seek out when looking for eco-friendly promotional products. 

• Drawstring bags are durable and have a low production cost, like tote bags, but they are designed for people to be able to close. This makes them easy to store, while preventing them from spilling their contents when they are set down.
  
• Drink bottles are probably one of the first products that people consider when they want an eco-friendly product. Water bottles allow people to go out in public without having to worry about buying water. They’re a great solution for businesses that are geared toward an active lifestyle and for people who are constantly on the go.
  
• Hats aren’t something that most people consider at first, but most custom hats are actually very eco-friendly. They are also some of the best protective gears out there. And they can be tailored to a wide array of uses.
  
• Reusable coffee mugs provide the repeated use of a regular coffee mug, with the protection to keep the drinks from spilling. This makes them a lot better for use on the way to work or when people are on the go.

Most Versatile

Clothing items are generally the most versatile because dress codes are generally very lax, with a few notable exceptions. However, there are a few other items that people can use under different circumstances:

• T-shirts are probably the most well-recognised promotional product that reaches a wider audience. They are easy to customise and produce, making them a great promotional product.
  
• Jackets are similar to t-shirts in that they are a popular promotional product. They may be seasonal, but when people wear them, it always puts your business’ name front and centre. And people are likely to wear jackets even to fancy events when it gets cold – that makes them more versatile than any other article of clothing.
  
• Notepads can be used anywhere at any time. With the right design, your business can be promoted whenever someone writes a note and hands the page to someone else. It has even been long used as a trope in TV and movies because people will slip a note to someone else, then they will be traced by the company logo on the piece of paper from a notepad.
  
• Lanyards certainly aren’t the first thing that comes to mind, but they are everywhere. People use them for pretty much everything, whether it’s work or an event. 

Easiest to Customise

You’ve probably already noticed items that are easy to customise, such as t-shirts and bags. This section covers some of the items that are easy to customise, but you may not think of them without a little help:

• Keyrings are something that the vast majority of people have. If they don’t have a key ring, they are likely to adapt the first one that comes to them. And you can make your promotional product look entirely unique.
  
• Plastic tumblers are designed to draw more attention, so they are more elaborate and attention-grabbing. Yet they are incredibly easy to customise to get your business positive attention.
  
• Caps are a popular promotional product because they are so easy to customise. You know where your logo or business name will go. All you have to do is pick the materials and colours.
  
• Backpacks are incredibly easy to customise because, like caps, the logo can only be placed in one place. Once you know what style backpack you want, the rest of the order is easy to place. 

Fastest Turnaround

If you have an event coming up and need an item quickly, you still have a lot of choices. The following are some of the most popular from our express range:

• Hand sanitisers don’t require much to customise and produce, so they have a quick turnaround.
  
• Numerous types of bags are quick to make and turn around.
  
• Drink bottles are popular and quick. They can also attract attention to an event stand since people tend to use these often.
  
• Pens are probably the quickest products to produce, and they are very cost-effective.

You can check out all of our express range of promotional products if you want to see what your options are for your upcoming event. If you attend events often, you can bookmark it for regular use.

Wrapping Up

There are so many popular promotional products, each with their own benefits. If you have a specific need in mind, you can contact the Payless team to ask what products would be best for your next event.