Everyone knows what promotional pens are. In fact, if you were to look at your own pen collection, you would find at least one printed pen amongst them. Each of these gives you a specific message. Naturally, each message and logo printed onto a pen is sublime and powerful. It’s no wonder that companies worldwide are using them to get their message across. Just like pencils, promotional keyrings, printed badges, and notebooks, branded promotional pens are a great marketing tool for promoting products and services.
However, there are pens which do this right, and pens which do this wrong. How would you know, though? Is there any way to effectively use promotional pens? How and in what way can you make your promotional pen work for you? Listed below are ten steps into buying and using branded pens. Any business person worth their salt ought to read the following 10 tips for buying promotional pens, as it might help a lot with brand marketing in general.
1. Choosing the Right Pen
Having the right type of pen is important. Whatever your message is, remember that a pen has a very small area where you can print things. Some pens are smaller or ‘slimmer’ than others, and therefore have a VERY small area for printing. If you have just one line of text to print, these can work for you. If your message is longer, however, you’ll want to use a wider pen.
The same goes for design. A slimmer, simpler pen will allow minimal room to work with. Next, consider the colour of the font. Your pen’s barrel is where you print the message, and if one colour works for you, it will work for your client. If not, you might consider more elaborate designs, in which case we suggest doing some research into pen printing.
2. A Time and a Place for Everything
Think carefully where you’ll be using your promotional pens. For example, if you’re at a trade show, people will approach you and grab one pen from your stand. This event requires some pizzazz, so make sure your pens look cheerful. Moreover, they can be cheap, disposable pens.
On the other hand, there will be times when you want to make a good impression on the buyer. In that case, your pen will need to impress. Go for a more elaborate print design and a more durable pen in this case.
3. It’s All in the Colour
A print might not be enough sometimes. Truth be told, anyone can print on a normal pen with a white or see-through barrel. However, doing that might make your brand look generic.
What you should do is buy pens that are already the colour which represents your brand. For example, Coca-Cola uses bright red pens with white print on them. In fact, you can even use multi-coloured pens that contain all of the colours that represent your business. If you combine this with your printed message, the buyer will already be ‘sold’ on your brand.
4. Telephone Numbers
Don’t just put the message on your pen. For example, if you can, use a trackable telephone number with a unique configuration. That way you can see how effective your pens can be first hand.
5. Ink Colour
Make sure you know your ink colour choice beforehand. For instance, if you want black ink, you’ll need to stress that to the supplier. Normally these pens have cheap casings and blue ink, and if you’re on the budget, these are the ones you’ll be buying.
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6. Your Pen Must Be Unique
The shape, colour, and message of your promotional pen can trigger different reactions. Therefore, you must aim for a reaction that will make the customer keep the pen. If they see a generic pen, they’ll keep using the ones they already have so it could be you opt for some unusual pens or even highlighters.
7. Know Your Preferences
Sometimes it pays to think like the customer, but then again, try and put yourself in their shoes. Remember the pen you really like and what you liked about it. Then aim to get the same features in your promotional pens.
8. Longevity
People tend to use custom printed pens for a long period of time after they’ve bought them. Therefore, make sure that you have an evergreen message on yours.
9. Call-to-Action Marketing
Putting the address to your website on your pen can boost marketing greatly. Make sure to do that with the pens you have.
10. Supply
Buy plenty of promotional pens, more than what you might need, as they run out in no time flat. Furthermore, buying in bulk reduces the cost per pen, and you can give some away as well.
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If you require further information or have any specific questions, don’t hesitate to give a member of the GoPromotional logo printed merchandise team a call on 0800 0148 970 or simply email us today.
