![A high-angle studio shot shows two promotional product boxes. The box on the left is closed and displays the phrase "Great products come and go." in white font on a dark background that transitions from blue to purple to red. The box on the right is open, revealing a black T-shirt wrapped in white tissue paper with small, light purple illustrations. The inside of the box lid reads "Great experiences live on." in a similar white font on a dark purple background. Both boxes feature a small, white logo in the top right corner, which is an "[o]" enclosed in a square bracket.](https://imprintengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Promotional-Products-Campaign.png)
When you think ‘marketing,’ you may envision social media ads or email campaigns. But regardless of where a company conducts its business, they should all take a multi-faceted approach to reaching prospects and customers in a more memorable way. This includes promotional products!
Marketing and promotional products go hand in hand to seamlessly translate online marketing efforts into tangible, real-life brand experiences.
Need to Skim? Key Takeaways
- To build a promotional product marketing campaign, you must lay out your goals, choose which products to promote, test your products, partner with an industry expert to ensure everything is executed smoothly, and analyze and adjust.
- An e-commerce storefront is a brilliant, customizable opportunity to expand your promotional products’ reach.
- Sustainable products, tech, drinkware, and apparel are trending in 2025.
Table of Contents
- Building a promotional product marketing campaign in 7 steps
- Frequently asked questions
- What’s trending in promotional products?
Building a Promotional Product Marketing Campaign
Here’s how to create your product promotion marketing campaign in 7 steps:
1. Lay Out Your Actionable Business Goals
Your first plan of action is to determine your business goals for your marketing and promotional products campaign. You may be trying to build brand awareness in a specific location or gain new streams of revenue.
2. Decide Your Campaign Promotion
If your campaign is intended to build brand awareness, you can showcase, sell, or give away your promotional products at an event in the location you are targeting.
Need business merchandise ideas? We’ve got you covered. Read our 2025 list of company merch ideas to elevate your brand.
3. Find an Industry Expert
Find a partner who is going to expertly curate the best products at the best price for your campaign. Working with a company that has an in-house art department helps keep your brand guidelines at the forefront of the campaign. This ensures the products you are selling or giving away properly represent your brand’s quality and values.
4. Finalize Campaign
Work with your branding partner to get pricing and figures for your campaign in order. Use data from past events or RSVP to the event you are throwing as a gauge for the number of promotional items you will need. If you are going the e-commerce route, you may want to test products before making a substantial purchase. Some smaller items may require larger quantities to purchased outright, which will also likely save you some money!
5. Test Your Products
If you are planning on using your products as giveaways, put a call-to-action on your products like a QR code or unique URL so you can track where the referral came from. You can even do an A/B test to see which products prompted the most responses by using separate promotional codes.
If you are choosing to create an e-commerce store, you could use a focus group to poll your target market on different types of products they may purchase. A/B testing is applicable here as well to see what products or language sell your product better.
6. Implement and Market
The next step is to implement your giveaways or e-commerce store into your marketing mix. Giveaways can be used in many ways: contests, events, or as a prize with purchase. It is up to you to decide where and when to place your product to gain the most engagement.
The e-commerce store can be implemented and marketed through social media channels. You could also use your giveaways to direct traffic to your online store.
7. Analyze and Adjust
As you typically do with the services and products you currently have in your repertoire, you will need to measure metrics of sales or the leads you generated from your promotional product marketing efforts. After you have these metrics, analyze your return on investment and adjust inventory or try new giveaways if necessary.
As a business owner or decision maker, you also have the opportunity to license your brand to a company who can create an e-commerce storefront for you. This opportunity allows you to gain revenue from your brand equity without having to build the infrastructure that an online store may require. Our web developers at Imprint Engine can create brilliant, customized e-commerce stores completely personalized to your brand elements and personality.
Final Thoughts
Creating a campaign of new products can be an exciting expansion for a business. It can also help you gain new impressions and loyal clients who can bring in new revenue. Existing fans of your brand will love the new opportunity to support you. New prospects will be impressed by your choice of promotional products, and can lead to earning their loyalty as an ongoing customer.
FAQ
What is an example of a promotional marketing campaign?
We helped GoPuff, a global food delivery company, execute a promotional product marketing campaign on college campuses across America aimed to boost brand awareness and app conversions among students. This entailed more than 40 product SKUs being distributed over the course of the 6-week campaign to broaden GoPuff’s reach across 300 universities.
Imprint Engine seamlessly managed the production and distribution of over 4 million promo products for Gopuff’s national campaign. Read in depth about what made this campaign a success.
What’s trending in promotional products?
- Sustainability: Sustainable merchandise not only supports the environment but also enhances brand reputation and customer loyalty. And in 2024, 90% of global consumers said they want companies to care about social and environmental issues. Read our list of sustainable product ideas.
- Tech: It’s 2025. Everyone runs on technology! Tools like charging banks, headphones, wireless speakers, and gadget organizers are all practical and productive options that recipients are sure to use.
- Drinkware: From mugs to water bottles, wine glasses to tumblers, drinkware never goes out of style. This year, glass bottles with protective silicone sleeves are trending as consumers are increasingly conscientious of exposure to chemicals. Brands known for quality stainless steel and versatile designs like HydroFlask, BruMate, Owala, and Takeya Actives are still dominating the promo market. And mugs with organic shapes, minimalist elegance, and eco-friendly materials are most popular among the trendiest coffee drinkers!
- Apparel: It’s a classic for a reason! Apparel gives you loads of creative freedom to showcase your brand personality. Here are a few of our guides to selecting basics that are far from basic:
Learn more about your new promotional product vendor! Contact Us at Imprint Engine.
Build a brand experience that lives on.
