Creative Promotional Items & Ideas: 7 Ways to Stand Out with Printed Items

Piquing a potential customer’s interest can be tricky—especially because you don’t have long to do it. That’s why your messaging is so important. You want customers to grasp the essence of who you are. While simply writing your name on custom printed items is sure to get you seen, you can stir up more buzz with creative promotional items and imprints.

As you might imagine, we see a lot of great imprints from our customers. It’s clear that the standouts always take their time to get innovative with their giveaways. Let’s take a look at some of the best custom printed promotional items and how to grab the most attention with your marketing products.

Best Creative Promotional Items

Before we get to what your message should be, we should figure out what it’s going to cover. As much as we love pens, there are so many other options you may not have considered yet. You can promote at events with custom drinkware, send customers home with personalized flashlights, put your name on Bluetooth speakers, and so much more.

Here are our 10 favorite creative promotional items ideas to get you inspired:

1. 6 Function Pocket Knife
2. Large Shopping Tote
3. Stylish Water Bottle
4. Utility Light Bar
5. Reusable Straws
6. Note Caddies
7. Chic Notebook
8. Wine Glasses
9. Outdoorsy Carabineers
10. Best-Selling Alpha Pens

How to Get Your Custom Printed Items Noticed

Creative promotional items take a lot of thought. You want them to say the right thing about your business, catch a potential client’s eye, and be used often so that they can serve as reminders of your company. Not sure how to do that? Just check out these examples for making positive impressions with imprints:

1. Feature Your Slogan

If you’ve developed a slogan that shares what your business is about in only a few words, that’s a great thing to emphasize in your promotions. In our own promotions, we’ll often include both our name and our slogan, “Your image is our business.”

2. Say Thank You

One of the most important phrases in the English language is, “Thank You”. Share this message with customers to let them know you care. Including this message in your imprint will leave customers with a positive impression.

We’ve seen many of our clients share a message of gratitude alongside their contact information. This is a winning strategy because customers are more likely to return when they know a business will go the extra mile to make them feel appreciated.

3. Have a Little Fun with It

The more fun you have with your branding, the more fun your customers will have too. Try hooking your customers’ attention with a message that feels like it was written just for them.

Leave it to a writer to craft just the right message for her promotional pens. Emilie Kefalas wrote “Let’s be pen pals” on her creative swag. This both references her work as a writer, as well as encourages potential clients or publishers to reach out.

4. Get Social

Social media can bring a lot of people to your business. But, how do you get them to your social media? Try marketing with your social media handles.

Doggie day care center, Like Your Home, got creative with their free goodies to loyal customers. They imprinted drawstring bags with their logo and Instagram handle, @likeyourhome02478. This is a great idea, because it sends customers to their Instagram where they post daily updates of the happy pups they’re hosting.

Customers will take those drawstring bags out on walks, to the gym, on the trail, to the dog park, and all kinds of places. That means their business and Instagram profile will be seen by far more people than just their current customer base.

Another great option for a business like this would be any of our promo products for pet supplies. When thinking about how to market your brand with creative promotional items, consider how they will be used. The best creative swag is the kind that will get you seen by more of your target demographic.

5. Big Event? Big Opportunity!

While evergreen promotions are a constant need, sometimes marketing focused on a specific event can help build your reputation. For example, if you’re sponsoring walkers in a charity race for Breast Cancer Awareness, you might want to promote your support on Breast Cancer Awareness fundraiser items. You can even include an inspirational quote along with your usual branding for the added personal touch.

For those opening a store, that’s another event you can speak to with specific, new business marketing products. You could give away some tasty treats at the grand opening that are branded with your business name and a saying like, “For the sweetest new customers.” Or you can hand out reusable shopping bags that have your name and slogan on them. This ensures they’ll remember what your business is all about and come back to shop with their new bags.

Read about other grand opening promotional ideas in this blog on how to promote new businesses.

6. Tie Your Promo Products and Imprints Together

When the right imprint meets the perfect promotional product, magic happens. The more thought you put into the story that your giveaway is telling, the better it will be remembered by customers.

Take Copper Barrel Distillery’s promotional pens for example. This brewery matched the barrel in their business name with the wooden aesthetic of the Aloha Bamboo Pen. This makes the pen feel even more personalized to their business. Customers will note of that attention to detail.

7. Quote Us on That

If you’re promoting instructional classes or informative services, you may want to feature a quote on your promotional products. Handing out custom notepads with an inspirational quote on your branding displays that your business is about uplifting and helping your customers.

Have you personalized your imprint in a unique way? We’d love to see how you’re promoting your business. Tag us in your promo product pictures on Facebook and Instagram. To learn even more about creative promotional items, check out our Editor’s Picks of the Hottest New Products.