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Why Sustainable Promotional Products Are A Must For Your Marketing Strategy

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The companies which survive over the long term are the ones which know what consumers want and how to give it to them. Right now, what an ever-increasing number of consumers want is evidence that companies are doing everything they reasonably can to promote sustainability.

Astute companies will, therefore, make sure to demonstrate their sustainability credentials at every possible opportunity, including their marketing strategy.

“It’s the thought that counts” applies to companies too.

For the most part, promotional products are going to be of fairly low financial value. This means that they need to score highly on emotional appeal.

There’s probably nothing in the world more emotionally engaging than the feeling that you’re doing something enjoyable yourself, which is also doing good to someone (or something else).

This means that the ultimate in sustainable promotional products are products which are fun to use and which deliver some form of sustainability benefit.

Sustainable food-and-drink gifts are hugely popular with brands and consumers

Although there are now quite a wide variety of sustainable gifts available at budget-friendly prices, the simple fact is that sustainable food and drink gifts, especially confectionary items, often come out well ahead of any and all competition.

First of all, the fact that they are consumable means that recipients do not have to think about finding storage space for more “stuff”. You can choose to make them a bit more permanent, usually by putting them in reusable packaging, but often companies opt for recyclable packaging together with a call to action to visit them online and continue the relationship there.

Secondly, they are great “feel-good” gifts, which have the added (and important) benefit of allowing the recipient to feel like they are helping out someone else as well. The cocoa industry has really been making a push towards Fair Trade and has worked hard to make consumers aware of the real-world benefits this brings.

For example, thanks to fairly-traded chocolate, small-scale farmers from across the world have been able to step up from subsistence farming and enjoy benefits people in the UK generally take for granted such as sanitation, healthcare and education.

Thirdly, they are very practical gifts in the sense that they are affordable, easy to transport and store and have widespread appeal. Chocolate is a particular favourite with brands as it usually keeps for an extended period and can be gifted at any time of year.

Your audience support sustainability

The sustainability and responsibility behind the manufacture of products is becoming more and more part of a customer’s decision making.

Seeing as the millennial generation make up the largest portion of the world’s population, it’s these customers that want to contribute to businesses that support the environment and everything that comes with it.

Solidifying your social responsibility as a business through the corporate products you use can help with several elements.

These include things such as;

  • Building relationships with new customers who want to work with sustainable brands.
  • The customer can enjoy their product or gift and know they’re not producing more waste.
  • Sustainable promotional gifts can help produce more buzz around your brand online.

Making sustainable promotional products work for your brand

Gifting sustainable promotional products is only a starting point (albeit a very good one). If you want to convince (potential) customers that you really do value sustainability and aren’t just “greenwashing” then you’re going to need to go further and show them what else you are doing.

Your website and/or social media platforms are ideal places to do this, you just need to persuade customers to visit you there. One way to achieve this is to have the packaging on your promotional gift include details of your main online platform, plus an effective call to action, such as entry into a prize draw.

HubSpot