9 Free Marketing Tools for Promotional Product Distributors

For most promotional product distributors, finding free marketing tools can be a challenge. For one thing, the ones that are free are tough to judge their usefulness. And if you find one that you have to pay for, it can be expensive, take a lot of time to use, and involve a lot of planning and follow up too. Most of the time, it’s hard to know if those efforts are really driving ROI. One thing we do know, distributors will never know how good marketing can change their business if they don’t get out there and try.

To help eliminate some of the risk we put together a list of free marketing tools you should consider when launching your next marketing initiative. We’ve included some lead generating tools and some awareness building tactics, but all things you can do at no cost.

Here’s what we came up with, please feel free to help add to the list –

• Email signatures – Update your email signature on a regular basis.  Set up a standard email signature for all company emails and include things like a cool new product, your blog, events you’re attending or a customer testimonial video.  Easy to do and everyone that gets an email from someone at your company will also get your mini marketing message.
• Survey – Create a quick 10 question survey for your buyers using SurveyMonkey.  It’s a great way to get new insights on upcoming events that need promotional support.
• Twitter – This one can take awhile but its a great experiment.  Are your buyers on Twitter?  What about their companies?  Be sure to find out and follow your buyers and their companies.
• LinkedIn–Update your profile and status regularly.  Make sure you are linked to your buyers if they are on LinkedIn.  This way they will be notified when you update your profile with a new product or promotional offering.
• Facebook –  Here’s a few tips on ways to use Facebook for Business.
• Email Marketing – Great way to stay top-of-mind with your clients.
• Birthday cards – Create a special birthday card online or if you really want to make an impact, pull out your wallet and buy a card and throw a free sample in the mail with it.  You  can score huge points by simply remembering someone’s special day.
• Newsletter – Create a simple monthly newsletter. Promote upcoming buying times (seasons, events, etc.) and include creative marketing ideas that include promotional products.  Sometimes the hardest part is figuring out WHAT to do and when.
• Referrals – While there’s no cost involved here, it’s usually one of the hardest things to do.  Just remember these are going to be the best leads you get.