How To Measure ROI With Promotional Products

To someone outside of marketing, the strategies in play might seem unrealistic. But marketing professionals root their marketing strategies in data. Every good team knows that determining the effectiveness of promotional product campaigns requires analysis. The process varies from company to company and it can be a complicated undertaking, but there are two major metrics to focus on. The most common revenue metric is the outcome generated by the promotional campaign versus the total spend or cost of the campaign. This will highlight the ROI of promotional products. 

Calculating the ROI 

Provided you know the cost of your campaign and how much is generated, you should have no issue measuring the ROI. Subtract your profit from the spending. Then divide by your total spend, multiplied by 100. 

Different businesses have different ideas about what ROI of your promotional items is successful. Regardless, businesses must track their ROI so they have a good idea of what campaigns are successful and which methods are the most cost-effective. 

Calculating return on investment can be a complicated process because there are a lot of variables that influence whether someone was converted to spend or not. Campaigns for promo products are particularly challenging. How do you decide which sales came because of the promotional item? The good news is are several concrete methods for you to get an accurate return on investment for promotional products. 

Measure ROI On Promotional Products 

A/B Testing 

A/B Testing allows you to isolate which sales came as a result of your promo products and which were on the back of other campaigns in progress. It's an experiment of sorts that allows you to isolate the variables to get an accurate read on how your campaign is moving. 

Return on Impressions 

Promo products generate a lot of impressions and because they hit your target audience and generate awareness, it can be difficult to ascertain their long-term effect on sales. A lot of companies will opt to base the success of a campaign on return on impressions. The more people see your brand the more they develop a positive opinion and the more they will spend. Promo products are a useful way to leave good impressions on people who receive them and bolster your brand image. 

Unique URL 

The simplest way to track your results is with a unique URL. When someone follows the unique URL you can see from Google Analytics how many people followed this link all because of the promotional product. You can also see how many converted to customers. That information is all you need to calculate your ROI. You may want to use several unique URLs for the same product to see where the bulk of your sales come from. You can use a specific URL for each social media platform you use. The results won't include people who saw the promo and found your site from a search engine though.

Cost Per Impression 

Data from the Advertising Specialty Institute highlights that promo products brag a lower CPI than magazine, newspaper, and television ads. They run on a par with online and radio ads. This may be down to the fact that over 80% of people hold onto promotional products for up to 5 years. The longer customers hold onto a product the deeper the impression on them and others around them. Promo products can positively change people's minds about your brand or leave them with a positive impression where they had no opinion previously. 

No matter the method you choose to calculate and track your return on investment, know that promo products are an excellent way to ensure you get the investment you were looking for.