ROI of corporate promotional products: a method for measuring it

A return on investment is calculated against a goal. Yet the same product can serve very different purposes, which are not measured in the same way:

• Generating contacts at a trade show or event: you count qualified prospects.
• Triggering sales: you track the orders attributable to the campaign.
• Building client loyalty: you look at repeat purchases or contract renewals.
• Strengthening employer branding: you look at the onboarding of new starters, participation in internal events, applications received.
• Raising awareness: the most diffuse goal, approached through indirect indicators.

Choose one main goal per campaign, and a single indicator to track it. A campaign that aims at awareness, sales and loyalty all at once cannot be measured properly on any of these levels. Write this goal down in black and white before you even choose the product: it will guide the medium, the message and the tracking set-up.

To link a product to a result, you need a tracker. Two simple tools can be printed directly on the product, or on a card that accompanies it.

The dedicated promo code: a code specific to the campaign, and to it alone. Each use in your online shop or sales software becomes attributable to the giveaway. To compare two trade shows or two products, create one code per show or per product.

The QR code to a dedicated page: it leads to a page created for this campaign, or to an existing page whose address includes campaign parameters. Your audience measurement tool then counts the visits, and your form the resulting enquiries.

Printed on the product, this code must respect the dimensions of the area, offer clear contrast and be readable at its actual size. Check it on the proof generated in the configurator, scanning it with several phones. Products with a large surface, such as tote bags or notebooks, lend themselves to this better than small products.

A trade show concentrates distribution over a short period and an identified audience: it is the simplest occasion for measuring. The set-up fits into four stages.

• Before: prepare a contact tracking file — name, company, need expressed, product given — and set the rule for handing out: the valuable product in exchange for a qualified conversation, the mass-market product as self-service.
• During: record each contact as you go, with the product given. A product handed out without a recorded contact can never be linked to a result.
• After: follow up contacts quickly, reminding them of the product they received and using the campaign’s code or QR code.
• In the following months: tag the opportunities from the show in your CRM tool, so that you can find them when it is time to calculate.

This discipline lets you compare shows with one another, and products with one another. The promotional products for trade shows page helps you choose products suited to each of these two levels of giveaway.

The calculation compares what the campaign brought in with what it cost. Both terms require rigour.

The full cost is not limited to the products. It brings together the amount of the quote — products, marking, options, delivery — but also the time spent preparing the campaign, the costs of the event where applicable, and the value of the products left in stock. The configurator’s downloadable quote provides the basis; the other items come from your own accounts.

The value generated depends on the goal set at the outset: the margin on sales attributed to the promo code, the estimated value of qualified contacts based on your own conversion rate, or the value of retained clients. Use your own history: these are the only figures that count for your business.

The return is then calculated simply: value generated minus full cost, all divided by the full cost. A positive result means the campaign brought in more than it cost. Above all, keep the calculation from one campaign to the next: comparison over time is more instructive than an isolated result.

Not all the effects of a promotional product go through a code. A water bottle sitting on a desk for months, a tote bag carried in the street, a team polo shirt on a building site expose your brand to people who will never scan anything. This awareness effect is real, but it escapes direct measurement.

A few indirect indicators help to approach it:

• the question “how did you hear about us?” asked systematically of new contacts, with the product among the possible answers;
• the trend in searches for your brand name after a large giveaway, bearing in mind that other actions may influence it;
• for employer branding, a short questionnaire for new starters who received a welcome kit.

The choice of product also influences this invisible share: a useful, durable product stays in circulation longer than a gadget. To weigh price against period of use, the guide to the branded merchandise price grid details what makes up the price of each family.