Covid-19 drastically changed the work environment. Virtually every employee shifted to remote work mode, and five years on, many still work from home or have a hybrid work setup. One study states that 16% of companies across the globe are fully remote and 62% of employees work from home at least a portion of the time. Amongst them, 92% of survey participants work remotely at least one day a week.
What this means is that some or all of your employees, clients, and customers are currently working from home—or, in some enviable cases, from an exotic tropical island. However, this doesn’t mean you can’t use promotional merchandise and marketing materials to establish a connection with these individuals.
This post discusses some convenient ways you can get these items to people remotely.
Why Send Promotional Products Remotely?
The assumption that some businesses have about promotional products and physical marketing materials losing their relevance in the highly digitised, remote first world is simply untrue.
In fact, promotional products and physical marketing materials are even more relevant today when a large percentage of employees or customers no longer interact with the business owners in person on a daily basis. It is precisely this major shift in how we live and work in this highly technological age that makes it critical for businesses to maintain a constant presence of their branding in people’s consciousness.
Gifting your remote workers with branded company merchandise can help boost their morale and make them feel truly part of the team. This creates a strong sense of belonging and pride which in turn cultivates loyalty.
Providing them with items that will make their working hours easier or more pleasant, such as custom water bottles, coffee mugs, warm sweaters, or useful stationery, will be greatly appreciated. Items which they can enjoy while relaxing away from their desks are also excellent options.
Meanwhile, you can show your appreciation for important customers of prospective clients by sending them promotional items. This is also a great way to keep them engaged and strengthen your company’s relationship with them. Some of the ways you can do this include sending a promotional item to a prospect after an initial meeting, to a regular customer after they renew their contract, or as a token of gratitude to a long-standing client for their loyalty.
Other occasions for sending promotional products to your remote workers or customers include birthdays and company anniversaries, new product or service launches, and as a thank you gift for attending a virtual event.
Company Stores
In addition to the increased prevalence of remote working, more companies today have offices nationwide or even worldwide instead of just having one central location.
If you have a satellite office located in a different city or a team with members working remotely in different locations, you may want to create a “company store” with a supplier. This will make it easier and more convenient for your team members to order supplies and have them sent to where they are needed.
All it requires is selecting your items and adding your branding. This will make the process of ordering branded merchandise as needed much more efficient and straightforward for you, your colleagues, and your employees.
Shipping to Multiple Locations
If you have employees or customers who work remotely, you can also have your promotional products sent to their homes (or another location where they can easily pick the parcel up). Many of our promotional products can be conveniently dropshipped directly to multiple locations.
A good example is the order we are currently working on: promotional T-shirts for a fundraising walk event organised by a non-profit organisation. The shirts will be shipped directly to each participant’s home address. This greatly simplifies the process for the client, eliminating the need for them to distribute the items themselves after receiving a bulk shipment at their office.
This system works very well and is a great option to consider if you need to send items to different locations, such as employees’ homes or event sites, or if you plan to send just a few items (like “welcome kits” to new remote employees or a thank-you gift to a valued client).
Connect With Your Employees and Customers From Anywhere
Successful businesses have strong connections with their employees, customers, or prospective customers. One way to establish and nurture these relationships is through the use of promotional and marketing materials. This means that you shouldn’t just send random items but rather ones that recipients will truly appreciate.
Your sincerity and thoughtfulness will come through when you choose promotional products that are appropriate for the individual or event–items that are useful and practical, fulfill a need, or simply bring a smile to their faces.
