The 5 Hottest Items in Promotional Merchandise in 2006!

Promotional products have become a 17 billion dollar industry. Find out what’s hot and how to benefit this year. Gone are the days when people think of promotional products as gadgets or toys. Today, people use these items for incentives, branding, product launches, and public relations.

After recently attending the biggest promotional merchandise show of the year in Las Vegas, I compiled a list of the top 5 hottest items that I think will do well this year.

1) Gift cards, ringtone cards, game cards, music download cards:

These can be inexpensive ways to show your customers that you appreciate them. With IPOD and MP3 players flying off the shelves, content becomes king. These people need to fill your product and will certainly appreciate being given 3-5 songs for free. These cards can also be used to calm down a dissatisfied customer. It’s always easier to try to calm down a dissatisfied customer than to find a new one.

Gift cards were all the rage in 2005 and the trend will definitely continue in 2006. Today, stores only advertise gift cards, they no longer advertise products. They let the customer decide what product he wants. With 25% of all balance amounts never claimed, these cards have become a source of income for those who sell them. With available quantities of 1,000, these cards are now available to businesses of all sizes, not just the Walmarts and Costcos of the world. One of the most important benefits of gift cards is to guarantee future sales at your store or business.

2)Clothes:

When people in promotional products used to think of clothing, it was usually associated with cheap t-shirts. Today all manufacturers want a piece of the pie. Corporate Apparel is big business. Companies like Liz Claiborne, The Gap, Old Navy, Nike, Reebok, Ping, Ashworth, American Apparel, and others are involved. Today’s products include T-shirts, pants, sweatpants, jackets, Oxford shirts, hats, golf wear, socks, and shoes.

3) Laces:

These things are everywhere. Once the domain of the trade show, lanyards have branched out into hundreds of industries. The quality of the material and printing has improved a lot over the years. Minimum quantities for special plastic designs from China have been lowered. Lanyards are found in Hospitals, Customer Service, Store Salespeople, even ordinary people who use them to hold their water bottle when they walk. With dozens of different accessories available, these items have become a necessity in many businesses.

4) USB drives:

A few years ago these were seen as a novelty. Now they have become essential as busy executives take their files with them everywhere. The brand name on these items is sure to be seen and appreciated hundreds of times over. A useful item that can also automatically send people to your website. With varying amounts of storage available, you’re sure to find some in every price range.

5) Dog Tags:

These items have taken over the awareness bracelet craze in recent years. These items can be co-branded and even personalized with barcodes or consecutive numbers. This gives you the option of using them as raffle tickets, admission tickets, or as incentives to drive people to your website.

If I have one piece of advice for those thinking of using promotional products, it would be “IT DON’T COST MORE TO DO IT RIGHT!”. A neglected product can tarnish your image and reputation more than the pennies you’ve saved on an inferior item. The goal should not be to spend the minimum, but to get the most out of the money you have spent. If you have any questions or need any advice, you can send me an email. For ideas you can visit my site http://www.solutionsink4u.com with over 600,000 different items or just Google promotional products. Good luck with your next project.