Trends in Promotional Products and Marketing

There are plenty of reasons you might want to do business with Hasseman Marketing.  We have that bubbly personality, our engaging smile, the ability to tell dad jokes, and more.  But our goal is certainly to provide more reasons than just being fun at a party!  We want to make sure we stay up on all of the latest trends that will affect our business…and yours.  That is why we come to you today to discuss some of the trends we see in promotional products and marketing now.

The Costs Will Be Rising

We hate to be the bearer of bad news…but here we are!  Challenges with shipping items into the country are no secret.  For the past few months, getting large ships into port has been a challenge.  We can blame any number of factors…but more and more shipments have been affected.  Combine that with the ship that was stuck in the Suez canal that backed up shipping for days and cost billions, and you have a recipe for increased costs.  It’s not just in the promotional industry to be sure.  But it will be coming, as soon as later this year.  This is not a doomsday prediction.  Everything will be fine.  But just be prepared.  As a matter of fact, if you are planning for events later in the year, you might get ahead of the game by getting orders moving sooner rather than later.

Work From Home Is Still A Thing

While some companies are calling people back to the office, a large number of organizations may have changed the way they work forever.  While I personally wonder what this means for company culture moving forward, many point to increased flexibility and productivity.  And let’s face it, for many organizations it means a decrease in rent!  What does that mean for you?  It means you still need to consider delivery in your promotional products campaigns.  Some suppliers have really become amazing at creating drop-ship programs that can reach your team or customers right where they are.  Make sure you factor that in your cost and your timeline when you create your next campaign.

Doing Brand Good Is Important

We have talked about this for over a year now.  Brands want to not only tell their story.  They want to leave some bread crumbs of “brand good” behind.  This means creating promotions with a purpose.  You can do that in a ton of ways.  One of them is to support suppliers or products that have a giveback component to each item.  There are more than you might think.  One example is the Basecamp line of products from Sweda.  Every purchase from this amazing brand donates money to the Wounded Warrior product.  They donated $100,000 in 2021!  You can learn more here.  There has never been a better time to use your brand to do good.

Online Learning Is Here To Stay

While no one is more excited to get back to in-person events than me, online learning is here to stay.  The technology has been here for years, but now we have come to accept that we can level up our game from home…then use it right away.  This has created the chance to learn at a much more affordable cost.  That’s great news.  That is why we have helped to create Better Business University.  Our goal is to create a low-cost learning option for those that want to level up…and help their team do the same.  You can learn more about this project here...and help us shape it as well.

These are just a few trends that we see in promotional products and marketing.  As I said, we love that you do business with us because of our sparkling personality, but I hope this adds some value to the relationship as well!  If you want to chat more about any of these, please reach out to your rep or click here to schedule a time to chat!

Written by: Kirby Hasseman

Kirby Hasseman is the CEO of Hasseman Marketing & Communications. Kirby hosts a weekly Web show called Delivering Marketing Joy where he interviews business leaders from around the country. Kirby has published four books. His most recent is “Fan of Happy.” His book, called "Delivering Marketing Joy" is about doing “promo right” and is perfect for people in the industry and customers. He also wrote “Think Big For Small Business” and “Give Your Way to Success. All are available on Amazon.