In these credit crunch times businesses around the world will be asking themselves 'should I or shouldn't I go ahead with our planned promotional campaign?'. There is no easy answer to this question and obviously, budgets play a big part in the answer to the question. However, there is a clear need for all businesses to strive to retain existing customers and to bring on board new ones at the same time. The key here is how to do this in the most cost effective way. The first part is quite easy we can all use the telephone where calls cost pennies to keep in touch with our current client base; the second is a little trickier.

Promotional gifts can offer a great low cost way in which to promote your business to the masses more effectively. You do not have to spend a fortune on gifts to get your message noticed. There are whole hosts of product options, which are available for pennies and not pounds, the obvious one is promotional pens. Pens are available from only a few pence each and can be custom printed with your logo and contact details and then distributed to potential customers via traditional methods or handed out at trade shows and conferences. Think about it 1,000 pens imprinted with your details are going to give your brand a wide exposure and for only a few hundred pounds at most. Compared with other forms of advertising this form of building brand awareness is extremely cost effective.

We all use pens on a daily basis and leave them lying around our desks so not only does the recipient see your message but also any passer by in the office or other use of the pen. Plastic promotional key rings are another great low cost way to promote your business, we all have keys and use them daily and if you can come up with a eye-catching design there is no reason why the recipient wouldn't substitute your key ring for their existing one. Once attached to their keys your message is going to be hanging around for months if not years to come.

So you see, even in the tough economic climate we currently live in promotional items can form a crucial part of gaining new customers in a highly cost effective way just don't blow the budget on high end products and the result will still be the same, new potential customers at a cost that won't make the boss choke.