Promotional Products Key Terms

Hone your promotional products key terms to get your marketing message out

If you are ordering promotional products to market your company, understanding promotional products key terms can help you get the best value for your money. By understanding promotional products key terms, you can better grasp the types of promotional items that you might want to use for your marketing. You also can better determine the techniques you want used to print your company name, logo, contact information and marketing message on your promotional items.

Promotional items

Promotional items are sometimes called gifts with purchase, freebies or by other names. No matter what you call them, these are items (usually small items, such as pens or hats) that have been customized with a company name, logo and contact information. The goal of promotional items is to promote or advertise a company and build brand recognition.

Corporate gifts

Corporate gifts sometimes are called business gifts or business promotional products. These items are customized gifts that are given to business associates, usually to express appreciation. Corporate gifts differ from other promotional items because they are usually larger and of higher quality than most widely distributed promotional items.

Branding

Most marketing experts agree that promotional items play a key role in branding strategies. Branding refers to the process of getting specific emotions or ideas associated with your company name and logo. Promotional items are an important part of your branding strategy because they create a specific image of your company in customers' minds.

Emboss

Embossing refers to the process of pressing an image into fabrics, such as metal, leather or fleece, to create a raised, three-dimensional shape. Embossing is one of the techniques used to imprint a company name or logo onto some promotional items.

Screen printing

Screen printing is a process where a design is placed on a screen of fine mesh. Blank areas of the design are blocked with a special substance and dye or ink is pushed through the rest of the mesh surface onto fabric or other textiles. Screen printing is one of the more popular ways to customize promotional items like hats and shirts with company information.

Die stamping

In the die stamp method, also known as the die draw method, a metal plate is engraved with an image and applies gold or silver leaf to a product. This method is used to imprint promotional items with company names and logos.

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