Promoting any company takes a great deal of determination, knowledge and focus. Whilst it may be easy enough to cobbles together a logo and try to get your name out to as many people as possible, unless you are memorable and use the right approach, people simply will not pay attention and your money will be wasted.
The hardest thing about marketing is understanding whether or not a marketing campaign has worked. Those that plough money in to the same types of advertising again and again may not realise that the approach they are taking is without merit and that they would have the same turnover if they stopped marketing altogether.
If you want to make sure that the marketing you are doing is working, you need to be able to gauge reaction. Whether you do this by using promotional codes and vouchers or whether you hand out physical promotional gifts and judge the reaction face to face, knowing what people think is important.
Promotional gifts bring with them multiple benefits. Using materials such as rubber or foam, you are likely to be able to create very cheap and attractive products that people use time and time again. This means that not only do you get to judge initial impact, but that the marketing you do will work time and time again as opposed to being a one off. The likes of rubber will also last far longer than other material and not be in danger of breaking.
The products you create should also reflect your individual business. For instance, a sports company may want to offer branded giant foam hands. These will not only be used by those going to sporting games, but also seen by the many others present at the game.
If you make your promotional goods interesting, functional or amusing, you will have far more success than by undertaking another impersonal campaign which cannot be easily judged.