Calculating ROI on Promotional Items

A study by the Advertising Specialty Institute found that "business promotional items are one of the most impactful and cost-effective advertising mediums for businesses." 9/10 of people recall the name of a company that has given them a promotional product. That’s a convincing statistic for business owners and marketers purchasing merchandise items for their campaigns!

So why aren’t more businesses leveraging this business growth hack?

One of the main reasons businesses don't invest in corporate gifting or custom promotional products is the perceived upfront cost. And yes, depending on what items you choose, the upfront cost can look confronting on the balance sheet!

How to calculate ROI on merchandise items

This article challenges you to think about the return on investment – or ROI – which is not as easy to measure as the ROI of other marketing activities. Calculating the ROI on promo items is heavily focussed on impressions – the number of people who are likely to see your branded product. When comparing the investment across your marketing plan, here's a way to calculate a return on promotional items.

Let's break this down in a simple example:

250 x $3 = $750
50 x 250 = 12,500
$750 / 12,500 = $0.06 per impression

So 250 items are getting an estimated 12,500 impressions at a cost of $0.06 per impression.

To put this into perspective… The average CPC for Facebook advertising across all industries in 2020 (February) was $1.72.

The trick is finding the right products to promote your business to your target market. Here are a few tips on how to do that…

Know your target audience

Pick promotional products that your target audience will enjoy or find useful. When doing your market research, consider what your ideal customer would use and find valuable. Look at each promotional gift item under the lens of relevance. Decide which ones are related to your business and which ones are not.

Set your budget

Some promotional products will be more expensive than others so it’s important to work out what you can achieve for your budget. Pro tip: Delegate to a promotional product supplier! Get an expert in merchandise procurement to do all the leg work for you! A good partner will be able to be briefed on your marketing strategy and present back creative and/or budget-friendly ideas that will deliver on that. Look for merchandise partners who offer quality products and services.

Choose high quality

Whatever your budget, the research is clear that if the promo item or gift is to be used for an extended period, the quality needs to be there. Based on the initial investment required, choose as high quality as you can afford.

Include your branding

Leverage the marketing potential of your promo item or gift and include your corporate branding and any other information that is relevant or of specific interest to your customer.

Don’t forget about distribution

Think about how the product needs to be distributed in case postage will impact on your budget or other logistics. Another consideration is where you will store them, as promo items can often be bulky. Talk to us about our warehousing services to check this one off your list.

The top 10 buyers of promo products are from the following industries:

• Education
• Hospitality

• Corporate Businesses

• Healthcare

• Not-For-Profit

• Construction

• Government

• Trade & Professional Associations

• Real Estate

• Automotive & Logistics


Corporate gifts and Promo items are relevant for just about every type of business in any industry. And remember they can help your business with the Four R's... Recall, Reputation, Retention and ROI.

Some of the most popular items include branded writing instruments, clothing, bags, drink bottles, headwear, calendars, desk accessories, USB drives and umbrellas. When it comes to branded gifting, the choices are virtually endless. Total Uniform Solutions have over a decade of procurement experience, so we know where to source even the most unusual gifts!

Download our 30+ page Corporate Gifting Guide to find out how you can make corporate gifting and branded promo products work for your business.