Curious about introducing promotional products into your marketing plans? Pens are often the easiest and most accessible way to achieve this due to their low cost and versatile nature. 

When budgets are tight, it can be difficult to plunge budget into something that you’re going to give away for free. But with promotional pens, you can replace the traditional business card with something functional and genuinely useful. This can make your business card game more effective and far more memorable.

Why bother with promotional pens?

Having your own branded pens is about more than just an exercise in vanity. When you have pens with your branding and contact details printed on them, you can use these to connect with potential customers, keep your business at the front of their mind, or say thank you to existing customers.

Pens will always be useful and individuals will always be grateful for a free pen. If the pen also has a fun design and feels good when you write with it, you can guarantee individuals will be happy to use your pen and keep it close to hand.

What makes a good promotional pen?

For a promotional pen to be successful, it needs to first be functional. We all have a favourite pen, and there’s something about the way it glides that just feels good. If you can achieve this with your promotional pens, you could be on to a winner. Stick to black or blue for the ink colour, as this will make it more universally useful.

The promotional pen also needs to serve the function of promoting your company. This means it should be in your brand colours, it should include your name and logo, and it should also include your contact details. By keeping things generic and evergreen, you won’t have to worry about wasted stock due to irrelevant branding.

How to use promotional pens

There are so many uses for promotional pens, you might not have considered all of them. Perhaps the most popular use for a promotional pen is to encourage individuals to sign up for your mailing list in exchange for a free pen. You could also offer a free pen in exchange for feedback during an event.

It’s also common for companies to replace their office stationery with promotional pens and offer these for free to office visitors. This is a nice touch that encourages visitors to keep in touch. New employees can also be welcomed to the company with a welcome pack that includes their own branded pens.

You might consider sending pens to your customers in the post. This is a cost-effective way to show your appreciation for their continued support. 

If you’re tired of the usual business cards, you could offer free pens as an alternative to business cards. This is highly effective for use at conferences where everyone is always inundated with business cards and short on practical items like pens. Along a similar theme, you might consider branded tote bags for events as this will provide attendees with a way to carry all of the freebies they get from other stands.

How can your company benefit from branded pens?

There are a number of business uses for branded pens that make them worthwhile for companies of all sizes.

1. Your company can enjoy increased exposure by ensuring widespread proliferation of your promotional pens. Offering them for free at events, conferences and networking functions is a great place to start. You can send them to customers, give them to clients, offer them to employees and even donate them to local causes. Schools and food banks will always have a need for additional writing materials.
2. You can share a specific call to action using your promotional pens. This could mean your free pens double up as a discount code. It’s a good idea to limit the discount code to first orders only to help avoid abuse.
3. You can use the branded pens to start a conversation. Individuals will be more likely to listen to a sales pitch or engage with your marketing activities if they are getting something out of it. Even something as simple as a pen could be incentive enough to encourage someone to give you feedback or hear more about your products or services.
4. They’re a sustainable choice. Pens are a popular promotional item because they are useful and sustainable. Choose an eco-friendly design made from materials like paper or bamboo to help reduce the amount of single-use plastic. If you’re trying to project an image of being environmentally-conscious, then choosing pens would be an astute choice.
5. Pens can help to increase brand awareness. Make a habit of leaving your promotional pens in random places and you could enjoy some almost free publicity. This method of “accidentally” leaving your pens in different places is a highly effective branding exercise that could secure you some widespread promotion.

Final thoughts on using branded pens in your marketing plans

The benefits of printing promotional pens far outweigh the costs. There are few promotional items that are as universally popular and versatile as a printed pen. They are also lightweight, so you can always have a stash to hand. 

They’re also easy to send in the post or pop in a tote bag during a festival or event. In short, you won’t find anything as versatile and flexible as a promotional pen. With the right design and inclusion of your contact details, you can also be confident that your pens will be effective in achieving your goals.