Promotional Calendars & Diaries

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And do we still need them?

Don’t listen to people that are trying to tell you that printed calendars and diaries aren’t cool anymore. In fact, branded calendars, planners and diaries are still an extremely popular promotional product, and they give you an excellent return on your investment, so they should not be overlooked. Do you use a calendar, planner or diary? Then your customer is likely to be using one too.

Why they are such a popular promotional product?

They are useful, can be customised to your business and brand, and customers like them. When you are considering a promotional gift for your business, that is pretty much everything that you are looking for. Diaries and calendars are a practical gift, relevant for most people as they find them useful. So you are already creating a feeling of trust, from your customer. As they look at your calendar or write in your diary to keep track of their own events and meetings, they will continue to see your brand every day too.

The simple fact is that your customer may not need your services every day. But there will come a day when they need some help and need a service or product that you could assist them with. But if the last contact they had was a business card exchanged 6 months before, what do you think are the chances that they will pick up the phone to call you, when they are looking for a solution to that problem? When your customer is ready to buy, you want to make sure that your company and contact details are right there in front of them. Imagine if they are using a calendar or diary from your closest competitor!

If you need to see some cold hard facts about how using calendars will be a benefit to your business, here’s a few statistics for you, specifically about marketing with branded calendars & diaries

75-90% of the people asked were able to recall the name of the business that was on their calendar &/or diary.
850 impressions for your brand during the life span of a calendar, increased again if a wall calendar is seen by multiple people in a workspace
Statistically more women consult calendars than men, so if your ideal client is a woman, they will find it even more useful and relevant
67% of people asked in a survey stated that they would prefer a printed calendar over a digital version
84% of people asked stated that they considered calendars to be important

Plenty of research has also shown that things written down on paper are remembered better than those typed on a keyboard.

Calendars and diaries, provide a great return on an investment, in part due to the brand awareness they create and because they can be produced in large or small quantities to suit your specific brand needs. With so many different variations and styles, there is also something that can suit every budget. It is easy to customise and create a calendar or diary that is completely unique to your business too, an ideal way to relay your company message. It will be totally on brand, gives your ideal client all your contact information and is prime advertising space. That is going to be looked at every day!

How to get the best return on your investment

The simplest method of branding is to have your logo placed on the cover or pages of an existing style of calendar or diary. These are promotional products that can provide your business with some of the best advertising space too though. Not only do you have the most space available for your company details but with a little thought and planning, you can really get the most out of your investment.

Make sure to promote all your services and products, especially areas of the business that a potential customer may not be aware of. You could use different images for each new month for example.
Include dates and events that are relevant to your business. Marking occasions that will ensure your customer has you in mind, at certain times of the year
Include daily prompts in a diary that your customer will find helpful and therefore increases their trust in your business.

Tips for planning customized calendars and diaries

Firstly, what will your customer find most useful? A diary, a wall calendar, a planner or a desk jotter? Statistics have shown that a wall calendar is still the most popular type of printed calendar, followed by the desk calendar, then the planner and then a diary. In fact, the popularity of the wall calendar is expected to grow, driven by factors such as increasing demand for eco-friendly products.

Things to be considered:-

The size of diary or calendar, A4, A5, large or pocket sized?

Wall or Desk?

Type of Paper – the thickness, glossy, or even recycled?

Page Count?

Page Layout – week to a page? Or month or a day?

Is there a theme to follow?

Would you like a different image each month for your calendar?

Would it be relevant to include something like a quote per day, a top business tip or a health tip for every day?

Do you have particular slogans or sayings in your business that you could include?

This one might seem obvious, but you’d be surprised how often it happens – when deciding on the type of calendar and the paper to be used, consider whether your customer will want to be able to actually write on it.

With a little planning and thought, you could easily create a meaningful gift, that serves a real purpose for your customer, creates a real feeling of goodwill for your business and your gift becomes a talking point. Your diary could be the one product in their life that they find they can’t live without. Take the time to think about the impression of your business that you want to leave with your diary too, how it will reflect on your overall brand. If you want to portray your brand as exclusive, or you sell a luxury product, your style of diary will need to reflect that. But if your brand is young, fun, trendy etc. a different style of product might fit your message better.

What about selling your own planners and diaries?

Creating a promotional gift with your calendar is certainly a great way to get your brand name out there, and a very popular one as we have already said. But what about taking it one step further and opening a whole new revenue stream for your business, selling your own planners and diaries? A journal or planner may be the perfect supporting product to your existing business and therefore it would make perfect sense for your customers to buy one from you. We’ve already shown you how customizable they are and if you plan early, you could take pre-orders, which will give you a better idea of the quantity that you might need to buy too. Or create an exclusivity for your product, making only a certain number available. Make sure that your customers know that they will need to buy early to secure one for themselves.

If you’d like some more information in creatin gyour own calendar, diary or planner just get in touch and if you’d like to keep up to dat with any special offers or upcoming promotions, you can sign up for our newsletter here