If only you could hang around your customers’ offices to keep them constantly mindful of your business, your brand, and the value of your products and services.
Of course, that approach likely won’t win you business or friends. Instead, you’ll find it much more effective to let promotional calendars do the hanging around for you. Promotional wall calendars and desk pad calendars carry your name, brand and contact information, so they keep you and your business before your customers – and in their mind – 365 days a year.
And you won’t have to worry about trespassing or loitering charges; in fact, your customers will appreciate the convenience of a promotional calendar, whether it’s hanging on their wall or sitting on their desk.
Following are four ways that promotional calendars provide you and your customers real value:
They’re always working for you.
When you give them promotional calendars or desk pad calendars, your customers will see your name, brand and contact information several times a day.
For this reason, promotional calendars have an exceptionally low cost per impression (CPI) – among the lowest in advertising. The Advertising Specialty Institute reported in a 2008 study that they have a cost per impression of three-tenths of a cent. The average CPI for promotional products is four-tenths of a cent. The CPI for other media is higher. For instance, 3.3 cents for an ad in a national magazine, 1.3 cents in a newspaper ad or seven-tenths of a cent for a cable TV ad.
They’re useful.
A promotional calendar has true value for your customers. They are convenient for jotting down appointments and other notes. And we all refer to calendars often to check dates, remind ourselves of upcoming events or plan vacations.
And despite the fact we live in a digital age, printed calendars are still very much relied upon at home and at work. In two recent studies, the Promotional Products Association International (PPAI) reported that printed calendar usage has changed remarkably little from 1981 to 2011:
- Printed calendars were in 98 percent of homes in 1981, compared to 79 percent in 2011
- Printed calendars could be found in nearly every business in 1981, compared to 78 percent in 2011, despite the pervasiveness of computers in the workplace
They have lasting value.
They last at least 365 days, and you can buy calendars with additional months at a very low additional cost. 
They provide multiple marketing opportunities.
Calendars offer you the opportunity to deliver a unique message and advertising pitch every month. In other words, with a calendar you don’t have to keep delivering the same old message, month after month. Surprise your customers, and keep it fresh. Make your calendar a valuable page turner.
