As you seek to promote the products and services offered by your business or organization, you'll find that it can be challenging to build your clientele. Having an effective marketing plan in place can be a great start in creating name recognition and adding to your bottom line. It is necessary, however, to supplement your marketing plan with other initiatives so cement an image of your organization in the minds of your current and prospective clients. One of the most effective ways to build clientele is through the use of promotional items, such as printed mugs. Printed mugs are an effective promotional item because of their nearly universal use and because of the way in which they can be designed to successfully create an image for your organization.

Coffee and tea can work as effectively for your organization as a team of crack marketers and sales people. When you choose to use printed mugs as promotional items for your organization, you are arming your potential clientele with a tool they will potentially use on a daily basis. No other marketing campaign can so effectively be used on each client on a daily basis; imagine having a client think of your organization every time they reach for their mug to take a sip of their tea or coffee!

Because of the common use of your promotional item, it is important that you design your printed mug in such a way as to capture the attention of a potential client quickly and continuously. It can be a tendency of businesses to try to cram as much information as possible on a promotional item, but this can give the impression of disorganization and lead to confusion. Therefore, it is far more effective to create a simple and streamlined design for your printed mug. The users of your mugs will likely glance at it multiple times throughout the day, and having a simple message will leave a more lasting impression.

Choose and limit yourself to a simple representation of your organization's name, logo, and perhaps a short description of your services or products. Much more can be expressed through a recognizable rendition of your logo and a catchy tagline as filling the entire surface area of a printed mug.

The key to successful marketing plans is creating a unique impression of your organization that will raise it to a level that surpasses any competitors in the minds of your potential clientele. How you stand out is how you create business and success. After choosing to use a printed mug as a promotional item, you can further enhance your opportunities to stand out in the minds of your clients by following up in a variety of ways. After sending mugs to your clients, a way to get back in contact can be to send a variety of coffee and tea samples, with a letter explaining that they can be used in the mug you've already sent. This is effective in that it reminds the client that you've already made contact, it places the mug in the forefront, and it gives an opportunity for future contact - perhaps you'll tell them that you should meet over tea, and use that meeting to cement the relationship. All in all, building clientele with coffee and tea can lead your business or organization to much success in the future.


Tina Rinaudo is one of the leading lights in the UK promotional mugs industry. Tina is a key member of YesGifts, the UK's fastest growing online printed mugs resource specialising in promotional pens, mugs, mouse mats, umbrellas, conference items and much more. For more information please visit www.yesgifts.co.uk.