March is full of offbeat days that are perfect opportunities for local businesses to hold promotional giveaways. Local entrepreneurs should celebrate minor holidays and attract consumers with unique promotional products. 

Consider scheduling a promotional event on one of the following days. 

National Pi Day
March 14 is every mathematician’s favorite day of the year because of its numerical significance. National Pi Day celebrates the most important irrational number known to mankind. The number is commonly rounded to 3.14 because it is a never-ending, non-repeating sequence. According to PiDay.org, the U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation in 2009 recognizing the importance of March 14. 

Branded calculators are the perfect promotional marketing products to distribute on National Pi Day. Small businesses can give the gifts to customers who have trouble working with irrational numbers. Students and other young customers will certainly appreciate the calculators when they are doing their math homework. 

Spring equinox
The first day of spring is not an official holiday, but many consumers celebrate because it means that warm temperatures will be arriving shortly. According to The Old Farmer’s Almanac, the spring equinox is on March 20 this year. Small business owners should help their customers enjoy the changing of the seasons by preparing for spring’s weather. 

Proper hydration is important as the temperature starts to climb. Promotional water bottles are the best gifts to ensure that customers can quench their thirst and battle the warm climates. Additionally, spring is traditionally a very rainy season, so small businesses should distribute branded umbrellas to help their clients stay nice and dry. 

The day the pencil and eraser came together
Pencils and erasers were not always attached. Pennsylvania State University writes that the two tools were not officially combined until March 30, 1838, when Hymen Lipman patented the first pencil with an eraser. 

The functional innovation should be celebrated by every American. Small business owners should distribute branded pencils as promotional items during their giveaways. The small gifts should have the date inscribed on the outside to ensure that consumers understand the significance of March 30 and truly appreciate Lipman’s innovation. 

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In 2013, entrepreneurs have to enact new plans to successfully advertise their establishments. New trends can help independent companies increase their marketing presence and reach large groups of consumers. Additionally, owners can combine new tactics with traditional strategies like holding promotional giveaways.

Showing gratitude
Customer retention is an important aspect of success in an uncertain economic climate. Consumers have grown increasingly frugal while they worry about their short- and long-term finances in the wake of the recession. As a result, Business 2 Community writes that gratitude is an emerging marketing trend for 2013.

Enterprises should reinforce their relationships with regular customers to hold on to steady business throughout the year. A rewards program is a great way to foster loyalty among consumers. Heather Evans, the former head of Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s client analytics for the global markets division, believes that understanding spending habits is the key to developing an effective rewards initiative.

“To design a program that works, you have to understand why your customers use your service or buy your products, and what would get them to use or buy more,” Evans told MSN.

Promotional discounts are popular rewards for budget-conscious customers. Consumers who are tracking their expenses appreciate when businesses distribute special offers on goods and services. Regular coupons and sales can help attract regular clients who adhere to strict budgets.

Alternatively, personalized business gifts could be the perfect rewards for loyal customers. Recipients always enjoy small presents, but personal identifiers are more effective than generic content.

“People like seeing their own name above all else,” Mike Linderman, former chairman of the Promotional Products Association International (PPAI), told The New York Times.

Small business owners can emblazon their customers’ names on promotional mugs, calendars and other functional gifts as rewards. Other items like custom pens and umbrellas can also make excellent presents for regular clients.

Digitizing analog tools
The proliferation of mobile technology has added greater importance to digital marketing ventures. Consumers are actively engaging with small businesses through email, social media and mobile advertisements that are optimized for tablets and smartphones. Mary Ann Parshall, CEO of Premier Data Direct, says that it’s important use traditional tools to reinforce​ digital advertisements.

“While marketing techniques have evolved with technological advances, digital media isn’t the only effective way to reach new customers,” Parshall said in a statement.

The source recommends using Quick Response (QR) codes and social media imagery to combine analog and digital campaigns. QR codes can be very effective when it comes to directing consumers to web content and building a marketing presence on the internet. For instance, entrepreneurs can print the digital watermarks in their promotional calendars or direct mail advertisements to direct recipients to various landing pages and online stores. Additionally, logos can be embedded in the center of QR codes to increase brand recognition.

Other online strategies include printing hashtags and symbols on promotional marketing products to draw consumers to business profiles on social networks. Entrepreneurs can encourage customers to use slogans and catch-phrases to access online-exclusive promotions on their favorite merchandise. The strategy helps businesses find more online followers and create a large consumer base for its social advertisements.

Entrepreneurs should create their own hashtags to avoid being lost in the online shuffle. Mashable notes that a unique slogan can generate buzz around a business as more consumers share the saying with their friends. Additionally, the news source writes that entrepreneurs can use hashtags to advertise events like promotional giveaways to attract the optimal number of participants.

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While precipitation is good news for the environment, it's not always welcome by people who prefer to stay high and dry. Small businesses can shield their customers from the rain, sleet and snow with branded umbrellas.

The best promotional marketing products are the ones that meet consumers' needs and, right now, people want protection from rainy weather. Owners can give umbrellas to every customer that comes in during a stormy day or distribute the functional advertisements until supplies run dry.

One of the advantages of logo-bearing gifts is that the promotional items are seen by large consumer groups. When a customer opens the gift, a logo is displayed on the exterior for everyone to see. An owner who gives umbrellas away is increasing the marketing presence for his or her business. 

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Offering items to employees as a token of gratitude can pay off, as the return on investment is realized through better performance. The recipient will show off the prize, inspiring other employees to work hard and receive something similar as well, thereby boosting the morale and performance of the entire office.

Since August is national golf month, there's no better time than the present to invest in corporate gifts like pens, notepads and other custom giveaways with golf themes. Better yet, gold ball markers, bags and umbrellas will be with them all the time, on the course and off, giving you visibility and mobile brand awareness.

Teeing off promotional gifts

Even though you may feel giving to employees will be easier than customer giveaways, these should be treated with just as much care and consideration as any other promotional drive. Giving has always been a staple of human resources retention strategies, be it with extra days off, pay raises or other incentives, but custom gifts can be a better, more cost-effective way of saying "thank you" to an employee who has done an exemplary job.

On the list of golf giveaways for those looking to spend the least but make the most impact should be themed calendars and pens. These carry the overall message of leisure and golfing, but also encourage planning, note-taking and clarity on the job. With these tools employees can better plan their days, make space for golfing trips and still stay on-task for important corporate deadlines.

More casual gifts on a smaller scale include ball markers and divot repair tools, which serve a single purpose on the course but get passed around during outings. As these are most likely to be used by others in the employee's party, they can easily ask questions and learn more about the organization, its products and services from a highly-knowledgeable source, all sparked by seeing a corporate logo on one of these giveaways.

Making gifts count

Some companies have even instituted point systems or trade-up programs to get better gifts, increasing the value of certain items and creating an incentive to work harder. Workforce Online wrote that some organizations have instituted these kinds of programs with strong results from certain members of management, which in turn sends a strong message to those who work in their offices.

For trade-up programs or items with a bigger splash, custom tote bags and golf club bags are a great way of showing an employee he is truly valued by the organization. Bearing a corporate logo, these bags also broadcast the company's name at golf courses and when displayed in public, making them a great sounding board as well for increased customer interest.

Umbrellas also have a big presence everywhere they go, protecting employees from the rain and helping them make it to work unmolested. These are highly portable and universally appreciated items, and guarantee that casual viewers will catch a glimpse of your business logo every time it rains.

Having a strong employee loyalty program will make staff feel more appreciated and compel them to do better work. Show your top performers that the organization truly cares about them this month with promotional golf gifts to strengthen their ties and engagement with National Golf Month promotions.

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