Staying top of mind and making sure that current and prospective customers are aware of your brand is important for any type of business, but even more so  during COVID lockdowns.  Giving promotional products is one way to keep engaging your customers.  But what type of gifts will effectively connect you with people you can’t meet face-to-face?  When you think of promotional products, do you immediately think of another mug, pen, or notepad with your company’s logo on it? Are cheap promotional products less effective than expensive ones? In this episode, I speak with Oksana Koriakova, marketing and brand engagement maverick and entrepreneur, about how to wow your clients using promotional gifts.  Oksana freely shares her expertise, ideas and methods for using promotional products as part of your marketing strategy.  Get out those free notepads and pens you’ve received at past conferences as this episode is chock full of tips you won’t want to miss.  WHAT YOU’LL DISCOVER IN THIS EPISODE: How to wow your clients using gifts (01:37) Top of mind and awareness are critical during COVID (03:22) Who leads your “thank you” department? (04:54) What do you do before and after your service? (05:26) You are not your customer (06:29) You don’t need a million-dollar budget, you just need to be smart (07:07) Use five-sense marketing for more engagement (07:24) Find the right product to take your customer on a journey (10:20) Oksana’s 5-step ‘Purpose Before Product’ process (11:33) Maximising bulk promotional products but still giving customers what they value (12:59) Tips to help your existing customers to refer you (15:22) Promotional products to effectively promote digital events and your company’s messages (19:50) You need a system and research so you can take your customers on a journey (28:13)  By adding value to your service, you may end up helping other businesses even through virtual means (31:58) For full show notes and links visit: https://samanthariley.global/podcast/203-promotional-products-to-effectively-market-your-company-with-oksana-koriakova