1. Compete with your creativity.
In a crowded, commoditized industry like promotional products, creative projects can set a distributor apart from the competition. Get your hands on your clients’ marketing and events calendar for the next couple years, and start putting together ideas. The earlier you start, the more possibilities there are to generate something that’s sure to impress.

2. Know when clients will respond well.
Even though creative solutions can be fun, especially when you and your client have allowed plenty of lead time for brainstorming, not all customers’ marketing objectives require mind-blowing projects. Know when clients could use a creative upgrade to meet their goals, and when it’s better to be more conservative. Otherwise, you’ll spin your wheels and spend time on pitches clients won’t go for. Worse, customers could question how well you know their brand.

3. Put together unique briefs.
Formalize your brainstorming and idea-generating with creative briefs that will lay out the strategy for a client’s promotion. They will show what each element of the project will look like, while demonstrating to customers what they’re spending money on and the potential ROI. Promo products, when used creatively, can have a big impact. A creative brief shows that.

Creative strategy contributes 47% to a closed sale, the most of any project element. (Nielsen Catalina Solutions)

4. Conceive clutch solutions.
Creativity in promo includes product and artwork, sure. But it’s also important when a planned project needs to be changed close to deadline, for any number of reasons. Having good relationships with suppliers, tapping into product knowledge, knowing what’s viable and quickly putting together an ingenious new plan for a client that meets the same goals all take inventiveness and a familiarity with the industry.

5. Consider a brand experience.
Experiential marketing is certainly heating up. More brands are taking promotions to the next level and combining merchandise with experiences, like pop-up shops and personalization stations at events. Start the planning early enough, and you could tie products into a similar experience for your clients, perhaps at an upcoming trade show.