You already know that promotional products can be a great marketing and advertising tool for your business. However, finding a good promotional products company and deciding to use their products is only the beginning. Although many of the best selling promotional products are highly successful at any time of year, some of the most effective and efficient promotional products advertising focuses on other factors, such as which products are "in season."

For example, any of the fall or early winter months are a great time to take advantage of one of the most popular promotional products… 2009 calendars. Proper timing in this case not only provides your business with a promotional product that is desirable to a wide audience, but also maximizes the calendar’s exposure to a full year. Failure to take advantage of 2009 calendars now will limit your ability to utilize one of the most effective and useful promotional products.

Another way to capitalize during the fall is by offering promotional products that are useful to students as they head back to school. Tote bags are an inexpensive product, but students who are moving or even going back and forth to classes find them handy. Flash drives, laptop locks, water bottles, and pens and pencils are some other promotional products that offer students great utility and are also very popular on campus. One of the biggest benefits of marketing to students is that your brand gets great exposure not just to the student who is in possession of your product, but to the rest of the student body as well.

Fall is not the only time of year in which to think seasonally. Depending on the climate in your area, golf products might make sense year round or only in warmer months. If you want to advertise during the holidays or the summer – the busiest travel times of the year – then consider luggage tags, which are both popular and practical. Additionally, you can focus generally on summer products or even specifically on a single holiday, such as the Fourth of July.

Other key events take place during several different times of year. For example, portfolios and pad holders are great promotional products to distribute during interview seasons. Many undergraduate students have their interviews in the late spring or early summer. The majority of law students interview for jobs in late summer and early fall. Medical residents have most of their interviews in October, November, and December.

The common theme is that effective promotional products advertising requires knowing what consumers actually need and consider useful. That equation has multiple variables, but one of its greatest components is seasonal variation. In this case, the cliché has plenty of merit… timing is everything.