The Promotional Products with the Lowest Cost-Per-Use (Ranked)

In Australian B2B buying, unit price is the number everyone sees first, especially when procurement gets involved. But unit price is a poor proxy for value. What actually matters is cost-per-use (or cost-per-impression): how many times the item gets used, seen, and carried around while your brand stays attached.

To keep this grounded, we’re using the ASI 2023 Ad Impressions Study as a directional benchmark for lifetime impressions and example cost-per-impression calculations. The study is US-based, but the underlying behaviour (people wear, carry, refill, and reuse practical items) maps closely to how promo works in Australia — especially for workplace and event distribution.

How we’re ranking “lowest cost-per-use”?

Instead of guessing how many “uses” something gets, the ASI study estimates lifetime impressions by category (how many times the product is seen during its usable life) and provides worked examples of cost-per-impression for common items.

This is useful because, in the real world, the best-performing promotional products share three traits:

1. They get used in public or semi-public settings (office, commute, events, job sites).
2. They stay in rotation (not just used once then forgotten).
3. They tolerate wear without looking tired, because once the product looks bad, it stops representing the brand.

Ranked: the lowest cost-per-use promotional categories

The table below ranks categories by high lifetime impressions plus proven low cost-per-impression examples from the study.

A few things jump out immediately:

• Outerwear wins because it’s worn repeatedly, seen from a distance, and tends to be kept. It’s not “cheap”, but it can be exceptionally efficient when you look at cost-per-impression.
• Pens win because they’re the definition of high-frequency use at low cost — they’re still one of the best “always on” categories in B2B, especially for trade counters, reception, conferences, training days and customer service teams.
• Caps sit in the sweet spot: not expensive, but very visible — provided you choose a cap people actually want to wear (fit, breathability, weight and feel matter more than buyers expect).

The buyer mistake that destroys cost-per-use

The biggest misconception is thinking cost-per-use is “baked in” to the category. It isn’t. A tote bag that tears at the handle after two grocery trips has a terrible cost-per-use even if it was cheap. A bottle that leaks get abandoned. A stiff cap that traps heat won’t be worn. A t-shirt with a scratchy feel becomes a sleep shirt (at best) and never leaves the house.

So, the real lever is matching quality to the expected life of the program:

• For a one-day event, budget items can be perfectly sensible.
• For onboarding kits, client gifting at scale, or recurring event presence, the cheapest item is often the most expensive decision — because it stops being used.

How This Ranking Helps?

If you’re planning a high-volume campaign and you want the safest “low cost-per-use” mix for Australian B2B, the logic is straightforward:

• Choose one wearable (t-shirt or cap) for visibility.
• Choose one desk/utility item (pen or drinkware) for repeated daily contact.
• Choose one carry item (tote) if you need event practicality and distribution ease.

That combination spreads your brand across contexts: office, commute, events, and everyday life — which is exactly how you lower cost-per-use without needing gimmicks.

Buying for Cost-Per-Use, Not Unit Price

If you want the lowest cost-per-use promotional products, you’re not really hunting for “cheap items”. You’re hunting for products that stay in someone’s life long enough to keep earning impressions.

Start with categories that naturally generate repeat exposure (outerwear, tees, caps, drinkware, pens, totes), then choose the quality level that matches how long you expect the item to perform — because longevity is where ROI is won or lost.

About the Author

Charles Liu

Owner

Charles Liu is the Founder and a recognised authority in the promotional products and uniforms industry in Australia. With over 19 years of experience, he has guided Cubic Promote to work with over 15,000 Australian organisations. His specialty is helping Aussie companies select the right products that stay within their budget. He also specialises in sourcing and assisting brands and government agencies in selecting corporate gifts for VIPs and high-profile clients. A regular contributor to industry blogs, Charles shares his expert insights on using branded merchandise to achieve business goals. Charles’s deep understanding of industry trends and strong supplier relationships make him a trusted figure in the sector, continually influencing the development of both products and uniforms that deliver tangible, measurable results.