Due the rising cost of healthcare, more employers are looking into wellness programs for their employees. The reasoning is that healthier employees translate into lower health insurance claims and premiums. Companies are making large investments in these programs, so the pressure is on for them to positively affect the bottom-line.

Employee participation is the key to the success of a wellness program and is obviously the biggest challenge for employers. Promotional products help boost participation in these three ways:

1. Create & Maintain Awareness

Like a New Year’s resolution, the initial motivation excitement created at the start of a program can quickly wane. Life and work can easily distract and employees need reminders. A promotional item can be that continual reminder of the wellness program. Also consider a monthly or quarterly promotion featuring a wellness item as an additional internal marketing touch. Maintaining awareness of the program keeps current participants on track, while continuing to persuade others to begin participating.

2. Reinforce Healthy Habits

Health and wellness related promotional products can help encourage healthy habits and reinforce key principles of a wellness program. For example, drinking water is one of the most important ways to maintain a healthy body. Encourage employees to drink more water by giving them a water bottle with the company logo and the wellness program branding or health tip. The water bottle reinforces your companies focus on employee health and wellness and encourages participation.

3. Incentives

Several studies have shown that incentives significantly boost participation rates. Common incentives include fitness center discounts or insurance premium credits. While excellent incentives, they do little to promote the program. Branded merchandise incentives encourage participation and promote the program long-term. Promotional products as incentives add value as an internal branding mechanism.

What Promotional Products Should I Use?

For a promotional product to have the greatest effect, it needs to find a visible spot in an employee’s workspace or integrate itself into their daily routine. Products like a calendar featuring wellness tips, stress reliever, brain teaser or the aforementioned water bottle keep the program front and center in the workplace.

What other ideas are out there to promote wellness programs? Share in the comments below.