Giveaways on a Budget

Choosing the Perfect Promo Products for Your Trade Show Giveaway

Choosing the Perfect Promo Products for Your Trade Show Giveaway

A trade show is an excellent opportunity for you to meet potential customers, and convey your brand message to the masses in a more casual setting. As trade show attendees are visiting and passing by many businesses’ booths, putting together a professional presentation and display that is memorable is more important than ever.

At trade shows, many businesses frequently give their booth visitors some sort of promotional swag, in the hopes that their brand is seen as unique and truly one of a kind. Your brand can succeed using this method, only by distributing the right promotional products. How can you decide what promotional giveaways will Make the right impression™, those products that will not simply be thrown away after the show? Here is what you should remember when deciding what promotional swag works best for your company at the next trade show.

1. Is the product representative of your brand?

When you are thinking about what sorts of promotional swag to give to booth visitors, you should first and foremost remember why you are there in the first place—to communicate your brand message to potential customers in a way that doesn’t come off as forced or a hard sell, and ultimately, generate qualified leads. Your chosen promotional product should tie in to how your brand is a solution for a prospective customer. If the product is just another tchotchke and is not representative of your business, then it is most likely headed for the trashcan. A product that is consistent with your brand doesn’t just mean that if you’re in the tech industry, for example, you should give out custom power banks. Does that product actually align with your corporate personality? Some products may be more fitting for buttoned-up brands, while some products are more appropriate for sporty or quirky brands.

The Karera UL Listed Powerbank

2. How useful is the product?

For a promotional giveaway that actually has an impact on your audience, that product has to be a combination of creativity and practicality. The product should have some valuable use to the customer, while still have a creative flair. After all, the right product will trigger the customer’s memory of your business—what you do, what are your products/services, and what is your unique selling proposition. It should be a high quality product that has the potential to see long-term use, and have a lasting charm.

Once you combine that usefulness and some personality, you could potentially create some brand buzz during, and even after the trade show. This will allow your business to really stand out in the crowd. You should also remember to scope out the audience. Don’t give out swag to every single one of your booth visitors, only to those who actually expressed a sincere interest in your products or services. If you are trying to reach a very specific audience, then consider having two sets of promotional swag—one set that caters to those top prospects, and one set of products with more mass appeal.

For instance, journals and portfolios are usually popular with everyone, while a more valued customer may get a wireless speaker. With a proper understanding of your audience, you can utilize promotional products that cater to their needs, and at the same time, you can still gain valuable leads and business.

Leeman New York Mini Tuscany Journal                          blue mini bluetooth speaker with logo

3. Quality Matters

At the end of the day, quality product really does make the difference between closing a deal and losing a deal. You want to inspire potential customers, not discourage them from conducting business with you. You will have to ask yourself what is the best quality promotional giveaway you can get within your marketing budget. Just because you have a limited budget, doesn’t mean that you have to sacrifice quality. You can easily find a unique, brand appropriate custom promotional product to ramp up your trade show booth, and connect with customers. If your promotional item looks cheap and breaks easily, it is nothing but a poor reflection on your brand and business. No matter what your industry or line of expertise may be, you don’t want your business to be associated with inferior quality. By providing booth visitors with this sort of product, customers have much lower expectations of the quality of service that they can expect from your business.

Merit Business Tote

Once you have your trade show booth and professional presentation all ready to go, a high quality, creative, and practical promotional giveaway item that represents your brand and business will certainly encourage your potential leads to become real customers. By following these guidelines, you will be on track to having the best trade show ever, well within your marketing budget.

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Promotional Products: A Class Act

Promotional Products: A Class Act

School is back in session all across the country. That means new seasons of extracurricular activities like sports, theatre rehearsals, etc. In addition, individual school clubs and groups are planning different ways to generate interest in or raise money for themselves and their programs.

That applies to the PTAs as well, who are organizing their agendas and events for the year. Pushing potential members and event attendees into purchasing random items will certainly make them hesitant to become involved.

If you’re a club or event organizer, a positive alternative to this method is to offer complimentary, custom swag. This will allow you to spark a bit of curiosity and interest without being a complete turn off. Without further ado, here is YOUR lesson in custom promotion.

Club and Event Ideas

No matter what type of group or event you may have, keeping personal belongings in order isn’t easy for everyone. That’s why a sturdy cinch pack or drawstring bag is a custom giveaway that’s appropriate for anyone. Offering individuals any one of these sturdy and stylish bags that are available in several different colors, styles, and patterns, and custom printing your group name or logo on it will build awareness, and act as a useful souvenir. Those individuals will be appreciative and more inclined to consider participating in respective activities.

Also, knowing the type of group or event you have, e.g. a fraternity, a sports team, an orientation, you can provide associated custom branded giveaways.

For example, fraternities and sororities may want to proudly print their letters on a comfortable and attractive t-shirt, while for a PTA event or school orientation, a fun and complimentary custom giveaway item could be a school stress ball.

On the other hand, a unique giveaway for an athletic team could be a bold Pencil pennant to stir up some real school spirit. With your organization’s information printed on these items, you can generate buzz keep your brand at the top of people’s minds, and encourage engagement from potential members.

So if you want to build brand awareness without being a bother, custom promotional giveaways will do the trick.

You will remind potential and current members/invitees of your value, add some genuine personality to your brand, and Make the right impression.™

Happy back to school!

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Charity Golf Tournament Swag Bags Made Easy

If you’ve ever been charge of putting together swag bags for a charity golf tournament you know that it can be challenging to source quality products and stay within your budget.  We understand this challenge and have put together golf tournament kits that make your life easier!

photo credit: Seth Lemmons
  A very valuable tip if you have the time, is to include promotional items into your sponsor packages. Instead of requesting your sponsors to donate items for your swag bags,  you can offer different levels of sponsors to have their logo on the golf bag, golf towel, water bottle, balls or tees for example.  This provides a great value to have their logo on the gift items and it also takes the extra work off your sponsors.  Each product in our kits can be customized with a different logo at no additional cost.  Plus they are offered with no setup charge. Depending on your budget and tournament entry fee you can choose from our best selling golf kits to fit your needs.  I have included a good, better, best option but we have many more options in our Golf Kits category on our website.   GOOD Scramble Golf Kit The Scramble Golf Kit includes 10 2-3/4" Tees, 15" x 18" Poly blend towel with grommet &  hook, a Top Flite XLD golf ball packaged in a 28 oz Eco Quencher Water Bottle.  Price includes a one or two color, one pole imprint on golf balls, and your logo printed in one ink color on towel, tees, and bottle.   BETTER 6 Pack Golf Kit The 6 Pack Golf Kit is a mid-level golf swag bag that features 6 Pack Cooler Bag, 15" x 18" Poly Blend white towel with grommet & hook, Six 2-3/4" tees, a divot repair tool, collapsible can holder, Bottle Opener, and a Top Flite XLD golf ball.  Price includes a one or two color, one pole imprint on golf balls, and your logo printed in one ink color on towel, tees, repair tool, foam can holder, bottle opener and cooler bag.  Other models of balls are available so if you'd rather include Titleist PV1 Golf Ball or a Wilson Ultra golf ball we can adjust your kit.   BEST Golf Cooler Kit The Golf Cooler Kit without Balls is a higher end golf swag bag that features a Golf Cooler Bag, 15" x 18" golf towel with grommet & hook, 8 2-3/4" Tees, Divot Repair Tool, and Collapsible Can Holder.  Price includes a one color imprint on all items (and remember you can do a different logo on each item for no additional cost). Here's a 5 Star review of the Golf Cooler Bag from one of our customers, "We searched and searched for a cooler shaped like a golf bag. This one was perfect and it then also came with the koozie, towel, tees, divot repair tool and small wipes case, all displaying our logo as well. The price was great for all of these elements and everything looked great. Even our logo so small on a tee, very readable." -  Alisa C.   Hopefully we have provided you with some ideas of how to provide quality golf tournament swag bags and have your sponsors support and recognition.  Good luck with your charity golf tournaments this year... hope you raise lots of money and create a fun, successful tournament.   -Heather Merchandising Manager  

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Case Study: Flexible Promotional Vase

This spring we helped one of our customers, Michelle find an inexpensive, unique item for her event.  After looking through many promotional products in her price range, she decided to order a sample of the Flexible Promotional Vase.

After reviewing the product she was pleasantly surprised to find that the vase was not as thin as she expected and was “amazed and excited about the quality of the item”.  She placed an order and purchased enough to display on her registration table as well as give as a gift to each person attending.  Not only did the Flexible Promotional Vase act as a decorative piece on her table, but it also was very well received by her attendees.  Everyone left with a quality branded vase which they could use in their home or office to display flowers.  Michelle felt the vase had a “lot of bang for the buck”!

Read more about the Flexible Promotional Vase and watch our how-to video

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The Can Grip: for When It’s So Cold, You Don’t Need Koozies

Punxsutawney Phil may have predicted an early spring this morning, but that doesn’t mean the cold weather is behind us. We’ve still got a few weeks of chilly temperatures to go, so there’s no need to pack your beach bags full of swimsuits and koozies just yet.

The bright side of this (and the side Phil was facing when he came out of his hole) is that you don’t even need koozies to ensure that your brew will stay nice and frosty; Mother Nature will be doing it for you. All you have to do is keep your warm hands off of your cold can, and there’s no better way to do that than with the Can Grip.

The concept behind the Can Grip is one of those simple-yet-brilliant ones that we wish we’d come up with first, but it makes us so happy that we’re just glad someone invented it. The product adds a whole new dimension to your friends telling you to “get a handle on yourself” when you’ve had one too many celebratory drinks at the post-game party; it makes it easy to hold your drink without warming it up when you’re wearing gloves outside; it’s got a built-in coaster on the bottom to keep a can steady on any surface, from the tailgate to the sidewalk…the perks of this magnificent product are endless.

Continue reading →

Posted by Admin in Cool Promotional Products We Love, Giveaways on a Budget, How to Reach a Target Audience, Sports News and Stadium Giveaways, 0 comments

How to Save Money on Everything from Groceries to Promotional Products

They say a dollar saved is a dollar earned. And this adage has never been truer than in today’s tumultuous economy. So as a tribute to the fact that today is National Teach your Children to Save Day, I thought now would be a good time to discuss consumer behavior and ways to save on everything from groceries to promotional products.

Continue reading about ways to save…

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Discovery of the Vanagon- need a promotional key chain?

As I was on my lunch break about a week ago, I came across a new discovery that I had never seen before.  Stopped at the traffic light to my right was a large awkward-looking van. During further inspection I noticed the model name on the back, and guess what it said- Vanagon.  First of all, I didn’t see anything overtly attractive about the vehicle itself to make anyone want to run to the car lot and buy this baby, and secondly I couldn’t believe it was called the Vanagon. So being in the promotional industry, first thing I think of is:  What goes best with a Vanagon? Promotional key chain of course! Continue reading →

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Here comes the Bride… and promotional magnets

Wedding season is in full swing. I not only have friends that are getting married in the coming weeks, but buzz is in the air around our office from co-workers who are attending if not just one, but multiple weddings throughout Spring as well.  I guess it is just natural for people our age to take the leap.  You wouldn’t think that a company such as ourselves would get many orders for weddings, but surprisingly we do. Couples are not only commemorating their day, but they want all their guests to have a little something to take home so they can remember the joyous occasion as well. Click to read about what wedding promos are popular

Posted by Admin in Giveaways on a Budget, 1 comment