Wes Robertson has seen more companies waste money with their promotional product choices than he can count. His years of experience can help you avoid the same mistakes!
In the process of searching for the perfect item to use with a branding initiative for your company, it can be easy to miss something as simple as logistics in your planning process. If you plan to distribute some promotional products to tons of people attending a trade show and you believe water bottles are a great idea, you might want to reconsider! Even "small" bottles can take up a tremendous amount of space. The right idea is to go with one that is easy to ship and move around but will still be on someone's mind after they leave your booth.
Great promotional items lend themselves to clever event tie-ins and that relate to when attendees have to take a trip to the event. Take, for instance, one of our recent top sellers; luggage spotters. Lightweight and small in size, these can be mailed out as a teaser for the event and at the stall they'll attract convention goers because most folks probably will not be carrying around a lot of them already.
We’ll usually recommend the client take a good look at their customers wherever they are exhibiting and send out postcards to them a week (or several weeks) before the event. Ensure that participants bring the card to the booth to claim their special gift, since even a tote bag can draw far more attention than you could ever imagine. People will be waving those cards as soon as the booth opens to get their freebie. A second tier of gifts can be for everyone else, and cost much less. Your main objective is to establish your company by giving them something that they will make use of and that you can easily ship and move around.
We like desktop calendars because manufacturers will print them twice a year so you have the option of a full or split year calendar. If you have a convention in August it is a little too early to give away a 2008 calendar. With this item, though, you can give away a calendar that begins with July 2007 and goes thru June 2008. These are small so it is easy to ship and they will sit in front of your clients all year; prime real estate. It's difficult to remain inconspicuous and still be in front of someone’s face with your company name and telephone number, but these will do the trick!
Products that are tradeshow focused, like caviar bath beads to soak in or relaxing foot lotion put a smile on anyone’s face when you hand them out at a tradeshow. Thinking of someone’s well being goes over great because we have all had the sore feet and aching backs from long days walking the floor. In the promotional industry the personal care/spa products have really improved in their value, appearance and price points.
Consider what all of these suggestions have in common: size. While you should always think big when it comes to your company, keep your tradeshow giveaways small and light. Logistics is vital! Ultimately your decisions are up to you, but take these examples and considerations to heart and you'll really make an impression at your next tradeshow!
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