Choosing Successful Trade Show Giveaways`
It’s easy to forget the real reason for investing in promotional products if you’ve been using the same items year after year. Take some time to evaluate what your marketing goals are, then update your trade show giveaways accordingly.
Branding is the most obvious and direct goal of promotional products. Getting your name in front of prospects is a simple way to increase brand identity and cement your reputation. Make sure your trade show giveaways clearly display your complete company name and logo prominently.
Visibility is also a crucial goal. Choose trade show giveaways that not only feature your name and logo, but that will be put to good use where they can be seen and remembered. Think about practical items that customers have a need for and will use on a regular basis: reusable totes, reusable water bottles and pens are all handy products.
Goodwill lingers if your promotional products are superior quality items that will last beyond the end of the conference. A great example of this is giving away a reusable water bottle versus a disposable water bottle with a custom paper label.
Information gathering can be simplified if you use trade show attractions or promotional products that you give away in exchange for names, titles and email addresses. Most people are willing to fill out a short form if they perceive your trade show giveaways as valuable or desirable.
What Trade Show Giveaways Are Most Desirable? 
Although trade show and conference attendees are usually happy to snap up any promotional products that are being given away, there are some items that are always greeted with more enthusiasm than others. Keep these tops in mind when choosing your promotional products:
- If it doesn’t have your name, your logo and your contact information, it’s pretty much useless as a trade show marketing tool.
- Unless you’re selling food or beverages, don’t use them as trade show giveaways. As soon as the attendees finishing eating or drinking, your promotional products are simply empty containers to be disposed of.
- Promotional products that have immediate value are always appreciated by weary trade show attendees. A doctor’s office, for instance, could offer blood pressure screening. Just don’t forget to give them something such as a note pad or pen with your contact information on it as well!
- Any promotional trade show giveaways that are interactive automatically up the ante. If trade show visitors can touch, hear or experience your promotional products with all their senses, they’ll remember you company and tell others about their experience.
- Give away promotional products that enhance your visitors’ sense of worth. If you can give a gift that will leave your visitors feeling better about themselves, you’ll gain more intense loyalty than if they leave your trade show display without any particular feeling about themselves. Consider investing in trade show attractions that will entice visitors to try their hand at a game of chance that offers different levels of prizes for every result. Each gift should have some value for your visitors so that everyone will walk away feeling validated in some way.
The right trade show giveaways can take your trade show marketing to the next level and will linger in recipients’ memories long after the lights of the trade show floor are dark. Be sure your promotional products are enticing, affirmative and helpful for the best impression.
About the Author:
Jonathan Edelman provides helpful trade show marketing ideas. With years of experience in the trenches, he is an expert on booth displays, lead generation techniques, and networking with trade show vendors to build a referral-generating system that leads to a boost in sales and revenue.
