Trade shows have notoriously been to blame for all those extra pens, erasers and pencil sharpeners littering your office junk drawer. But does giving away branded merchandise at a trade show really make that much of an impact? The hope is that trade show giveaways, (like a free tote bag, pen, keychain, or whatever your marketing director comes up with), will influence the buying decisions of the trade show attendees. Eventually, you hope that they will consider your brand the next time they’re in the market for your products or services.
Whatever you want to call your promotional items, (swag, advertising incentives, handouts, trinkets, doodads, or tchotchkes) picking the right type of free promotional item could either help people remember your brand, or in a worse-case scenario, they can be kind of annoying. I think we’ve all gotten a cheap pen that never worked, or some mediocre headphones that broke after listening to just one podcast…
If your promotional items are essentially trash with your company’s name on it, that could perceivably create a negative impact on your overall brand image. If you’ve invested so much time, money and effort into exhibiting at a trade show, you don’t want to ruin the whole thing with a cheap, environmentally-destructive piece of plastic, do you?
Before we answer this question, let’s go over the intent of the promotional giveaway. Ideally, most people would answer that the free swag (stuff we all get) is intended to drive people to your booth at a trade show. The free gift can also help people remember not only your trade show exhibit, but your brand name and the products you offer for a long time after they leave for home.
However, more often than not, people will just stop by your booth to fill their goodie bag with goodies and they might not ever think about your brand again. One way around this is to pre-qualify people who come to your booth with a few questions before you offer them the free gift. Your booth’s staff should be talking to and engaging with people anyways. Therefore there’s no reason your employees couldn’t gauge interest before you just start handing out things all willy-nilly.
Mentioning your giveaway in a pre-show email campaign and social media posts is a good way to generate a “buzz” within your target market. In this case, the promotional materials become your way of saying thank you for the attendees time and consideration when visiting your booth, or your presentation events.
If at all possible, have something to give away that is themed towards your business. For instance, a fishing line cutter if you’re a fishing or hunting business or a wine cork screw if you operate an Italian food service. The best way to ensure a ROI from your promo material is to make something that will be used by the prospect, long after they leave the showroom floor. Ideally, if you do it just right, every time they pull-out your freebie to use, they will be thinking about your brand’s products and services.
We see many trade show exhibitors use giveaways as a gimmicky, novelty item with seemingly very little thought put into the whole process. To avoid just wasting your company’s money on a gimmick, please consider some of these successful strategies.
Your freebies should work within your overall marketing message to the consumer. Ideally, you want a promotional giveaway that will compliment what your business provides to its customer base. This can be a low-cost item and with the right amount of thought and effort you can choose something that will really generate a buzz for your brand.
If you have a recent advertising campaign, you could pick an item that compliments that message, without breaking the bank.
We all like to think we know our target audience, but you’d be surprised how many small businesses miss the mark on this. Many exhibitors we see simply don’t put that much thought into their giveaways. This is a great time to ask your creative marketing and advertising departments for their input. You may also want to speak with your sales people at the brainstorming phase. Your sales department has direct contact with your customers. They should know better than anybody in your organization what types of products would be sought after.
The trick here is to pick something that could be used daily by the recipient. A really nice pen or aluminum hydro flask might just stay on top of their desk for the foreseeable future, thus keeping your brand’s logo just in sight. Unique and memorable is what you should be shooting for here.
Say for instance you have a booth for an upcoming kid’s fair. Many parents, with children will be attending and we all know one thing: that kids love prizes. Having a “prize wheel” at your booth is popular for children of all ages. Let’s be honest, even adults love spinning the prize wheel. This is also a good way to keep people at your booth for a period of time.
While the kids (and the kids at heart) are waiting to spin the wheel, your staff will be able to strike up a conversation with the attendees, gauging their interest. You could replace the prize wheel example with a putting green, a dice game, trivia or literally anything your mind could imagine.
When it comes down to it, everyone likes to have fun, even at a trade show event. Without being too gimmicky, you can capture the attention of your target audience with a variety of fun and engaging interactions.
When selecting the perfect giveaway for your trade show display, try not to skimp on the quality. As we mentioned before, we’ve all received pens that leaked all over our bags, flashlights that didn’t work and even chocolates that simply, were not very good. Even though your company may not have manufactured these products yourselves, it has your name all over it, which can ultimately reflect poorly on your brand’s image.
Much of these items will only end up being thrown in the garbage, which creates a completely unnecessary, negative environmental impact. Heck, you could’ve just avoided the middleman and thrown all that cash in the garbage can yourself!
When it comes to trade shows, Rock Your Show knows the ins and outs of the industry. We should… We have nearly 20 years of experience producing high-quality, custom exhibits and graphics, throughout many different types of industries. Whatever your brand’s next big outing is, we can help make it a successful one. Call us today!
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