10 Best Promo Products Your Business Needs at a Conference

Most marketing is now online, but it’s not the only way to get found and grow your sales. Offline marketing strategies work a treat, including in-person events like trade shows. What’s more, your business can win big when it hands out something physical and tangible, i.e. promotional products. There really is no replacement for the goodies bag you get when you attend a conference or trade show and the gifts within still leave a lasting impact.

As a matter of fact, branded giveaways can generate positive word-of-mouth chatter, and in many instances, this can be a brand discovery for your business.

Consumers might not immediately pay attention to the brand on the side of a mug, but they eventually will notice it. If the product, like a quality mug, is worth keeping, other people will also likely use it – this marketing strategy keeps giving long after you remember it.

But which promotional products for trade shows are effective, affordable, and meaningful? Which products will likely resonate well for your brand to benefit your company the most?

To help you decide, here is a look at the top 10 branded promo products you can give away:

Promotional Pens

Looking to promote your business on a budget?

You can’t go wrong with branded pens. Not only are these affordable, but they also serve a functional purpose. They’re also elegant gifts for clients at a trade show or important conference.

Not sure which type of pen to give? Rollerball pens and ballpoint pens are the traditional choices for office giveaways. However, it is advisable to stick with rollerball pens because they tend to be thicker, giving more space for you to print your company logo on them.

USB Flash Drive

Like promo pens, USB flash drives are functional and affordable promotional products. In addition, it’s cheap and quick to print your logo on the side of a flash drive, ensuring you won’t spend too much on giveaways.

The real kicker is how quickly and easily people share flash drives around an office. Even with the speed of modern wireless technology, people still use flash drives when they have to share files from one computer to the next.

Did you give it to a few people during a trade show? You can bet those people will use those flash drives at work to pass files and important digital documents, guaranteeing others will see and notice your brand.

Magnet Buttons

Why not give magnet buttons if you want to give out useful promotional products that don’t necessarily lay around in an office setting?

Employees can use magnet buttons to keep all their paper notes on a wall or in their locker, but these items also penetrate their homes. If you give fridge magnet buttons, the person you gave it to will see your brand each time they go to the kitchen for a glass of water.

Water Bottle

One of the factors people forget about when attending trade shows or big conferences is hundreds or thousands of other attendees. Each year, more than 5,000 people attend Apple’s WWDC event. Where there are a lot of people, temperatures are generally higher, so hydration is important. Each year, you can expect people to suffer from dehydration, which is why first aiders are on-site at all major events.

The remedy for keeping your attendees well hydrated is giving promotional water bottles. People will find those bottles helpful even after a significant conference.

Almost every employee brings a water bottle to the office, giving them a reusable container that promotes your business.

Tote Bags and Drawstring Bags

Bags, particularly tote bags and drawstring bags, might not seem like optimal giveaways. However, keep in mind that employees have a regular life outside of work, and they can use these bags when out shopping, exercising, or carrying small gifts or treats when visiting friends or family.

Make sure you choose an environmentally friendly product made with sustainable and or recycled materials. Showing your intended customers that your company cares about its impact on the environment is the perfect starting point for creating a great first impression.

So what’s the difference between drawstring and tote bags? Drawstring bags are less fussy, with just the drawstring as the closing mechanism. Tote bags are more like a traditional shoulder bag; they often don’t close, but they can do with a magnet or zip.

Stress Balls

Not everyone thinks about stress balls regarding promotional items to give away, but they can become the most effective assets in your marketing plan.

Keep in mind that the workplace, regardless of what industry, can be a stressful environment. People get exhausted and frustrated at work from blue-collar jobs to high-end office jobs.

Stress balls help people fight those negative feelings and wouldn’t it be great if they saw your brand while their mind relaxes?

Luggage Tags

Traveling is inevitable for people who work a lot, and you can promote your brand while giving something useful, i.e. branded luggage tags.

These are small and cheap to print. However, luggage tags are highly effective since they will constantly look out for their tag while on the go. It’s the only means of identifying their luggage from all the rest, so now your gift becomes a necessity.

Keychains

Like luggage tags, these are marketing products that people might not think much about until they realize how often they look at them and hold them in their hands. It won’t take long for someone to learn how often they see your brand each time they start their car or unlock the front door.

This is clever marketing at its finest.

The best part is that printing costs on keychains are incredibly cheap. So you can print hundreds of these and give them away to more people than you would with a bigger product.

Wearable Promo Products

Sometimes, the best way to market your business is through the most blatant means possible. This involves printing your logo as big as possible on a shirt, jacket, or cap.

After all, people love to wear clothes that show off something they support or like. Many people wear things like Superman shirts or Chicago Bulls jerseys because people love being associated with the brand, the character, or the show.

There is a price difference when you step up to available branded products, but there’s no denying the wow factor and lasting impression they can have on recipients.

Business Cards

You may be wondering – do people still hand out the traditional business card? Yes, though not as often as they used, i.e. before smartphones and digital marketing.

Some businesses don’t even print their company’s physical address on a business card anymore since snail mail is a thing of the past. Instead, most modern business cards showcase an immediate contact number, Facebook or Twitter handle, and a URL to an important landing page.

Discover More Business Guides Today!

Using these 10 promo products, you can advertise your company and increase brand awareness while giving away items people can enjoy, share, and appreciate. These items are not only effective in promoting your business but functional for day-to-day use as well.

Why stop there?

Discover more business tips and tricks today. Read some of our other posts and guides, such as this one on marketing strategies for direct-to-consumer instead of handling it on your own.