A trade show is a chance to make new connections and strengthen current ones with clients, vendors, and industry leaders. If you’re eager to reinforce those relationships, you’ll carefully plan out and execute any promotional ideas you have for your trade show.
The question remains, though; how can you be sure the event was as memorable for them as it was for you?
Advertising materials aside, you need to offer the visitors a chance to remember you long after the event is over. The best way of achieving that would be to invest some effort into creating a special trade show giveaway item they’d be able to use time and time again. Yes, we’re talking about personalised bags!
If you want to provide trade show attendees with lasting value, reusable bags are a great way of ensuring continued use that would carry your marketing message — and your logo — beyond the venue’s limits. But not any bag would work for such an occasion.
Chances are that you want to extend your campaign and reap the benefits long after you’ve got a decent ROI. To achieve that, consider both what would work for your business AND the mistakes other marketers tend to make.
Marketer Mistakes to Avoid
Choosing the Cheapest Bag You Can Find
It is quite reasonable to consider the cheapest bags if you have a rather limited budget. Nevertheless, your spending may be in vain if the bags fail to remain in use for longer than a week.
You want them to keep generating impressions for as long as possible. Therefore, they have to be made well from quality materials and be seen as a practical must-have.
Going for Awkwardly Shaped Bags
No matter how incredible your artwork is, the bag itself is a major consideration. Its size and shape will ultimately determine how much use the recipient will get from it. Cheaper, smaller bags that cannot be used too often or shapes that fit only certain items might make you miss out on the wonderful promotional potential these items have.
Not many marketers realise that a free giveaway at the booth will make the whole event a much more pleasant experience for the attendees. Inevitably, these giveaways may help the audience remember the brand in a more positive way.
But offering any cheap product just to push the brand name out there isn’t the right way to go. Yes, such products may convey the marketing message due to the branding and even seem valuable at the trade show.
Once the recipients see that the brand didn’t care much about making those products high-quality and practical, though, they may form a negative opinion. Unfortunately, those can certainly last a lifetime if you’re not ready to go the extra mile to change them in the future.
Finding and Customising Your Ideal Trade Show Bag
So, why not make it easier on yourself right now? Keep in mind that the ideal trade show bag is:
- Cost-effective
- Durable and practical
- Eye-catching (both the design and the artwork)
- Well made using quality materials and long-lasting branding methods
Believe it or not, such bags do exist if you know where to look and which mistakes to avoid. While browsing, consider the following to ensure you make an informed decision that will ultimately make every trade show a roaring success:
Research Your Target Audience
You may know a lot about your target audience already and their needs. When it comes to bags, though, you have to nail the practicality part to ensure they keep using them for months or even years.
Their preferences may vary. Parents and older adults may prefer printed cotton totes or custom shopping bags that can hold quite a bit of weight. In contrast, younger generations may find branded drawstring bags and personalised backpacks more appealing and suitable for everyday use.
Luckily, all of those bags are practical and thus appealing enough to easily draw attention at your next trade show. You can also score extra points by ensuring the branding is on point and piques interest with a single glance.
Ensure the Quality Is Evident
Low-quality bags won’t be kept in use for too long as they may rip easily or lose their shape or colour over time. Right now, there are a plethora of woven and non-woven fabric bags to consider. The choice, though, still depends on your needs and artwork ideas.
Eco-friendly reusable non-woven or woven bags are always a good choice if you want to both impress with the quality and make a powerful statement. Consider branded jute bags and custom cotton bags, which are classic and attractive favourites that any business out there could use to its advantage.
That said, you must consider how you will brand these bags and which branding methods work best for your favourite material. For instance, jute bags are perfect when paired with single-colour artwork. If you have your heart set on multi-colour branding, polypropylene is likely a better choice.
If your artwork is more detailed and you want everyone to notice it, non-woven PP bags should be on your radar. But whichever fabric you go for, make sure your colours are consistent with your branding.
Just like your brand name, your brand colours are a part of the brand’s identity. By choosing some random shades for your bags, you may contradict their whole purpose and confuse people. Consequently, this may lower the chance of them remembering your business.
Related content:
Promotional Bags – What Kind of Bags Should You Give at Events?
Think of a Powerful Message to Convey
Always consider the theme of the event, or rather, that one particular product or service you’re looking to promote. Your bags could help you spread the word about these through the artwork and keep reminding the users of the new concepts your business has worked so hard on.
Even better, consider supplementing your artwork with other information that some trade show attendees may find useful. Since bags usually have a large printing area (depending on the size), you may be able to print your contact details, office address, and logo. All that information may be relevant to those impressed by the bags that may want or need to get in touch with you in the near future.
Be a Bit Extra to Beat Your Competition
Finally, make sure that your trade show bags stand out in the best way possible. Apart from minding the quality, you could work on the design a bit more. In short, add some appealing features that would make them more valuable in the users’ eyes.
For example, consider the strap length so that it fits more body types and allows for easier daily handling. Similarly, if your bags have a zipper closure, invest in quality zippers that won’t break after a few uses.
Even better, if you want to boost the bags’ practicality, consider customising them further by adding side pockets and other similarly useful compartments. These extras should make the bags more functional and appealing for daily, continuous use. As a result, they could bring you more brand awareness and more business in the future than you ever expected.
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Join the Hype with Branded Non-Woven Bags
Check out our full collection of promotional bags which includes foldable shopping bags, canvas bags, sports bags, business bags, and travel bags. If you require further information or have any specific questions, don’t hesitate to give a member of our experienced team a call on 0800 0148 970 or simply email us today.
