During the early 90s and 2000s, you would see many websites with listicles floating around that showed creative ideas for different items. For example, you might run into a top 10 list of interesting business card ideas, with cards folding like origami, containing a slim USB flash drive, or possessing an interactive QR code.
Of course, a business card has a rather simple purpose — to provide the potential client with basic brand info. But the mere fact that these businesses went far and beyond to make their cards appealing ought to say something. After all, if they were popular enough to warrant an online space to promote them, they must have left an impact.
Naturally, businesses that aim to reach their customers in innovative ways don’t just limit themselves to creative business cards. In fact, some of the best brands in the business retain their popularity because they can provide their clients with interesting and useful gift bags. The best time to do that is during a conference, a company event, or a trade show, and these corporate gifts, when done right, never fail to keep a client.
So, how would you go about creating your own branded gift bags for conferences? This article will cover 15 of the best ideas for conference gifts that will steer you in the right direction. In addition, we’ll throw in a neat little Do & Don’t guide for gift-giving etiquette.
List of Top-tier Conference Gift Ideas
Tech Organisers
Tech companies know the value of practicality, especially among their IT-savvy clientele. Sometimes an attendee will require a neat little bag to fit their items in, such as custom USB flash drives, printed charging cables, branded wireless chargers, personalised earbuds, logo stylus pens, etc. With that in mind, a tech organiser would make the perfect branded gift, as it is small, portable, practical, and quite stylish.
Custom Business Card Holders
Gone are the days of bulky business card albums. Nowadays, businessmen and businesswomen alike prefer something that can fit in their pockets or handbags. And one of the best and most practical solutions is having a slim, elegant printed card holder. Those never fail to elicit a positive response at conferences.
Phone Wallets
Branded phone wallets are relatively new, but their practicality is quite obvious. After all, why carry a hefty leather wallet when you can stash a few bills on the back of your phone? And when you need to pay something, you simply whip it out and take the amount you need.
Sun Shades (Collapsible)
The automobile industry is the perfect ground for some creative branded gifts. A promotional sun shade, for example, would make an excellent option, especially if it’s foldable. Not only is it incredibly practical, but it’s also big enough to promote your brand to anyone who takes a look at it.
Tissue Packets
Sometimes, a gift can be something small and inexpensive but necessary. After all, not everyone will need a tech organiser or a sun shade, but most people will need custom printed tissues at some point. A single packet, with the company logo on it, will do wonders as a marketing tool and as a branded gift.
Hand Sanitisers
Yes, the outbreak of COVID-19 has made this gift a necessity. But even before the pandemic, a decent branded hand sanitiser was an excellent item to have at conferences. You can keep your hands clean and germ-free as you shake hands, pat backs, rub elbows, and ‘wiggle chins’ with your potential future colleagues.
Custom Printed Leather Folders
A printed leather folder is a must with the modern business person. It will fit most of the basic items you need for a conference, and its reusability value is incredibly high. More importantly, with a leather finish and a custom print, you’ll feel that extra bit of glamour and refinement wherever you take it.
Metal Water Bottles
A custom reusable water bottle is a gift that keeps on giving. You can fill it with any cold drink and take it with you while you jog, hike, bike, or even take a leisurely stroll. Plus, you can wash it and reuse it for years, if not decades. As far as branded gifts go, it’s one of the most useful and most sought after.
Portable Power Banks
A charged phone is a must-have in the modern world of business, especially if your clientele is large. So, providing a client with a personalised power bank enables them to stay in touch even when they’re travelling. Furthermore, the power bank can charge other small electrical gadgets, so it’s a multipurpose gift with lots of reusability.
Reusable Straw Sets
In terms of frequency, brands rarely use printed reusable straws as gifts, which is a shame. These items are some of the most amusing and yet most practical you will find. Imagine sipping a drink on the go with a straw that you can clean, collapse, and wear around your belt or in your bag? It’s brilliant in its simplicity, and it makes for an excellent branding tool for the modern client.
Bamboo Snack Box
Keeping your food fresh and taking it with you — sounds like a dream come true for the more eco-friendly business owners out there. So, you might want to start looking into branded bamboo snack boxes. They are usually incredibly durable and come with their own set of cutlery.
LED Light/Pen/Screwdriver Combo
Simply offering a branded torch might feel cheap to a client. The same goes for a regular printed pen — it’s been done before. But if you combine those two and add a screwdriver to the mix, you get a Colt 7 Function Screwdriver LED Light Pen. It’s an impressive combination of useful every day tools.
Clients simply love promotional multifunction pens, and the most basic variant is to have an LED light pen combo. Of course, you can throw in other elements too, such as a miniature screwdriver tip, a touchscreen tip, a miniature ruler on the pen’s side, and a tiny magnet.
Promotional Sweets
Unless the client is diabetic, they will adore tasting a novelty pack of personalised sweets. You can get creative and try any type of edible — hard candy, chocolate bars, liquorice, gummy bears, soft mints, and so on. The possibilities are endless, and the more creative you get, the more clients you’ll retain. Furthermore, try to be innovative with your sweets packaging; custom sweet tins, for example, will definitely be reused by the client as storage for small items like jewellery or hair pins.
Drawstring Tote Bags
Of course, a tote bag is a mainstay brand gift for any company, even today. But unlike the early days, modern tote bags have evolved, both in design and in quality. Today, you can own a neat branded drawstring tote with compartments for everything from logo beauty products and printed stationery to branded stress balls and custom lanyards.
Foldable Shopping Bags
A shopping bag you can fold and take with you simply oozes practicality. Furthermore, it’s quite eco-friendly; you can take printed foldable shoppers with you when you’re grocery shopping instead of buying single-use custom plastic bags. The fact that you can fold it and store it anywhere is definitely its selling point, which is why so many clients love them as branded gifts.
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What to Consider When Putting Together a Gift Bag
Rule #1: Practicality Over All
Nobody wants to come to a conference and receive a huge, hefty bag of gifts. And not because they don’t like free stuff (everyone does), but because they don’t want to drag that bag from conference hall to conference hall to the hotel room, etc. With that in mind, keep your gifts compact enough so that the clients can carry them around easily.
Rule #2: Keep It Functional
As you saw in the prior list, every single gift idea contained an item that the recipient can use and/or reuse. And that’s what you need to focus on. After all, a small statuette or a framed photo as a gift is nice, but the client can’t really do much with those other than to put them on a table somewhere in their house. But they will definitely be using a power bank, a flash drive, a tote bag, a pen, or a bowl.
Rule #3: Originality Grabs Attention
Yes, nearly all brands give out custom keyrings, promotional mugs, branded totes, pens, etc. And if that’s all that you can afford, then try your best to make even these simple gifts stand out. Originality will always keep the client’s eyes glued to a product, so make sure to invest a lot of effort in making your particular gifts unique compared to your competition.
Rule #4: Brand Representation
Some of the items on the list above were industry-specific, like sun shades or tech organisers. By knowing your industry well, you’ll have a fairly good idea about what your clients need. Focus your energy on providing branded gifts that cater to that specific niche and you’ll never run out of clients.
Rule #5: Know Your Clients
This rule somewhat overlaps with the previous one, but it goes a bit deeper into the clients’ needs. While you definitely should focus on your given industry, don’t be afraid to expand beyond when an opportunity arises.
Newcomer clients will probably be fine with niche items that are related to the industry. But when it comes to returning clients, make sure to customise the gifts in accordance with their preferences. In other words, do some research on what a particular client enjoys and include that item in their gift bag. Let them know that loyalty is as rewarding to them as it is to you.
A Few Final Words on Conference Gifts
Even businessfolk that have decades of experience have a tough time deciding on what to give out as branded gifts. That’s only natural, since each individual client has different wants, needs, and desires. But if you manage to tap into that even a little bit, with proper branding practices, you’ll see your business grow exponentially and a slew of new clients pouring in soon.
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Go over our vast collection of custom printed gifts, and choose the ones you like best. Then, contact us at 0800 0148 970 or simply email us today — your way to seamless marketing is just a call away!
