Branded Giveaways are the Gifts that Give Back
Who says you can’t buy love?
In fact, branded giveaways that customers value is one of the best ways for organizers to enhance the customer experience, promote their brands, and create a lasting buzz about their event. Maybe even make some customers fall in love!
Whether it’s an event swag bag or contest with a limited number of winners, participants always enjoy some friendly competition and a chance to take home fun prizes even if they don’t end up winning anything.
As is typical with marketing and events, understanding what motivates your audience is the best way to provide a giveaway or swag that they’ll love.
Related: 10 Ways To Differentiate Your Hybrid Event & Keep Virtual Event Engagement
What Can Giveaways Do for Your Event?
Event giveaways offer brands a brilliant opportunity to court potential clients by providing them with unique, useful items or services they will appreciate long after the event ends. Event marketers can leverage giveaways to increase brand awareness, grow their audience, generate new leads, and create a buzz around their event.
If event hosts put time and thought into choosing giveaway items that will enhance the customer’s experience, the ROI will undoubtedly be the gift that keeps giving.
Related: Human Connection: Why Hybrid Events Produce Mind-Blowing Results
1 – Conference Swag Bags
Conference Swag bags are the perfect giveaways for any event, and the best way to make sure guests remember an event long after it’s over. Including items that are fun and provide value for participants is an easy way for organizers to add an element of surprise and excitement for guests.
Plus, swag bags are the perfect opportunity to promote a brand’s products or services, in addition to those of their event sponsors.
Remember that swag bags are the most used gifts at events, so making yours stand out in shape, color, or contents is imperative for your event to be remembered.
Explore how we helped Adobe make their virtual event memorable.
2 – Personalized Business Card Cases
Movers and shakers still love to hand out good, old-fashioned business cards. Having something to keep them organized and protected is a valuable tool that can help encourage networking opportunities
Adding extra features like quality leather, a water-resistant material, or magnetic closure can ensure recipients will use and enjoy their handy gift. Even better, companies can add a tasteful monogram or engrave their logo for some extra brand awareness.
3 – Laptop Cases
Custom branded soft cases are something every guest will love and use, especially if it’s stylish and includes features like useful pockets, comfortable straps, and can fit other day-to-day essentials.
And again, if brands customize it with a logo or other personalized messaging, guests will be reminded of the company or event every time they use it, and it will leave an impression on everyone else who sees it.
Tip: Events typically have cooler names and imagery unless you’ve reached Apple status, so you may consider using your event branding on your swag with your logo placed in a classy place that does not take over the bag – or this may prohibit your guests from using the bag on the regular.
4 – Blank Journals
Busy professionals can always use a nice journal to take down notes and other important information they acquire during meetings and events. Choosing a high quality, durable material for a giveaway that looks the part will ensure that guests use it often.
Branding Tip: Be clever with your brand and not just overbearing logos everywhere; consider tying your event theme to journal dividers with inspirational quotes on it – this will get you much more mileage than your logo. Consider hiding BIG prizes in a QR code that becomes the after talk of the event.
5 – Mindfulness Box with Delicious Snacks
For long events, or just to treat guests to something extra, curated snack boxes are always a welcomed giveaway. There are a plethora of great gift-box companies who offer curated options for a variety of themes.
Caroo, for example, offers creative concoctions like the Mindfulness Box- for health-conscious snackers, the Happy Hour box- to shake things up a little, and the Unplugged box- for a bit more comfort when needed.
6 – Branded YETI Mug
Branded mugs might seem cliche, but the fact is, when they are top of the line, people are likely to use them every day… which means daily advertising for brands.
YETI tumblers are always popular because they are durable and keep drinks either hot or cold for longer, which is much appreciated during meetings or event sessions. Including fun branding stickers inside the mugs is another great promo tactic, as they will most likely end up on the outside of the mug for all to see.
Branding Tip: No one will ever ask about your company logo, (what is X? – this doesn’t read clearly to me) but a clever quote will get attention and inquiry as to what it means and why – this now makes your brand a conversation piece in which you may have never been relevant before.
7 – Blue Light Glasses
Blue light glasses are soaring in popularity, increasing in sales by more than 60% annually for optical companies like Zenni.
Credited with reducing eye strain, improving sleep, and preventing eye disease, it’s fair to say, including a stylish, high-quality pair of blue light glasses as an event giveaway will be well-received and remembered by any lucky recipient.
Plus, most companies offer an array of flattering unisex frames that will make the selection process even easier for organizers.
8 – Branded Light Halo Ring
Everyone is spending more time on video calls and having their camera on, more than ever before. Industry reports say that folks are dieting, using lotions, and are investing in plastic surgery more because of seeing their own face on the screen.
Let’s make it easier on folks by providing lighting that enhances their looks and softens their features.
9 – Virtual Meeting Backgrounds
Again, folks are spending more time on screen than anywhere else these days. Custom backgrounds are being searched more than ever. Providing a library of custom backgrounds for meetings can be more valuable than you think; from extremely funny and clever to topic centric will get folks sharing and using your backgrounds on the daily – talk about brand reach!
10 – Brand Partnership Gifts
Partnerships and sponsorships are the best way to impress participants with upscale gifts and event giveaways. When brands think strategically, they can simultaneously wow their attendees with fantastic prizes while also showcasing their sponsors’ best products and services.
The key is for event hosts to find partners with overlapping audiences, so they can both leverage the event and giveaways to connect with targeted customers that will help grow their following.
Related: How To Plan Your Virtual Expo With Sponsorships
Conclusion
There you have it- the top 10 best giveaway ideas to win over event attendees in 2021 and beyond. Whether event organizers choose one of these crowd pleasers or opt for other quality gifts, the important thing to remember is that the quality of event swag will ultimately reflect the brand and event.
Gifting products and services that express a brand’s personality and high level of standards, will not only create a lasting impression, it will create fans that will last a lifetime.
Reach out to us if you need help with setting up your next virtual or hybrid event.
