Trade Show Giveaways

The importance of marketing and advertising is escalating owing to the increasing competition and growing economies. Business is all about having the right goods and products and marketing them in the best possible way to increase sales. Marketing is an extensive field, which makes use of several events and ideas to promote a business. Television ads, radio jingles or kiosks and banner ads might be useful but these are all one-way communication channels that do not allow the interaction of the businessmen and the end product users or the retailers and investors for that matter. Interactive events like trade are beneficial for any business since these trade shows allow mutual interactions between the one who sells and the one who would be interested in investing or buying.

About Trade Shows

First of all you need to know about trade shows. A trade show is an exhibition that allows organizations and companies in specific industries to showcase their products and services. While most of these trade shows or expos are open to the public, some only allow company representatives, and members of the press. The trade show is an excellent marketing opportunity and hence companies make a wise investment while participating in such trade shows. The costs incurred during the trade shows include space rental, design and construction of the display at the trade show, telecommunications and networking, travel, accommodation, promotional literature and of course the giveaways.

What are Trade Show Giveaways?

These are nothing but promotional items or free gifts that are given by a company at the trade show. Trade show gifts are an effective marketing tool that allows companies to promote their new products or spread more information about their existing products and also get a feedback from the customers and fellow traders about the products and services of the company. Companies put in a lot of investment and planning for the kind of giveaways since it is an imperative element of the trade shows.

Benefits of Trade Show Giveaways

Giveaways are very useful in marketing since they can be used for several purposes. The first use of a trade show giveaway or a trade show gift is spreading information about the product and promoting its use. Secondly, if you are using free product samples as giveaways then the people can obviously use the products and provide you their feedback, thus promoting the use of your product. The giveaways can also be a great way to establish or even enhance company's brand identity. The giveaways help to establish a bond of goodwill and create a positive image of the company amongst the customers and investors. Often when a company is launching a new product or wants to incorporate a big change in its existing product line or services, the giveaways are and excellent options to communicate the changes.

Types of Trade Show Giveaways

There exists a wide variety of items that can be used as giveaways to promote the business. Starting from the company's product samples to corporate gifts like pens, pen-stands, tote bags or even mints / candies.

• Gourmet Gifts: Small tins or containers filled with peppermint or candies can be a great trade show giveaway. You just need to make sure you display your logo prominently on the giveaway items. Small mints and candies are generally great but there a lot of options like microwave-popcorn or other snacks.
• Company Products: The best option for a trade show giveaway item is the company's product samples. Product samplers allow the visitors to use and experience your products and provide you feedback. However the only problem is that not every company will have products or services, which can be sampled out to the audience.
• Stationery Items: Stationery items are handy giveaways that can be imprinted or embossed with your company logo or even some useful information and facts about your company. Diaries, pens, pen stands, paperweights, staplers, notepads are great ideas for giveaways.
• Fun Giveaways: There exists a wide range of stress buster toys, which can be fun ideas for trade show giveaways. There also exist a lot of intersecting gadgets that are rather inexpensive but will definitely help you stand out.

Pointers to Bear in Mind

While picking out trade show giveaways there are several things that need to be kept in mind. Here are some of the things that need some consideration before selecting giveaways:

• Cost-efficiency is the first thing that you need to keep in mind. Remember that you will have to buy the products in bulk and hence you need to lookout for the best deal. Allot a fixed amount of your marketing budget to the trade show giveaways.
• The next thing that you need to see is analyze whether the product is appropriate for showcasing your brand logo. Using a low quality, cheap product might benefit you but it gives out a wrong message about your brand image. Use cost-effective yet quality products since you will be associating your brand name with that product.
• Check how you can showcase your brand logo on the selected product. Assess the product from point of view of quality as well as aesthetics. Check which product allows you to highlight maximum information about your products.
• Always pick an item that will seem attractive/interesting/useful to the visitors. Pick out gifts that are unique and innovative to grab attention. If a person likes or enjoys the giveaway gift, chances are that she/he will read about your product and give your further feedback; hence picking out the right giveaway is important.