A trade show is an excellent opportunity for you to meet potential customers, and convey your brand message to the masses in a more casual setting. As trade show attendees are visiting and passing by many businesses’ booths, putting together a professional presentation and display that is memorable is more important than ever.

At trade shows, many businesses frequently give their booth visitors some sort of promotional swag, in the hopes that their brand is seen as unique and truly one of a kind. Your brand can succeed using this method, only by distributing the right promotional products. How can you decide what promotional giveaways will Make the right impression™, those products that will not simply be thrown away after the show? Here is what you should remember when deciding what promotional swag works best for your company at the next trade show.

1. Is the product representative of your brand?

When you are thinking about what sorts of promotional swag to give to booth visitors, you should first and foremost remember why you are there in the first place—to communicate your brand message to potential customers in a way that doesn’t come off as forced or a hard sell, and ultimately, generate qualified leads. Your chosen promotional product should tie in to how your brand is a solution for a prospective customer. If the product is just another tchotchke and is not representative of your business, then it is most likely headed for the trashcan. A product that is consistent with your brand doesn’t just mean that if you’re in the tech industry, for example, you should give out custom powerbanks. Does that product actually align with your corporate personality? Some products may be more fitting for buttoned-up brands, while some products are more appropriate for sporty or quirky brands.

2. How useful is the product?

For a promotional giveaway that actually has an impact on your audience, that product has to be a combination of creativity and practicality. The product should have some valuable use to the customer, while still have a creative flair. After all, the right product will trigger the customer’s memory of your business—what you do, what are your products/services, and what is your unique selling proposition. It should be a high quality product that has the potential to see long-term use, and have a lasting charm.

Once you combine that usefulness and some personality, you could potentially create some brand buzz during, and even after the trade show. This will allow your business to really stand out in the crowd. You should also remember to scope out the audience. Don’t give out swag to every single one of your booth visitors, only to those who actually expressed a sincere interest in your products or services. If you are trying to reach a very specific audience, then consider having two sets of promotional swag—one set that caters to those top prospects, and one set of products with more mass appeal.

For instance, journals and portfolios are usually popular with everyone, while a more valued customer may get a mini wireless speaker. With a proper understanding of your audience, you can utilize promotional products that cater to their needs, and at the same time, you can still gain valuable leads and business.

3. Quality Matters

At the end of the day, quality product really does make the difference between closing a deal and losing a deal. You want to inspire potential customers, not discourage them from conducting business with you. You will have to ask yourself what is the best quality promotional giveaway you can get within your marketing budget. Just because you have a limited budget, doesn’t mean that you have to sacrifice quality. You can easily find a unique, brand appropriate custom promotional product to ramp up your trade show booth, and connect with customers. If your promotional item looks cheap and breaks easily, it is nothing but a poor reflection on your brand and business. No matter what your industry or line of expertise may be, you don’t want your business to be associated with inferior quality. By providing booth visitors with this sort of product, customers have much lower expectations of the quality of service that they can expect from your business.

Once you have your trade show booth and professional presentation all ready to go, a high quality, creative, and practical promotional giveaway item that represents your brand and business will certainly encourage your potential leads to become real customers. By following these guidelines, you will be on track to having the best trade show ever, well within your marketing budget.

So we’ve all seen promotional mints, mints in imprinted receptacles from metal tins to plastics containers all in varying shapes, colors, and sizes. But have you seen the actual imprint or logo on a mint?! A couple of years ago M&M’s started offering personalization on their candies and they’ve taken off like wildfire, especially for weddings. Think about doing the same thing for your brand, but on a mint (more professional, less melty.)

Each mint is 0.5” W x 0.5” H which allows you a 0.33” W x 0.33” H full color imprint. Oh the possibilities with this new product… you could use a photograph, your mascot, letters, product images, and of course your logo.

Printed Mints in a Small Tin isn’t new product, but it’s always one been one of our favorites!

Just something a little different to get your customers to remember you.  And according to our product reviews, they taste great too.  Bonus!

Though it’s still on the warm side here in Atlanta, flu season is upon us.  You know it’s coming when every pharmacy you drive past has a sign up advertising the flu shot.  And you really know it’s coming when you get an email from HR encouraging all employees to get their flu shots by offering a 2-hour time off to do so.

In addition to some free time off and you know, not getting the flu, there’s also the bandage.   Call it your own personal badge of courage.  And of course you want that badge of courage to be blinged out, right? Minion bandages are not just for kids, folks.

The cooler the bandage, the better.  And what’s better than a bandage with your logo on it?

Don’t think of it as associating your brand with pain.  Think of it as associating your brand with a life-saving badge of courage.  Or 2-hours off, if you work at Pinnacle.

It doesn’t seem like it, but it’s already mid-November and holiday gifts are on your mind.  Or if they aren’t, they should be.  Why send a holiday gift?

1.  To express appreciation for your clients, employees or both.
2.  To establish good relationships with newer customers.
3.  Generate good will and a general holiday spirit.
4.  Increase brand awareness

So, hopefully you’re convinced you need to buy a gift now, but what kind of gift should you buy?  Well, you’re in luck:  we’ve identified the Top 4 Categories of promotional holiday gifts for a company.

1.  Tech Gifts

Want to show that you’re in the know and on trend?  Want to give your customers something they’ll use on a daily basis?  Tech is it!  Check out our power banks, bluetooth speakers or laptop bags.

Jolt Charger with Digital Power Display

2.  Apparel Gifts

Apparel is a great gift option because of its long shelf-life.  Think about your favorite shirts or jackets that you’ve had for years.  I bet some of them are logoed apparel!  Think about fleece jackets, branded apparel or winter accessories like hats or gloves.

Eddie Bauer Soft Shell Jacket

3.  Office Gifts

The office really is like a second home for a lot of people.  So why not give them something they’ll be able to use while they’re there and show off your logo all day long.  We like laser-engraved executive pens, branded journals or debossed padfolios.

Tuscany Writing Journal

4.  Food Gifts

We can’t forget about food, right?  The way to your customers’ hearts is likely through their stomachs.  Give them a gift basket with an assortment of treats, chocolate or perhaps a bar product coupled with a bottle of nice wine.

Sweet & Savory Gift Tower

The holidays are here.  So why not make the most of the season by promoting good tidings and your brand at the same time?

Thanksgiving has come and gone and now no one is complaining about it being too early for 24-hour holiday music on the radio and lights on houses.  In fact, it’s quite the opposite.  We get it.  Somehow we all (ourselves included) went from thinking we had all the time in the world to purchase corporate holiday gifts to realizing that we are quickly running out of time.

Don’t worry though.  Last minute holiday gifts are no problem with Pinnacle’s RocketShip 24-Hour Express Service.  All RocketShip orders ship within one business day of art approval.  Yup, that’s one day, folks.  We told you to stop worrying!

We know what you’re thinking – with expedited service like this there must not be many products to choose from.  Wrong!

How about a Jolt Mobile Phone Charger for your employees or customers?  This is our number one best-selling product this year and for good reason.

Or if you want something a little more elegant, what about the Wine Companion Gift Set?  With a wine opener, foil cutter and vintage guide (includes ratings on various vintage wines), you can be sure your clients are thinking of you when they pop the cork on a vintage Cab.

These are just two examples of RocketShip gifts, but we have many, many more.  Whether it’s a technology product, a drinkware piece, something for the home or office or a product for entertaining,  don’t worry about it being too late to purchase your branded holiday gifts.  Relax.  We got this.

It’s the end of the year and time to take a look back.  When we analyze our best-sellers, we often see the tried and true favorites that are popular each year and then some new players that sneak up into the mix.

You are probably familiar with the majority of our best-sellers – coffee mugs, sunglasses and t-shirts continue to top the charts and that didn’t change in 2015.  Perhaps you’ve even purchased a few of them for your company.  But let’s talk about the new guys!

Tech.  It’s the word of the year in the promotional product industry. Everyone wants tech!  So, it’s no surprise that the Jolt Mobile Phone Charger is the “it” item of 2015.

Everyone always wants the hottest retail trend, so it comes as a shock to absolutely no one that the Selfie Stick was…as the kids say… uber popular in 2015*.  In fact, we even handed them out at our Idea Expo.

While not exactly a tech product in itself, the Silicone Card Sleeve went gangbusters this year.  Great for giveaways, people love to stick these on their smartphones, seeing your logo… pretty much all the time.

What’ll be the new “it” product for 2016?  You tell us.  Regardless, we don’t think any of these techie best-sellers are going away anytime soon.

* Do the kids still say uber?