How Giveaways Can Help You Market Your Business

Market your business

Have you ever been by one of those ubiquitous booths at fairs, conventions, or job fairs where businesses are handing out junk? Key fobs (who doesn’t have 100 of those already), can openers that barely function, or just plain trifold brochures extolling the history and personnel of the business abound. Yawn. You don’t want to be rude and refuse the free gift, but you don’t want the stuff, either. After all, you’re trying to reduce your carbon footprint, not to contribute to the volume in landfills.

You’ve just put yourself into the customers’ shoes. Now start thinking as a business owner. If you want to give away a product that has zero chance of getting thrown into the junk heap, consider giving away products that people actually can use. Here are some suggestions that won’t end up becoming clutter in someone’s junk drawer:

Give Away Food in Attractive, Reusable Containers: No one in their right mind will turn away food. Just giving it away will set you a couple of notches above your competitors, unless it’s a stale package of crackers. People will associate your company with all of the good vibes that come over folks when they enjoy good food.

Yet if that food bearing your company’s logo is packaged in something that has no aesthetic value even after the item is consumed, you’ve lost a chance to maintain those vibes. Why not find a low-cost, yet attractive container for the food that will find its way into your customers’ homes as a treasured decoration or as an object for daily use?

The key is good taste. Your tastefully-designed logo can go on coffee mugs, beverage glasses, and other items that may serve their owners well for years as casual beverage and snack containers. Inside can go your edibles—a package of freshly-ground coffee, a couple of high-end chocolates from a famed chocolatier, or a few gaily-decorated tea cakes. You are, after all, building your brand. Don’t build your brand with a junk food foundation. Build it with quality.

Give Away Useful Items: At one time, the aforementioned key fobs and can openers were great ideas. But after nearly every business started handing them out, people’s junk drawers soon overflowed with the stuff. Instead of handing out the usual junk, find unique giveaways that will promote your business while helping make your customers’ lives easier.

A generation ago, businesses gave away matches to their customers. Just like today’s key fobs, though, there became a glut on the market. So businesses stopped giving them away.

Yet people still need matches. In the winter and spring, storms often cut off electrical power. Without your matches, they would be in the dark. Every time that they light up a candle, they will think of your company when they see your logo on the matchbook. Since most other businesses have not rediscovered this inexpensive but clever idea, why don’t you try it?

Other useful items that are not overused are appointment books, fly swatters, pill cases, and contact lens cases—just for starters. If you select a promotional giveaway that dovetails with your business, even better.

Stay tuned for part 2 coming soon on Nova Custom T Shirt Printing