There are many types of trade show promotional products out there, and normally what comes to mind are the gifts handed out from an exhibition table. But, these types of promotional products are also what surround your table, and when pulled together in one eye-popping, jaw dropping display of advertising connectedness, can draw high numbers to your door.
Here’s just a short list of three different types of trade show promotional products:
- A vinyl or fabric banner that smoothly stretches over a lightweight, portable, and easily assembled aluminum frame can be striking, and can include single, double and even triple sides.
- Literature racks, made from plastic or aluminum, are sometimes over looked on the marketing display. How many times have you gone to an exhibitor’s table and they just have stacks of papers. The piles’ corners are crisp and sharp at the start of the day but an hour into the show, with people bumping the table and shuffling through their paperwork, the table appears unprofessional, a mess. Literature rack tradeshow promotional products come in an array of colors, styles and capacity, but most feature three to ten pockets.
- A tabletop panel is usually more durable than a pop-up system, but not as easy to assemble. However, they are impressive because the panels already have the graphics in place. They are rectangular panel pieces that form a trade show display. Available in several sizes and shapes, they maintain the ability to be compact and easily shipped to the trade show location.
A good rule of thumb on all of this is to think like the customer. Of course that shouldn’t be news to you, but think how they are going to perceive you when they see you from across the room. You need to draw them in, so using the right tradeshow promotional products will do just that.
I know I’ve spent some time blogging about trade show promotional products; how the right gift will be kept, the wrong one tossed, and even promoting your business before the trade show. What I haven’t been blogging about is how trade show promotional products are so much more than just gifts to hand out to your current and prospective clients. The products range from pop-up displays to graphic banners that announce your location, who you are, and what you do.
A pop-up display usually contains one to a multitude of graphic images and can be placed on your exhibitor’s table or even be a standalone floor version. They promote your business name, logo, and any special product you might be advertising. There are a number of materials used to create this type of product; vinyl or plastic are two popular ones, but a design that consists of a lightweight aluminum frame that when removed from its carry bag and springs into shape easily and is ready for a graphic banner is really cool, and building in popularity. A banner material then rests on the framework creating a smooth finish for your artwork.
Of course some of these tradeshow promotional products can be a bit more complicated in their appearance but are still considered easy to work with. They come with lightweight feature lighting and shelving options, but they are not adjustable in size, which sort of makes sense is they are made from vinyl, plastic, or aluminum, right?
An advantage of pop-up trade show promotional products is the convenience; simplicity of set up, tear down, and of course transportation, which are all vital at the beginning and ending of a long exhibition day. Another advantage is that they are designed to be easy enough for one person to assemble, carry and store, as well as proved a versatile display to be transported from location to location.
So, when choosing a pop-up display as one of your tradeshow promotional products consider the durability, easy of assembly and of course the warranty.
Trade Show Promotional Products could be considered the life’s blood of many businesses. These products should be a part of every marketing plan out there. However, sometimes businesses cut back and this seems to be an area that gets the ax first. It’s shortsighted to say the least. Keeping your name out there is the key to your existence, and handing out the right trade show promotional products are the very vein.
Although a lot of businesses have the intention of going to a trade show they fail to promote their business the right way. It’s sort of like drawing a foul in basketball and then stepping to the foul line and not taking a shot. Trade shows are a great opportunity, just a like a free throw from the foul line. Easy!
Spreading the word is what you need to do, and it should start as soon as you know you’re going to be an exhibitor. Hopefully that’s about six to eight months prior. Getting the ‘word’ out by email, snail mail, and even local advertising where the trade show is being held are all awesome ways to accomplish just this.
When you do arrive though, make sure you have some unique, but traditional, trade show promotional products to giveaway to people who visit your booth. Show them you personally care about their business and will do the best you can to help them! Avoid trendy items. They are just that, ‘trendy.’ This means they won’t have a lasting value and will soon be considered kitschy and tossed it the circular filing cabinet. That’s not where you want your name ever!
What’s going to last? High quality pens, pads of paper, coffee cups, magnets, etc. The point here is to make sure they bring it to their office or home.
Just remember that exhibiting at a trade show and marketing your attendance before and during go hand-in-hand. Otherwise you’re surely wasting time and money!
If you’ve been reading my blog, and of course I hope you have, you’ve probably noted that I’m an upbeat sort of blogger. Nothing bad to say and nothing negative to say either. I just don’t care for the darker side of issues. It’s not to say I’m oblivious though. I know people blog and focus about the many ‘mistakes’ someone can make when offering trade show promotional products.
So, instead of “Mistakes One Can Make with Trade Show Promotional Products,” I’ve chosen to title this blog, ‘Trade Show Promotional Products You Could Consider Avoiding.’ Not so negative.
A trade show exhibition can be the perfect time to impress your current clients as well as wow prospective new ones. A good tip to remember when it comes to handing out some of your trade show promotional products is that one gift does not fit all your customers.
Consider this factor. About twenty percent of your customers give you about eighty percent of your business. Treating them a bit differently than you would someone who barely gives you business or doesn’t give you business at all is, well, just good business. I call that top twenty your A+ clients. They bring you the most business and certainly give you referrals whenever they can because they care about and believe what you do is good for them. So, if you’re giving gifts at your trade show, you should carry varying levels of gifts to hand out to different customers.
This doesn’t mean to scrimp on what you hand out to perspective clients or the clients who have used you only once in the five years you’ve known them, but they should be given something nice. It’s a great way to secure loyalty down the road. Who knows, but for every five years, they just might not need your services.
However you decide to play it though, keep the varying levels of gifts idea in mind. There are a number of really good trade show promotional products on the executive level that can be purchased at low quantities for a pretty fair price too.
Be sure to have as much fun as possible. It’s your money, so make the best of it.
With so many trade show promotional products to choose from, it can seem to be a bit overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to be. Teaming up with the right promotional products company will alleviate a lot of that stress, and Clever Advantage is point on with their trade show plan.
The first point to consider in any trade show promotional products plan is pre-show traffic builder ideas. What is that, you ask? Simply put it’s the execution of a marketing plan that starts months before the actual trade show. If positioned correctly, your early marketing efforts can get the word out and building a huge momentum that will lead right up to the trade show. Mailing your customers, as well as sending press releases, is a vital part of this pre-trade show marketing plan.
I think you’ve probably heard the expression, ‘just get them in the door and then it’s up to you to sell them,” right?
With trade shows representing a segment of your marketing strategy, you’ll need to design a plan that identifies your objectives and goals. After that’s written out, said and done, or what have you, you’ll need to figure out what campaigns will give you what you want. One of those campaigns might just be trade show promotional products, but whatever they are, always think of them as working together. They do not stand alone. Unify them all, creating a collaborative effort that will lead them to your booth and ultimately your door.
I can’t stress enough about starting your buzz early. Email, snail-mail, and press release campaigns are great ways to start that momentum. To keep it going you need to come up with something that your existing customers can respond to. You want to get them invested in a way that will drive them to the trade show. How about a contest of some sort with the prize being a relevant company product? To get them there though, you’ll have to advise them that in order to win or pick up their prize they need to visit your booth.
People love to win prizes! And, you can write it off as an investment, although you might want to check with your tax person on that one!
Over time business strategies change and corporate gifts to customers cannot be ignored. They are, in fact, one of the best ways to make an impact on new and prospective clients as well as a sign of appreciation to employees.
The intense competition in the current economic and marketing world involves finding creative approaches to tried and true marketing practices. As a result, corporate gifts have become popular. Corporate gifts are given to promote a company, its services, company anniversaries and achievements, and as performance rewards for employees. Keeping the company name on the market, branding the company logo, and bonding with clients is mandatory to insure an increase in business and a future of success.
Imprinted corporate gifts show good business acumen and are a straightforward method of expressing the importance of those in the company’s business world. Therefore, choosing the correct corporate gift is vital, and there are a number of promotional marketing companies specializing in this field.
“Customizing promotional corporate gifts is one of the many things we do well here at Clever Advantage,” says, Casey Poldino, President of San Diego based Clever Advantage. “From customized gift boxes and umbrellas to leather computer bags and polo-shirts, we’ve imprinted almost anything. If it has a surface, we can get the corporate gift out the door.”
Business professionals have become aware over the past number of years at just how important this aspect of the corporate world is, and they’ve steered marketing dollars toward carrying out these services.
Clever Advantage, a Promotional Products Company based in San Diego, recently began promoting their Clever Rewards program, by offering a Client Loyalty Program, Referral Program, and monthly and seasonal prize package drawings.
With the economy working its way through a major adjustment, business both large and small are finding ways to pull their proverbial belts a tad bit tighter. Unfortunately, some businesses cut back on their marketing, which sends the wrong message. By not keeping the name of the company on the minds of customers, both prospective and current, a business can fall to the way side. Promotional Products are the key to businesses because they allow current customers to know the company is still in business, wading through the storm, and moving forward.
The Client Loyalty Program offers one hundred dollars in “Clever Bucks” for every two thousand five hundred dollars spent, and they can use it on promotional products of their choice. Under the Referral Program, Clever Advantage will place one hundred Clever Bucks into the referrer’s account for every qualified referral. Each month Clever Advantage asks it clients to share promotional product success stories, and from those they will pick one to feature on their website along with the client’s company information. The reward is worth over two hundred and fifty dollars.
“Who doesn’t love free stuff?” says Casey Poldino, President of Clever Advantage. “We love our clients. They are dedicated with their business, give us great referrals, which goes both ways of course, and they share their success with us. It makes us feel like we are all part of the same community, and that’s why we offer our Clever Rewards Program.”
Working at Clever Promotional Products has given me a great outlet to be creative. For one, I get to write this blog, which I truly enjoy, and two, new and current clients alike come to me for nifty ideas on how to create a product that will, well, simply, ‘pop.’ We work with all types of businesses here; from construction to finance and small entrepreneurs to much larger corporate companies. And yes, even those small entrepreneurs who need to come off as a larger corporate company.
Coming up with the right corporate gift to either giveaway at tradeshows, hand out as a pop-by to their A+ customers, or use as corporate gift merchandising are a main part of what we do here at Clever Promotional Products. Sometimes the same product can be used at all three events.
Corporate Gift Ideas for a tradeshow aren’t all that tricky. As I’ve mentioned before, the main idea is to come up with something that will NOT be thrown away as soon as the potential client gets back to their office, home, hotel room, or worse yet, the trash can outside the tradeshow. The second part, and this is a little different, is that you need to spend just a bit more on the corporate gift. You need to set the right mood that you’re part of this corporate world. Something with a bit more of a sparkle, gleam, or shine should come to mind.
Corporate Gift ideas as a pop-by for you’re A+ clients are very similar and can be the same, to the tradeshow giveaway. Always remember to make it real, make it difficult to throw out. Again, they are giveaways, not throwaways. Your investment in time and money is on the line, so think!
And finally, because sometimes selling your logo on a polo shirt is a really cool thing to do, we have corporate gift ideas for merchandising. Wearing your logo or having your staff wear your logo is one of the very best ways to advertise your company – small or big. If you’re running a memorable fundraiser, in which customers and attendees will want to take something home to remember the event, think about a polo shirt, or a high quality t-shirt. You don’t need to break the bank and buy a ton of them in fear you might run out, sometimes it’s good to run out. The image you project will be that your item is too hot to keep around.
Oh, and don’t look to make a financial killing on the item either, because you shouldn’t be looking to take a trip to New Zealand on the profits. So price them right! Get your logo and company name out there. No matter how you go about the corporate gift remember to be upscale; you’re working to make the right impression!
The game of golf has grown from being just a game to an actual economy in the United States, and has accounted for more than $70 billion worth of goods in services in 2008. It has grown so quickly over the past 20 years that is has outpaced inflation and is continuing to expand.
In many cases, the social aspect of the game has become synonymous with the business aspect, and now many work days are spent on the golf course. So, working on the course can be, if done right, just as effective as any business transaction in the boardroom. From professional tournaments like the US Masters and the PGA to special fundraisers for stricken firemen and online dating sites specific to golfers, this market has far surpassed what it was in the 1980’s movie Caddyshack starring Bill Murray.
Clever Promotional Products gets that you enjoy doing business on the golf course and that you like to giveaway golf promotional products that represent your business in the best possible way. It’s an effective way to network and fundraise. Golf promotions from awards and custom event tents to goodie bags and branded water, there are many great ways to ensure the name of your entity will continue to stay with your golfers and business associates throughout the year.
We have over twenty-seven hundred golf promo items and one of my favorites is the Golf Distance Scope. Okay, it’s for the hard core folks, to which I am clearly not, but this baby makes it easier for me to accurately read the distance to the green. It comes with a padded carrying case and the customer can put their logo right on the cover. With the price at $56.00 this is one of those golf giveaways you save for you’re A+ clients. You know the ones; the ones who give you a lot of good referrals.
So the game of golf has grown and business has surely intertwined itself with it, or maybe it’s the other way around. Either way though, the lack of fluorescent lighting and ties, makes the golf course a much better place to be overall.
“Four!”