A helpful checklist to event merchandise

Whatever your industry sector, events and exhibitions are an ideal opportunity to showcase your business and the services you offer whilst seeking out and targeting new customers. With so many promotional products and branded giveaways to use at your disposal, along with a limitless amount of corporate event gift ideas for consideration, it makes branded merchandise uk as relevant as it ever has been. Many promotional merchandise companies will agree, business promotional items used at events are invaluable assets, almost mandatory! Companies that use promotional giveaways at their exhibitions do so because the attractive return on investment is immeasurable. Many branded products are versatile; they are relatively low cost, and they promote and advertise with positivity which creates a unique sense of wellbeing. They are also a clever conduit and ice breaker between doing good business and leaving a lasting memory; long after the show has finished. 

With promotional merchandise your can attract a crowd 

For any event, your brand must stand up against many others within a similar industry; it's a highly competitive floor but one that can yield unpredictable but profitable results for your company. The best event giveaways are promotional goods cleverly displayed to entice people to your stand but ones that will be relevant to your business, also fun and interactive. Thinking about the most applicable events giveaways can be overwhelming. With such a vast array available, from branded bags, promotional clothing and an abundance of promotional gadgets on offer, the list for exhibition giveaway ideas is endless. The most sought after and certainly the best trade show giveaways are ones that are gifted easily to your prospective customers and clients alike. It's a perfect opportunity for your dedicated sales staff to proactively engage and promote the services you offer whilst capturing contact details. The branded giveaways you choose to use are imperative to how your business is viewed and by a potentially large and diverse audience. The printed products and promotional tote bags you gift play an integral role, not only in advertising your brand but also in educating your audience in how you conduct business. By using branded products at your event, you offer a unique insight into your business along with its culture, personality and ethos. Not only is this appealing, but it is also attractive to potential customers and one which will further forge and sustain existing client relations. 

Pre-event promotional clothing is a must!

Your team are the first point of call on your event stand; it's the first impression of your company. The corporate branded clothing they wear is paramount. It's a simple but highly effective consideration but kitting your staff in embroidered polos shirts and company printed t shirts will not only look professional but will enhance and further promote your brand subliminally to the passing event traffic. Having your team dressed for the occasion will also make them visible to your stand visitors. They can head towards someone for more information, to collect logo printed bags to fill with company literature and promotional products that you have displayed.

Having your team dressed in corporate wear can give a concise impression that your stand is well organised, in unison and ready for business. Events are busy places; people are everywhere; having your staff dressed in promotional clothing will ease the confusion, make them recognisable and allow an invitation for people to approach them for more information. Company branded clothing and embroidered uniform are available in many styles, custom t shirts, embroidered caps, branded jackets and custom branded hoodies. When branded with your logo and details, they will be visible across the entire exhibition hall, superb advertising as staff mill around the event with your promotional goods to give out to potential clients. Corporate clothing is available in an extensive range of sizes and colours; this is ideal when you want your team in colours that closely represent your brand identity and staff looking presentable. 

Team meeting to discuss promotional products budget and delegates numbers

Gathering the team to discuss the business promotional items you want to use for your upcoming event is a great way to get everyone together. It is an ideal opportunity to share thoughts and devise a plan of action to how your unique giveaways will work best at the event. Curating a theme with a specific angle is always a challenge; you want to be innovative but welcoming, with a stand that draws your audience closer; promotional merchandise companies are full of great ideas of items to do just that.

Understanding your prospects is key to a successful event;

For example, if you want to reach out to a tech orientated audience, then technology promotional products such as custom printed charging cables, printed USB flash drives and branded power banks are all popular choices for tech merchandise. Having promotional goods that are relevant to your audience and theme displayed clearly will attract attention. There will be a mixture of new and existing visitors to your stand, which will enable the use of a variety of promotional giveaways; prospects will require some guidance and discussion about the services you offer. The team at hand should be ready with promotional bags during a conversation. The branded tote bags will need company information and relevant products branded with the company logo. These can then be taken away for the team to follow up after the show with a call or email. Building on expectations is integral to the continuity of how your team will perform on the day. A way to plan is to understand the number of people that may arrive at the event, you can then decide upon what volume of stock you will need to carry, and more importantly, the realistic budget you need to set. The team can speak with promotional merchandise suppliers to gain ideas, prices and visuals, so you can see how your logo will look before being printed to the merchandise giveaways. The organisation and pre-event planning are fundamental to any event. Requesting promotional product samples well in advance will give you peace of mind that the branded merchandise uk you have ordered will be correct and that it will meet the expectations required to make the right impact when promoting your brand to a large and diverse audience. Transport is also an important consideration and one quite often overlooked. Make sure your team are confident in arranging adequate vehicles with the correct space to transport the exhibition set up, promotional products and branded event clothing. 

 Don't forget your promotional gift bags.

Now you have decided on what branded promotional pens, tech corporate gifts and custom clothing you are using - it's time to think about what will hold these business promotional items; to keep them safe and ready to give out on the big day! Printed tote bags, known as promotional shoppers, are one of the most recognised of all. The standard 5oz natural cotton with long handles is ideal for events and exhibitions; they are strong enough to carry heavy catalogues and other company literature along with events giveaways like printed pens, branded notebooks and custom printed mints. Printed cotton eco friendly tote bags are also a notable option, a superb choice for any event, especially when you are keen to be associated with being environmentally aware. Branded bags are synonymous with events; visitors look forward to picking up printed bags containing lots of fun, interactive, useful promotional goodies, and if lucky enough, some tasty branded confectionary to enjoy too! Polyester promotional foldable shoppers and printed drawstring bags are also good to use and are cheap event giveaways. Promotional bags possess a unique and generous branding area, large enough to contain a company logo along with details of the services offered, ideal at any event. It also means your company brand identity will be visible as delegates move around the hall, promoting your business further. Promotional bags are also highly versatile; your visitors can fold them down, roll them up and take them away. They are perfect for leisure use, for when shopping, or to store items when at home. So, when your team are planning and researching event giveaway ideas, be sure to include promotional cotton bags; they are as integral as the products themselves and will ensure you stand out from the crowd with the unique merchandise you have to offer. 

Social Media to announce the event

Love it or hate it - social media is a fundamental element to how businesses adapt, evolve and thrive within a competitive market. It's fast-paced and continually updating; it's the perfect platform not only to promote and advertise products and services but to engage and interact with an almost infinite audience across the globe. Many businesses rely entirely on social media for their marketing and revenue streams, whereas others use the resources available; to maintain a regular online presence. One of the great features of social media is that can you start a dialogue with your prospective audience, share images, anecdotes and be creative. You want to grab the attention of everyone that you know will have an interest, which will ultimately pave the way for you to ensure you gain the followers you require. A perfect opportunity now awaits; your event needs to be marketed and to make the right impact. Your stand design is complete, your unique merchandise is in production, and your corporate clothing is ready to go. It is now time to use the powers of social media to spread the word about your business event and what people can expect. Your team can devise a plan on what social media platforms will work best for your corporate market; you can then strategically plan and map a gradual, clever marketing campaign to lead up to the big day. A way to entice people to your stand before the event via social media is to offer a special gift - for sharing news and information. You could also open a competition for people to submit their ideas, thoughts or simply a question to an answer, all of which will ensure your audience interacts and engages with you before the event even starts! 

Consider your stand and display.

Your exhibition stand will be visible across the entire event hall; you must create something distinctive, a design that will captivate and draw people closer. There will be many stands within the exhibition hall, so this is a unique opportunity to become creative, free from conformity to let your personality radiate. Your display is an imperative element to your overall stand; it is what most people will gravitate towards, or not! A golden opportunity awaits your team to be artistic with the event display - to create a memorable stand that will showcase the company under the event spotlight.

Clearly display your promotional merchandise for delegates

You can arrange the event literature and lots of goodies, promotional keyrings, custom branded metal pens, promotional mints and printed stress balls and much more. Displaying the selection of event freebies next to the corporate information is a clever way to start a conversation. Delegates will generally make a beeline for the promotional merchandise and branded confectionery. It is always a good idea to display these clearly at the front of your stand as they will be visible from afar. Another attractive way to arrange your promotional giveaways is to create a tier system, such as a pyramid or stacking them. Not only is this aesthetically impressive, but it also means that the higher you can achieve with your display, the more visible you will be across the event hall. You may also want to consider two sets of gifts, one selection for existing clients and the others for prospects. It is a good idea to have your branded bags ready, filled with literature and products to giveaway to prospective clients. After your team have had their initial discussions about the potential new business, they can gift their bags, complete with everything inside. For your key accounts and existing clients, you may want to look at slightly higher-end premium branded gifts. Items such as metal promotional pens, printed power banks, promotional phone accessories, promotional pop sockets or promotional eco merch and of course, eco-friendly tote bags uk to carry them. It is a great idea to create a space where you can meet with your existing clients. A comfortable area with seating, if possible, where you can catch up about new products and further forge client relations. 

Think about an event game for event engagement and promo giveaways as a reward

Events and exhibitions are a great way to promote and advertise your brand, products and services in a fun and informal way. It's an exciting time where people can meet clients, suppliers, prospects and feel part of the wider industry. It's also an ideal time to be playful, entice and engage delegates to your stand, and event games are a perfect way to do this. Popular games are such as spin the wheel is an entertaining way to strike up a conversation, discuss the event and details about your business. It's also a way to extract contact details to follow up after the show. The wheel can host your corporate colours, branded with your logo and information. You can use a range of branded products for various prizes, from promotional pens cheap, branded sweet bags and promotional chocolate right through to higher-end branded corporate clothing uk and maybe a booby prize - some company literature! Games like Jenga are also a crowd-pleaser; you can involve multiple people, it's incredibly engaging, easy and low cost to set up. Like with spin the wheel, you can give out promotional prizes to the winners; for taking part, but it also offers a unique opportunity to talk business in an informal and fun way. Competition prize draws such as raffles are quintessential classic games. They are relatively low cost to organise and are guaranteed to draw in a crowd, especially if there are quality prizes to be won. Another traditional and fun game that is straightforward but highly effective is to guess the number of sweets in a jar, whereby whoever guesses the closest will win the sweets. It's also a particularly clever way of gaining delegates' contact details, to notify them if they were successful. 

After the event, consider your follow up process with your new leads!

Once your team have gathered all the contact details and business cards from whoever visited the exhibition stand, it's now time to follow up on all your hot leads. Once back at the office, you do not want to delay making direct contact with everyone the team has engaged. This short window of time is crucial to catch people fresh from their event experience. If you leave it too long, you risk being forgotten or worse; a competitor may have beaten you to it! A phone call is by far the most direct way to follow up, allowing you to contact the person you conversed with at the event. A phone call is more personable; it will leave a lasting impression and means you can follow the call up with an email instantly. This method of following up leads will yield a much greater success rate compared to just email only. It will also deliver a more personal touch, as you have already had direct contact with the person you wish to engage in business with - which makes perfect business sense!

Want to speak to an experienced team of branded product experts?, the Branded Company team are here to help with any last minute event merchandise requests, as experts in short turn around printed products, and express merchandise requests, you can reach out on livechat or drop the team an email; This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., we would be thrilled to help