Do's and Don'ts Guide to Branded Products | Boundless

the do’s and don’ts guide to branded product campaigns

the do’s and don’ts guide to making the most of your branded campaigns

Are you considering promotional product campaigns for your business? Branded campaigns are a great way to overcome the digital noise and connect in real life with the people that matter most, including your customers, clients, employees, and business leaders.

Whether you’re new to promo products or you’re a veteran — and regardless of the size of your business — there are things you need to consider to get more ROI from your promotional products. Follow these do’s and don’ts to leverage more value from your brand swag for less effort.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

the do’s and don’ts of branded products pg. 3

the do’s and don’ts of ordering product pg. 9

the do’s and don’ts of employee recognition pg. 13

the do’s and don’ts of marketing right now pg. 15

the do’s and don’ts of branded boxes pg. 19

the do’s and don’ts in the expo booth pg. 23

the do’s and don’ts of swag bags pg. 27

the do’s and don’ts to control promo product spend pg. 31

the do’s and don’ts of branded products

Do find a use for remnant products

Do you have remnant promotional products from last year? You’re leaving potential ROI sitting in a closet somewhere. Don’t let them collect dust — find a use for them!

You can breathe new life into remnant products by:

• Adding them to a branded box: If you want to zhuzh up your product’s appeal, add it to a boxed experience. You pick a creative theme and add products to the box that fit within that theme. As long as the remnants fit with the box theme, you can add them to bulk up the allure of your box — for zero added spend.

• Reusing them: If you chose universally pleasing products and have enough of them, there’s nothing wrong with reusing the product. Just make sure you match it to the right event, situation, or customer persona so it’s still relevant and useful.

• Recycling them: If you can’t think of a clever way to repurpose remnant products, don’t throw them away! Partners like Boundless can actually help you upcycle remnant products into something fresh and exciting. For example, you can recycle old flip-flops into upcycled journals. This cool, eco-friendly option is more affordable than you’d think, and reducing landfill waste is always a win.

Don’t reinvent the wheel

You don’t have to rethink everything. Sometimes it’s OK to let trends dictate your direction, and sometimes it’s best to remain true to yourself. Consider how you’re approaching your marketing to make the most of your budget.

• Invest in video content

• Forge ongoing influencer partnerships

• Repurpose content

• Reply and engage with customer comments

• Try TikTok trends

• Follow customer personas

• Have a corporate mission

• Create unique content

• Use physical marketing to overcome digital overwhelm

Do pick universally pleasing products

It’s hard to please everyone, but you can get more mileage out of branded products if you choose options that most people will like. If niche products work with your audience, then go for it! But generally speaking, it’s best to pick crowd-pleasers to connect with more people and make the most of your promo product spend.

When in doubt, choose universally pleasing products like:

• T-shirts

• Hats

• Lapel pins

• Tumblers & insulated mugs

• Reusable bags & nice totes

• Light outerwear

• Full-color screen cloths

• Camera covers

• Desk organizers & caddies

• Charging cables

• Bluetooth headphones or speakers

• Journals

• Blankets

• Instant cold brew or tea packs

• Essential oil diffusers

• Stress balls

• Adult coloring books

• Sunglasses

• Selfie kit

Pro tip:

If you’re having a hard time choosing just one product, opt for a boxed experience. You can create a collection of promo materials that center around a particular theme to craft a more high-end experience. Plus, you don’t have to choose just one item — you can include several options that you think your audience would love.

Don’t ignore past performance

Your business is never done growing. There’s always something to learn, as long as you’re willing to dig into your performance KPIs. Don’t continue repeating the same mistakes: review last year’s performance so you can improve even more this year.

That means calculating last year’s:

• Promotional product spend

• Conversions

• Impressions

• ROI

Look at each campaign separately as well as a whole. Can you spot any trends? Maybe your audience wasn’t a fan of a particular product, or maybe you realize you over-ordered certain items. Chances are, you’ll find areas where you can save money and increase ROI. And you can always lean on your Brand Consultant to help make sure you’re hitting the mark with your branded merchandise.

Do check customer personas

Make sure you order branded products that serve a business purpose and tie into your target audience’s needs and expectations. It’s easy to want to order something that looks great, but in the end, it might not accomplish your goals. You probably wouldn’t pass out fidget spinners and silly hats at a very serious business meeting, would you?

Ensure that your promotional products fit into your customer personas. They should be products your customers want to receive and would use frequently enough to see your logo on a regular basis.

Since most businesses target multiple personas, this might mean ordering different products for each persona. Sure, it’s a little more work, but you’ll get more conversions when you choose branded products designed specifically for each audience. Your Brand Consultant will help you make sure you can reach all of your target personas while respecting your budget.

forget employees

It’s easy to get so caught up in the excitement of branded products that you overlook one critical group: your employees. Your business can’t run without a team, after all, and your employees deserve recognition.

In fact, branded products are one of the easiest ways to recognize and reward employees for their hard work. Regular recognition can boost loyalty and even increase team cohesion.

For current employees, create a swag portal. Grant employees points for milestone anniversaries or achievements. They can use these points to buy the exact swag they want from your reward portal. This means employees get what they want, and you only order the products that your team actually wants to receive.

Order branded products for your onboarding and offer letter kits, especially if you’re a remote company.

the do’s and don’ts of ordering product

Ready to get and stay ahead of your competition? Promotional products have a ton of staying power — up to two years in some cases — and are versatile, but they come with plenty of pitfalls if this is a new marketing strategy for your brand. It’s easy to spend too much, order the wrong quantities, or overlook embarrassing typos with your first promotional product order.

You can put your best foot forward while making the most of your marketing budget when you follow these tips for product ordering.

Do start with a strategy:

The biggest mistake you can make is ordering promotional products without a good plan of what you’ll do with your items. Instead of ordering can coolers “just because,” you need a strategy to get traction for your brand — otherwise, you’re just wasting money.

If you haven’t already, create a buyer persona and a campaign strategy for your promotional products. Instead of ordering swag for the sake of it, think carefully about which products, specifically, will work for you.

Your promotional strategy doesn’t have to be anything fancy. Set aside 30 minutes with your team to brainstorm a few ideas, and you’ll be off to a great start.

Don’t commit to bad design:

If you’re spending hundreds of dollars on water bottles, they need to look good. The last thing you want is to pass out products that look like you hastily designed them in Microsoft Paint.

Good design will make or break your promotional product campaign. Be sure to work with a graphic designer so you include the right balance of text, imagery, and white space. You’ll also need to make sure that your artwork is print-ready. If you aren’t sure about your design, work with a promotional products partner like Boundless to verify that it’s good to go.

Do follow a calendar:

You’re busy worrying about a zillion other things until you realize — with a week to spare — that you need promotional products for your brand activation event. While it’s certainly possible to order products at the last minute, that’s a recipe for mistakes, added fees, and stress.

Instead of waiting until the last minute to order your promotional products, place your order 1-2 months in advance. That might seem excessive, but it gives you time to:

• Choose the best product for your strategy

• Communicate your vision to a designer

• Iterate a few versions of your product design

• Receive a sample of the product before ordering 3,000 units

• Catch misprints or design errors early enough to fix them

Most promotional product companies ask for at least 4-6 weeks to turn around your campaign, so the further in advance you can plan, the better.

Don’t forget your audience:

Maybe you ordered Bluetooth headphones for your conference because you thought they were cool. But is your audience going to think so?

Audience is everything in marketing. Choose promotional products that your audience would actually find valuable. Remember, promotional products aren’t about you; conduct a few paid interviews with your customers to see what they would appreciate and use.

When in doubt, go back to your customer personas to make sure your promotional products tick all the right boxes.

Do take chances

The purpose of promotional products is to make your brand stand out. If you’re passing out generic items, you aren’t making a big impression. These products can still get you results, but in a world where your competitors are trying to one-up your every move, isn’t it time to take a calculated and smart risk?

Order products that delight your customers, and feel free to shake things up! That might mean selecting things like:

• Yoga mats

• Waterproof speakers

• Custom Belt Bags

• Nice beach towels

If your campaign strategy, audience research, and customer personas justify it, try something different to earn more brand buzz. See how Inspire Greatness Aveda Institutes took a chance.

Don’t let a typo slip

Seriously, it’s a real bummer.

There’s nothing worse than ordering 500 stress balls that have your brand name misspelled on the front. Incorrect colors, the wrong logos, and terrible typos can quickly turn your promotional product excitement into an expensive nightmare.

Ask multiple people to review your design and copy before you send it off for printing; fresh eyes are more likely to catch embarrassing slip-ups before it’s too late.

Of course, if you work with a partner like Boundless, we’ll also double-check your design so you can always be assured of putting your best foot forward.

the do’s and don’ts of employee recognition

You can’t do anything in your business without your team of dedicated employees. Whether you have two people working for you or you’re managing a multinational department with hundreds of employees, recognition should be an essential part of your management style.

Not sure if recognition programs are worth your while? These do’s and don’ts will help you do recognition right.

Do recognize employees promptly

Don’t wait to tell your employee that they’re doing a good job once a year. That hit of dopamine that comes with being told you’re doing a good job isn’t going to last for 12 months. It’s important to praise employees regularly and in a timely manner.

It also doesn’t do much good to recognize your employee for something they did two months ago because you remembered it just now. Ideally, you should acknowledge your employee the same day (or week) of their achievement.

Don’t forget to personalize it

No one wants a super generic, meaningless reward for their hard work. Personalized gifts make a world of difference for your employees. Get to know your employees so you can personalize any gifts of recognition you create for them. For example, you could give a laser-etched bookmark to someone who loves to read or a company-branded dog leash to an animal lover.

Whatever you do, make sure you get the employee’s name right. There’s nothing more embarrassing than giving a personalized water bottle that says “Mara” to Sara.

Do get specific

Telling someone “Good job!” just doesn’t have the same effect as “I appreciate how you kept a level head and treated this difficult client with respect.” Recognition is all about enforcing positive behavior; if you want employees to repeat a particular behavior, you need to spell it out specifically.

Don’t play favorites

How often are you praising one employee? Do you recognize entire teams for their hard work or just individuals? It can be easy to overlook certain teams or employees, but that can cause a lot of hard feelings if you aren’t mindful.

You have to recognize employees in a fair, well-balanced way. That means:

Recognizing teamwork: Collaboration isn’t easy. If something was a team effort, don’t single out just one person for the reward.

Matching the reward with the achievement: Would you give a pencil to celebrate an employee’s 10 years of service at your company?

Hopefully not. The more significant the milestone or the achievement, the nicer your recognition rewards should be. Coinbase developed achievement boxes that celebrate work anniversaries and allows longer-tenured employees their choice of gift.

Making all employees eligible: FOMO is a big deal in the workplace. Never exclude a single employee, team, or group from your recognition program unless you want to breed serious hard feelings.

Do create a system

Only 14% of companies give their leaders the tools to properly recognize employees. Work with your leadership team to create a system to recognize employees, equipping managers with the tools and training to do it right.

Boundless can help you set up a reward portal for employees to choose their own gifts. You might also let employees gift each other kudos that they exchange for gift cards. The sky’s the limit! Just make sure you have a system in place that makes it easy for your leaders to dole out recognition consistently.

the do’s and don’ts of marketing right now

As you consider your budget and calendar this year, it’s important to flesh out your plan and avoid any missteps that plagued you last year. Check out the new trends and understand the benefits of changing direction to attract customers and business this year.

Do try video content

If you’re going all-in on Instagram posts, blogs, and podcasts, you’re doing great already. But let’s be honest: your followers want video content, and it’s high time to give it to them if you haven’t already.

If you have a smartphone (and chances are high that you do), it’s easy to start filming videos for Instagram, TikTok, or even your company website. Pick one person to act as your spokesperson on camera. Give them a topic and a few talking points. Even a talking head-style video is excellent if you’re just getting started!

You can also jazz things up with video formats like:

Q&A Interviews Demos Recipes How-tos

Don’t do one-time influencer partnerships

Influencer marketing is still going strong, but with a twist. More influencers are looking for long-term relationships with brands instead of one-time posts — and brands are digging it.

After all, a long-term partnership means influencers get predictable revenue, and brands don’t have to hunt for new influencers every month. It’s a win for everyone! (Check out how Wingstop made quick pivots in marketing strategy to leverage the influencer market through multiple campaigns.)

You can build a cadre of influencers turned brand advocates with long-term engagements. The key is to ensure you’re picking the right influencers for your brand. Look for people who promote similar values (like sustainability or inclusivity) so that the partnership feels authentic. When it’s the right fit, you’ll see more opportunities to deepen relationships with influencers’ followers than you would get with a one-time post.

Do repurpose your content

You put in a lot of work to create all of your marketing content. The good news is that you don’t have to post brand-new content on every channel every time. Think about how you can film one video and use several pieces of content out of it.

The next time you film a video, repurpose it in different formats like:

Podcast audio

Transcribed audio that turns into a blog Blog text that turns into an infographic

An infographic that turns into an Instagram Carousel post

See what we did there? All you need is one video, and you can create several pieces of share-worthy content across all of your platforms. This is a great way to save time while bringing fresh content to all of your channels regularly.

Don’t ignore your customers

Are your customers responding to your emails or leaving comments on your social media posts? That’s marketing gold, so don’t ignore your followers!

Marketing gives you the power to have real conversations with the people who support you. In fact, you can turn their stories into marketing fodder. Find social media users who are talking about your brand and use their user-generated content (with permission, of course) for your brand account.

Make your customers and clients the highlight of your content. Celebrate the amazing people who support your vision, and chances are, they’ll reward you with word-of-mouth referrals and long-term loyalty.

Do follow trends

Sometimes you just need to follow the crowd. The rise of TikTok showed us just how important it is for brands to pay attention to timely trends. There’s nothing wrong with planning your marketing campaigns a year out at a time, but they need to be flexible enough to account for trends.

For example, if you regularly post on Instagram, be a daily user on the platform, too, so you can spot brand-appropriate trends. Then act on them quickly! Sometimes, trends have a shelf life of no more than a week, so toss your hat into the ring before the moment’s gone.

Don’t stop marketing

Instead of panicking at recent economic news by cutting your marketing spend, it’s usually wiser to do the complete opposite.

Marketing is an investment in the health of your business, so if you stop marketing yourself, how will customers find you? Now is the time to continue promoting yourself — albeit in a more budget-friendly and creative way — to keep customers coming to your door.

Do dust off your customer personas

If you have customer personas, you know how much work your team put into these marketing tools. However, customer personas are going to change over time. Now is a perfect opportunity to rethink your approach, so dust off those personas and jazz them up!

Make sure your personas are still relevant to the customers you sell to, the products you offer, and the industry as a whole. If something doesn’t fit, now’s your chance to fix it.

Don’t copy other people

This is always a marketing rule, but in an era marked by fast-paced trends, it’s important to remember that copying isn’t OK. You’re under pressure to post on social media multiple times a day, but even so, everything you post needs to have your unique spin to it.

Do stand up for what you believe

Consumers want to support brands with a meaningful mission. In an era of corporate social responsibility, make sure you stand up for what you believe. Find a cause that you care deeply about and that connects with your services or products.

For example, a beauty brand might support female empowerment non-profits. A men’s beard oil company might support men’s mental health resources. You get the idea. By aligning with what you believe, you’ll give consumers a deeper reason to buy from you — other than your amazing products, of course.

Don’t solely market through digital channels

We love the ease of digital marketing, but it isn’t always the most affordable or effective way to connect with shoppers.

Real-world connections still matter, and promotional products, events, and experiences help you connect with shoppers in a one-on-one environment that digital media just can’t touch. Try to plan at least one physical marketing campaign each year and compare it against your digital channels — we’re sure you’ll see a striking difference.

the do’s and don’ts of branded boxes

Branded boxes allow companies to send their audience a swath of fun, attractive, and wow-worthy products that keep the conversation going. They’re especially helpful if you serve a global audience — since you can mail a box to pretty much anyone, you can reach customers where they are.

After spending years sourcing promotional products and executing branded boxes for clients like Coinbase and Google, Boundless knows what it takes to design unique boxed experiences.

Don’t Do pick a theme

send without context

If your audience didn’t ask for a branded box, you’re going to have to give context that explains the gift. Recipients are going to be wary of a box just appearing on their doorstep, so your packaging needs to explain:

• Who you are

• Why you sent this package

• What the recipient should do next

You’re creating branded boxes to forge tight relationships with your customers, so be sure to clarify and give an explanation. If you’re using paper inserts, be very careful during the packaging and shipping process; make sure those inserts are included!

Themed boxes are all the rage. Not only do they help recipients get into the right mindset to use your promotional products, but they also make it way easier to pick products in the first place.

What kind of theme would resonate with your audience? Consider themes like:

• Quirky holidays (think, National Talk Like A Pirate Day)

• Seasons of the year

• Fun locations, like Hawaii or Switzerland

• Decades, like The Roaring Twenties or Neon Nineties

plan at the last minute

While doing a promotional product campaign with a few weeks of lead time is possible, it’s a much better idea to plan it in advance. It can take months to source the right products for your campaign — and sometimes longer if you want something more unique.

At a minimum, it’s a good idea to plan a branded box experience at least three months before your desired drop date (more if it’s during a busy season, like a holiday). This way, you get the exact products you want without the stress of tight deadlines.

Do personalize

Your customers are bombarded with generic messaging on their social media feeds and email inboxes. While a branded box will definitely stand out, you can take things a step further by personalizing each experience.

At a minimum, you can add the recipient’s name to the box or printed note. You can also personalize by:

• Selecting items based on the person’s shopping preferences, hobbies, or attendance

• Customizing a product to include their name

• Including a hand-written note

Don’t

pick low-quality products

Choosing lower-quality goods to make the most of a limited budget is tempting, but that approach can seriously backfire.

When in doubt, it’s better to send a few higher-quality goods than a slew of low-quality options. You can always order product samples and see them in person first before you put in a purchase order.

Do print creatively

You might be doing a boxed experience, but that doesn’t mean you can’t think outside of the box! One of the best ways to create a jaw-dropping experience is to get creative with your printing.

For many of our clients, that means printing full-color text right onto the inside of the box itself. Coinbase had great success printing branded images and a stock ticker symbol inside of a box to celebrate its IPO.

This “inside-the-box” printing reduces the need for paper inserts, allowing you to add cheeky messages to the box. A quick “Open for magic” teaser outside the box alone will make recipients giddy.

Don’t

forget about shipping materials

You’re probably going to mail these branded boxes to recipients, which means the goods inside need to make it to their destination safely.

If you’re mailing glass tumblers without enough padding, look out! You could accidentally send your customers a box full of broken glass, which will definitely hurt that relationship.

Work with your shipping provider to ensure all of your products are nestled safely in the box. That might mean avoiding glass goods or perishable items—just in case.

Do lean into the hype

Whether you’re working with everyday customers, employees, or influencers, lead into the hype-able side of branded boxes. Sure, you’re doing this to deepen relationships, but it’s also a great marketing opportunity.

You can build more hype for your boxed experience through:

• Planning a paid influencer unboxing campaign

• Integrating QR codes that take recipients to a digital escape room

• Sending boxes to media contacts

• Creating a contest where customers can earn more items by filming themselves with their swag

the do’s and don’ts in the expo booth

When a conference has an awesome attendance rate, you want to draw as much of the crowd to your booth as possible. After all, each connection can lead to a potential customer! To make your booth stand out (or at least make it appear larger than it is), promotional products can help. Turn more heads with these tips for eye-catching conference swag.

Don’t forget your theme

Themes are great to get attendees excited — and they make it easier to choose promotional products. When developing your theme, consider your ultimate formula: audience goals + relevant theme = winning booth. Consider some starting points:

Event theme: If the expo’s theme is Hot In Miami, follow that theme in your own booth.

Location: Are you at a conference in California? Try a “California Dreaming” themed booth (complete with branded sunglasses) to turn heads.

Time or season: Summer, fall, winter, spring — seasonal themes are always a winner because they’re so timely.

Now, make sure your booth connects your theme with what’s important to your audience. Don’t pick a theme just because you like it; pick something that will make sense to your brand and Inspires Brand Love™ for your customers and clients.

Do use contrasting colors

Is your booth primarily blue? It’s tempting to make everything in your booth the same color for the sake of #branding, but attendees won’t be able to see your campaign. It will look like a sea of one color, and attendees can easily miss out on your booth with a monochrome design.

Instead, consult the color wheel and order promotional products in complementary colors. For example, if your brand color is purple, order yellow swag.

Since complementary colors are opposite from each other on the color wheel, they look gorgeous and draw more eyes to your booth.

Don’t forget to engage all 5 senses

You detect the world around you through your senses: sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch. If you want attendees to check out your booth, find ways to engage these senses.

Not sure how to do that? Try this:

Smells: Smell is the sense that’s tied most closely to human memory. Consider aromatherapy diffusers at your booth or give away branded candles with a custom scent. The smell of a pour-over coffee kit can do the trick for sleep-deprived attendees, too.

Touch: Integrate tactile experiences into your booth. That might involve playing a hands-on game like tabletop cornhole or asking attendees to share their thoughts on a Post-It wall.

Taste: Did you know that you can curate unique snacks for your brand? From granola bars to cookies to chips with zany flavors, activating people’s sense of taste will put you in their good graces. And who can say no to free snacks?

Sight and sound: Adding screens can make your booth look larger and more advanced. So why not create products that interact with your screens to gamify the experience? For example, you could develop a curated Spotify playlist, pass out Bluetooth headphones, and let attendees select their fave playlist from the screens at your booth.

Do create an experience

To get the most mindshare out of your conversations, try to make your booth as experiential as possible.

Offer fun experiences like:

• Quiz bowls

• Downloadable playlists

• Charging stations

• Insta-worthy photo walls

• Customizable swag live at your booth

If you can pair your promotional products with the experience, even better. For example, if you give every attendee a plush with a unique QR code, they can scan their code at your booth to randomly win other prizes.

Don’t forget about comfort

Conferences are fun, but we guarantee that attendees are tired. If you want more people to visit your booth, create a welcoming space that lets them take a load off.

That might mean passing out free (fully charged) battery banks while attendees chill on a couch at your booth. We guarantee you’ll make a few new friends with the folks who want to sit and recharge their phones for a few minutes.

Do a demo

Who says you have to sell products to do expo demos? Even a SaaS company could do an engaging, headturning demo if they choose the right promotional products.

Hook up a team member with a mic, play music, and get people excited to see your brand demo. Pass out goodies like audio-enabled water bottles, non-traditional stickers, or influencer kits to get attendees excited and engaged.

Do “Billboard” yourself

Make sure your experience is thoughtful, and your swag is on point.

When you’re passing out unique promotional products and want more folks to swing by your booth, send a few feelers out into the crowd. This is a sneaky way to get attention, but you can send a few employees out into the crowd holding your branded merchandise. If it passes the “Where did you get that?” test, you’ll have more attendees at your booth in no time.

Attracting walk-up attention is why it’s so essential to pick unique items for your events. You want products that attendees can only get at your booth—and that they’ll clamor for.

Depending on your brand, you might opt for fun picks like:

• Travel or duffel bags

• UV phone sanitizer and charger

• Phone mounts

• Diffusers

• Name-brand goods like Corkcicle drinkware

If you want to opt for something bigger, like desktop organizers or Solo Stoves for attendees who sign up for an after-event demo, be sure you have a way to get these items shipped.

the do’s and don’ts of swag bags

Swag bags aren’t mandatory for corporate events, but many attendees have come to expect them. Everybody likes free stuff, so swag bags are a great way to generate even more excitement before, during, and after your event. Swag bags might seem like an afterthought, but with the right strategy, they can become a powerful component of your next event. (We even wrote a guide to show you how we merchandise our events.)

Do include the essentials

Event attendees are excited to go home with new gifts, but you aren’t here to do the bare minimum: you really want to knock their socks off! That’s why it’s better to fill your swag bags with high-quality items that they’ll associate with your brand.

So, what should you put in your swag bags? It depends on the event, your brand messaging, and your attendees, but these five types of promotional products are a good starting point.

Apparel: Now isn’t the time for flimsy T-shirts! Your apparel should be comfortable, high-quality, and feature a gorgeous design. If you’re in a cold location, consider giving away sweaters, jackets, or vests to be more unique (and useful).

Gadgets: Everybody uses tech, so give attendees some cool accessories for their gadgets. Consider mini projectors, speakers or selfie kits to get attendees talking.

Spa items: It’s been a hard few years. Why not give your attendees a little dose of peace with a spa swag bag? Throw in an eye mask, lavender lotion, or a back scratcher to help your attendees relax.

Food: Who doesn’t love snacks? Give away cool beverage mixes and fun snacks to keep the party going. If people are coming to an event in the same location as your headquarters, consider sourcing from local shops to give them food they can’t find anywhere else.

Useful items: If you’re at a conference, give attendees nice Moleskine notebooks (plus fancy pens) to take notes. You can even give away creative travel mugs or water bottles so they can stay hydrated during the event.

Don’t forget virtual events

Because virtual events are still a thing, you want to make sure that virtual attendees walk away with more than a transcript of presentations.

If you know attendees’ mailing addresses, you can send swag bags before a conference. For example, if you want to do a cool 3D experience during the event, you could ship branded 3D glasses (plus other goodies) to attendees to build anticipation.

If you don’t want to ship swag bags to attendees, you can always opt for virtual products. Be playful and have fun with it! Include juicy virtual swag like:

• Gift cards

• Subscriptions to services like Spotify, Audible, or Netflix

• Free apps

• Games or contests

Do pay attention to the bag itself

You should absolutely focus on the experience the products inside the swag bag give to your attendees. But does a flimsy plastic goodie bag say, “Choose us”?

Not really, and that’s why it’s important to focus on the swag bag itself.

If you’re at a conference, attendees will collect all of their swag bags and put them inside the biggest, nicest bag they receive. This means that, if you play your cards right, thousands of attendees will be displaying your bag at an event.

Pro tip:

You definitely want to go with a reusable bag for this. Canvas is a durable, high-quality option, but collapsible rayon bags are also enduring. If you really want to get people’s attention, give away backpacks or duffel bags. That will definitely turn heads!

Don’t ignore the importance of timing

You’re excited to give your swag bags away, but is now really the best time? For example, if you’re at a networking meeting, do you really want to stuff attendees’ hands full of extras when they’re already holding a drink and shaking hands?

Think about how the attendees will experience your swag bags. If you don’t want your bags to get in the way, consider shipping them to attendees’ homes or passing them out at the end of the event.

Do remember your theme

Are you having trouble developing a cohesive swag bag? Theme it! You can tie the theme into your location, presentation, time of year, etc. A themed bag gives attendees a thoughtful experience — plus, it makes it way easier to select items.

Here are a few examples to get the juices flowing:

Fall Is In The Air: Include apple cider mix, a branded throw blanket, and a cozy candle.

Throwback: Include nostalgic childhood snacks, mini arcade games, slap bracelets, and other fun throwback gifts.

WFH: Make a work-from-home survival bag, complete with blue lightblocker glasses, a wrist rest, and emergency snacks.

do’s and don’ts to control promo product spend

Managing your paid ads budget is usually a matter of pressing a few buttons. But how do you manage the costs — and ROI — of physical products that aren’t as easy to track?

The best way to keep a tight hold on your ROI is to manage your promotional product spend in the first place. Try these steps to squeeze more results out of your swag budget.

Do set a SMART goal

Forgive us for waxing philosophical here, but what does success mean to you? You should only spend money on things that bring you closer to your goals, so it’s really important to define your swag marketing goals before you spend a dime.

Goals like, “We want this tumbler to generate more leads,” are too vague. When you’re trying to maximize your marketing dollars, you should set SMART goals for every campaign you run.

SMART goals are:

• Specific

• Measurable

• Actionable

• Realistic

• Time-bound

For example, instead of saying, “We want this tumbler to generate more leads,” you would say, “This $500 order of insulated tumblers will lead to a 20% lift in lead generation in Q2.”

That’s incredibly specific! These are the kinds of goals that help you get a better handle on your ROI, so leave flimsy campaign goals at the door.

Don’t

forget about the payoff

Hey, we love high-end giveaways as much as the next person, but does it make sense to give out $200 gym bags to everyone you meet?

To reduce rogue promotional product spending, it’s essential to know the payoff, and depending on your goal, the payoff is going to be different. Promotional products give you plenty of ways to interact with people, but you should share these products wisely. For example, a $200 gym bag is a lot of money for generating leads at an event, but it’s a reasonable expense if it helps you seal the deal on a $200,000 contract.

Do develop a budget based on percentages

Do you have a variable marketing budget every month? That’s a common practice in small businesses, so you can try budgeting with percentages instead of dollar amounts.

Plug everything into an Excel file as you spend money every month. With a few quick adjustments, the spreadsheet will display a pie chart visualizing your budget percentages. This is also a great way to visualize past months’ data to see your historical marketing spend.

Don’t

ignore campaign post-mortems

Promo product campaigns don’t always have a set start and end date, but it’s still important to review your results. When it’s time to strategize for your next event or employee engagement program, look at your past data before making any new plans.

What did you spend? What products did you buy? Did you hit your SMART goal, or did you fall short? Why?

Sometimes we don’t like the answers to these questions, but even if a campaign didn’t perform as well as you wanted it to, asking the tough questions will make you a better marketer. Post-mortems will help you see where you can route money for your next campaign, so always set a date to follow up on your promotional product campaigns.

Do select the right products

To make the most of your budget, you need to choose products that a) fit into your budget and that b) your audience will enjoy using. You might have some fantastic ideas, but if the products are too expensive or so inexpensive that people throw them in the trash, you aren’t going to get results.

Work with a provider like Boundless to choose the right mix of products for your budget. You should also ask yourself what types of products your audience wants to receive.

When it comes to promotional products, you want to select items with staying power. Even if they cost a little more upfront, picks like beach towels, speakers, and leatherbound journals will make an impression, which is the goal of promotional products.