Corporate Gifts for Events: The Best and Worst Giveaways

Events are brilliant places to meet potential customers and business connections face to face and really make an impression, whether it's at a trade show, a conference or a community fair. One way you can ensure you make a lasting, positive impression is by giving away corporate gifts to potential clients.

But it isn't enough to give away any old items printed with your logo. Your gift should be a product that will impress with its originality, be useful to the recipient, and last longer than the event itself. Here are five gifts that fulfill this brief, and five that you might want to save for other types of promotion.

The Best

1. Travel Mugs

A promotional travel mug is a more unusual corporate gift that people might not have received before, and that also has a high-perceived value. Event attendees will appreciate being given something to sip tea or coffee from throughout the day, and will almost certainly keep their thermos for future use.

Thermal travel mugs will be much-loved by business people who are always on-the-go, especially when branded with vibrant, attractive designs

If your business is linked in to the food and drink industry you could even provide free teabags and hotwater to go along with the mug!

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2. Tote Bags

Okay, so maybe promotional tote bags aren't that original, but sometimes gifts are so useful they don't need to be all that different or exciting. Promotional totes will prove essential items for guests, particularly at tradeshows or events where lots of people are exhibiting and giving away other promotional material.

Vibrant tote-bags will be seen by everyone at an event, so encouraging more guests to come and speak to you!

Tote bags made from canvas will be long-lasting and can be used long after the event, and even affordable non-woven totes have more than just a few uses in them.

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3. Power Banks

It seems like everybody uses their phone for just about everything nowadays, so keeping your mobile charged at all times has become a genuine struggle. By providing fully charged promotional power banks at an event you will save others from the despair of discovering their phone has died just when they are trying to enter your contact details into their phone (a win-win situation).

A promotional power bank with a keyring will make sure your gift is never lost

We think that power banks top mobile phone chargers as they don't have to be plugged into a power socket to be used, and so are even more practical. They are ideal for technology related businesses, but will give any brand an up-to-date image.

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4. Lanyards

Promotional lanyards are another pretty old school item, but still useful for keeping hold of phones, keys and ID cards. People will be grateful for receiving something practical that will allow them to keep track of all their belongings, as there is nothing more stressful at a work conference than losing your carkeys or phone.

Promotional lanyards have a range of fixtures, colours and come in various materials so they can be made unique to your brand

Lanyards come in a range of styles and have a choice of branding options, so you can make sure your lanyards look original and are fully customised to your needs.

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5. Seasonal Items

Seasonal promotional gifts are often overlooked because they are unlikely to be used all year round. However, this gives them an extra-special feel, and clients who receive them will feel that your business has gone the extra mile to impress them. They will also give your brand a more fun, festive image than other companies that have gone for more serious, practical items.

A Christmas-themed promotional gift will help attendees get into the festive spirit

Think about the time of year your event will be taking place and choose promotional products to match. For example, if you're hosting an event around October, you could choose spooky gifts or trick-or-treat bags to give away, and help guests get into the spirit of the holiday.

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And the Worst

1. Keyrings

Promotional keyrings just aren't going to make your business stand out at an event as you will probably be one of many businesses handing them out. This means your keyring is likely to end up forgotten at the bottom of a bag or rucksack along with the others.

A branded keyring is not unique enough for an event, but can be used in other scenarios

However, branded keyrings are useful corporate gifts for other contexts. For example, 2 in 1 keyrings can be very useful - a dental-floss keyring would make a great giveaway for health-related promotions, whist ice-scraper keyrings are incredibly handy during the winter months. Give out keyrings alongside other purchases in shops or online, and customers will be grateful for getting something extra.

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2. Phone Cases

Promotional phone cases are just too personal an item to really work as freebies or giveaways, as most people like to choose their own and so are unlikely to swap their's for a free one.

A promotional phone case or holder is best-suited to phone-related businesses

That doesn't mean you can't use branded phone cases as promotional gifts, though. If you are using promotional products as rewards for loyal customers or staff, a personalised phone case could be a good option. And of course, a phone shop would be able to make excellent use of branded phone cases as extra items to giveaway alongside mobile phones.

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3. Paperweights

A branded paperweight might look high-end and elegant, but it will also be heavy and impractical to carry around. Plus, paperweights are fairly traditional items that are mostly decorative, so some attendees might see them as old fashioned.

Paperweights are best kept for use as awards and personalised gifts

In order to get the most out of promotional paperweights, you should use them when you are looking to reward a loyal customer or staff member by giving them a personalised, beautiful gift that they can keep on their desk or at home.

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4. Large Items

Bulky or heavy promotional gifts are going to prove a nuisance at an event where people are moving around and trying to network, so to make life easier for people, keep your branded gifts as lightweight and compact as possible. Another disadvantage to large items is that they could end up being left behind by those who have travelled long distances by plane or train to get to the event.

This wine set is a lovely gift, but there's no way anyone would want to lug it around at a trade show!

Large items are better kept for competitions or online giveaways where you will be shipping the item to someone, and therefore shouldering the responsibility of transport yourself.

5. Pens

Pens are such a common promotional item that they are just not going to help you stand out from other brands. However, they are still very useful, and so could be used as one of a selection of gifts, for example alongside one of the other items mentioned above.

A branded ballpen is not the most original gift, but they can still be useful to have lying around at an event

Promotional pens in a presentation box or set also make a lovely reward for loyal clients or long-term staff of a business.

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If you'd like to take a look at some other corporate gifts to use at your next big event, check out our new range of bestselling and affordable gifts. Or, for more suggestions on promotinal gifts to be used at events, please feel free to give us a ring on 01204 577 995! We'd love to hear from you.