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B2B OFFICE & PROMOTIONAL SOLUTIONS

Promo Products By Purpose: A Guide To Choosing The Right Ones

Trade shows and fairs are great places for your company to network, mingle and get its brand out to other potential clients in the Toronto area. The best way to promote and consistently keep your name fresh in someone’s mind is to give out promotional products. Let’s face it, people love free stuff. At these events, almost every booth will be handing out something with their brand logo on it. We’ll give you the expert insight to make your promotional material stand out and make a lasting impression.

What Promotional Materials To Bring And When To Bring Them

The first thing to keep in mind is that when people are given free promo products, they are actually more likely to give them away than to throw them out. In Canada, people are 64% more likely to pass the items along than toss them in the trash. This means that those same people stopping at your booth for only moment are actually advertising and spreading your name long after the event is over, and that sort of marketing pays for itself. The second thing to keep in mind is that while people love free stuff, the promo products should be compatible with the space the event is being held in.

Fairs

Fairs are typically held outside, which brings in several environmental factors:

Rain and Wind: Avoid paper. It will just be ruined, and no one wants soggy paper.
Dog Days of Summer: No Candy. It will melt.

Having your items in pre-packaged in plastic will save you money in the long run should the weather turn. Also, at fairs you have the opportunity to hand out bigger products than you would at a trade show. People are likely going to jump into their car and go home after the event. Therefore, they don’t have to worry about fitting free stuff into a travel bag.

Trade Shows

These are usually indoor meaning you can generally bring anything you want to hand out…but that doesn’t mean you should. Smaller is better. Often you will have to travel to attend trade shows and that means that bulky products will be heavier and shipping will cost more. Bear in mind that even if the event is held in Toronto, the people you are giving these products to will likely be travelers, meaning they need items they can transport easily and won’t have to ship back.

Unlike fairs, trade shows are places where people will have business cards on them. A good idea to get a large memorable product in there while making connections is to hold a raffle, except the names are drawn from business cards that people put into the pool to enter. You business contacts, they get something awesome like a good portable speaker. Win-Win.

Promo Products To Make The Canadian Consumer Cut

People are more likely to keep their free wares if the items are useful, attractive, and/or enjoyable to use. Let’s take a look at the top contenders and break down their effectiveness and in which events they are best handed out…

Pens

Pens

Fair:

Trade Show:

Useful:

Attractive: It’s a pen…?

Enjoyable to Have: Depends Does the pen have a fine tip or ballpoint? Does it write smooth or get clogged? When a person finds a pen they like, they will cleave to it, and heaven help their coworker who takes it from their desk without permission.

Get’s Your Name Out There:

By constantly using it, a person will continuously see your brand, and if they give it away to someone else, then that person is also having exposure to your company.

Shirts and Outerwear

Shirts and Outerwear

Fair:

These are good for fairs, but note that they should be sealed in pre-packaged plastic bags to potentially protect them from the elements.

Trade Show: X

Hundreds of T-shirts can be bulky be very heavy to carry, making them difficult to carry and expensive to ship. By the same measure, people may not have space for them in their small travel suitcases and therefore leave them behind.

Useful:

Attractive: Depends On Your Event Team

Being told “Cool shirt!” and “What are you wearing?” are two very different comments, and no one wants to hear the latter. Once again, we hope that your events team has good taste.

Enjoyable To Have: Depends

Gets Your Name Out There: Depends

If people wear your shirts or outerwear in public then you have the best advertisement because it tells others “I endorse this brand and you should, too.” If they are demoted to pajamas, no one else is every really going to see your company name.

Bags

Bags

Fair:

Vinyl draw string bags are great for fairs because they will help protect people’s items if the weather turns and are easy to clean.

Trade Show:

Go for the tote. Not only will you likely have a unique item to hand out, but people can then throw all of their other promotional item in it, while your company name is the one broadcasted to everyone else walking around.

Useful:

Attractive: Depends On Your Event Team

Enjoyable To Have:

No one wants to have to juggle all of their items in their arms. People will be very glad to have a bag to throw their things into.

Gets Your Name Out There:

If people are walking around with your logo on a bag while everyone else’s items are hidden inside, your name is making the best impression.

Desk/Office Accessories

Desk/Office Accessories

Fair: X

Often items in this category are paper, like notebooks, which will not hold up well if it is a rainy or windy day.

Trade Show:

These will do well because people always need to have somewhere to jot down their notes and self-reminders.

Useful:

Attractive: Depends On Your Event Team

Enjoyable To Have: Depends

People enjoy notebooks and other office accessories; especially those that are fun and unique like a computer screen cleaner.

Gets Your Name Out There:

Having someone use an item in the office when you are trying to attract businesses is a great way to get your name directly into another company and stay top of mind.

Tech

Tech

Fair: X

Technology and water and/or dirt do NOT mix. This is tech 101. Don’t waste your money on products that could be rendered useless by the elements.

Trade Show:

Items like USBs or small portable chargers will set you apart (if you are NOT in the technology industry) because people will feel like they are giving a more high-end product for free when the other booths are all handing out pens.

Useful:

Attractive: Depends, but usually they are pretty sleek.

Enjoyable To Have:

Gets Your Name Out There:

If a person is using tech with your company logo on it, others are going to see it and be curious about it.

Give-Aways To Avoid

Food

Food

The number one reason not to have food is because once people eat what you hand them, the name of your company is gone with it. There are other reasons, too: Candy melts, baked goods go stale, no we do not have a gluten-free option, and heaven-forbid anyone should have a food allergy.

Time Restraining Items

Time Restraining Items

Items you choose should be able to be reused months later at another event. Things like calendars will do well in January or February, but not so great if you try to get rid of the rest of your stock in November.

The Industry Obvious

The Industry Obvious

As a company who specializes in office supplies, we know that when we go to a trade show, almost every single booth is going to be giving out pens. So what will we be giving out? Not pens. Having unique items is what will make your company stand out.

Remember, these events are for making business connections, not handing out goodies like a taste-test at a bake sale. Have fun and be creative with your promo materials, and we can help! Check out our products today!

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