If you attend conferences or host events, think carefully about how you spend money on giveaways.
In a previous life, I attended a lot of university career fairs as a recruiter. I watched what the students picked up from the booths, and what they passed over. Some students picked up everything they could but most gravitated to things that were practical, consumable, or fun.
When attending industry conferences, I observed the same pattern but with a few small differences. The things you put on your exhibit table can curate the interaction between the attendee and the exhibitor and say a lot about your company or agency.
What do I mean by a “giveaway”?
It’s usually a promotional product, something you may pay to have branded with your logo and company information. You have probably seen the online sites or gotten the catalogs with hundreds of options for you to purchase and brand for your organization. But it could also be samples of your product or a large bowl of candy, maybe even a coffee station you set up at your booth.
Promotional products comprise useful and/or decorative articles of merchandise that are used in marketing and
communication programs. The items include wearables, writing instruments, calendars, drinkware, and many other
items, usually imprinted with a company’s name, logo, or message. Premiums, incentives, advertising specialties,
business gifts, awards, and commemoratives are also considered promotional products. Promotional products are used in marketing and non-marketing (e.g., employee motivation) contexts.https://www.ppai.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/2024-PPAI-Sales-Volume-Report.pdf
Select the type of giveaway that creates the interaction you want to have with the attendees, not the thing you think is “cool”.
Conferences and trade shows can be a great way to interact with colleagues, competitors, and potential clients. The way you design your exhibit table can generate traffic or repel it, depending on how you cultivate the experience for the people walking down the aisles. It can also make your booth a destination instead of just another stop on the circuit.
New company or new product?
You don’t have name or logo recognition. You need to talk to people and pitch them. You want them to ask questions. This is a great opportunity to offer a promotional product that is associated to your pitch that will create a tangible reminder of your offering.
For example, an exhibitor at one conference was debuting a new product that was related to the health industry, and their table had branded stress balls. Part of their pitch was the ability of their product to lessen stress, and the correlation made sense. A group promoting a diabetes organization gave out really tasty sugar free candy samples and a code to order more at a discount from their website. A fitness company offered logo branded resistance bands and a handout of exercises you could do in your hotel room or office with them.
Another company was offering professional writing and editing work for grants and funding applications to small businesses. They offered branded highlighters and sticky notes. Again, they worked that into their pitch about how time consuming writing grant applications can be and how they have a great system for managing all the requirements and writing to them for their clients.
Established company but low brand recognition in that market?
You have a great product that sells fine in your current markets, but you want to attract new clients or break into a new market. You need to attract people who already use that type of product or service. You may need to hold their attention at your table for a longer conversation. Your pitch is less about the product and more about why your particular company can deliver better value.
This is where your choice of promotional product is less about reminding them of the pitch and more about making sure they have your company name or website readily available. Giveaways with just your logo or company name probably aren’t going to do the trick here. Your exhibit needs to be designed to facilitate a conversation, and you may want to tier your promotional products to the level of interaction.
Browsers? Create a great one-pager or brochure for them to take away. Warm lead? Ask them questions while you also offer them a branded sample or free demo. Think about how to engage them in a way that makes sense for your offerings.
You have the worst location in the exhibit hall?
Look, it happens. You end up at the back of the hall or down some side hallway in a huge convention center. This is a nightmare for smaller companies. You need to get people to come see you. You are going to need something amazing and enticing.
There was a convention I attended years ago that still sticks with me. I was about halfway through the exhibit hall, and a company rep asked me if my feet hurt yet. I laughed and said yes. He told me if I detoured down the hall to the left, his booth had coffee, snacks, and chairs all for the low, low price of listening to his boss talk for five minutes. He didn’t pick me out at random, he saw I had lingered at a booth with a similar product and targeted me to hear his company’s pitch. Their booth was in an absolutely awful location, and they didn’t waste a lot of funds on giveaways. They spent money on having a staffer out there lead gathering in a smart, targeted way and offered something worth the attendee’s time…a chance to sit down, relax, and get away from the crowd for a few minutes.
Another conference had a large company that sold a well known service but their booth was at the very back of the room. They had a coffee station and their reps chatted with the people grabbing coffee. They were selling their customer service commitment by literally serving people with a smile and conversation. The whole experience was designed to leave the attendees with a positive impression of their people. No hard pitches, just asking questions about how the event was going and gleaning info on the attendees without it feeling like a survey. While you waited for your coffee, they offered their mailing list sign-up. I received an email from them a few days after asking me if I enjoyed my coffee break with them and a soft pitch to connect with them again by giving feedback on their booth reps.
Thoughtful beats expensive every time
Know your brand and your client base, and cater your event experience to leave a great impression. Spending thousands of dollars on promotional products that get thrown away is a waste of your marketing budget. Be creative. Yes, everyone uses pens, and there will be pens everywhere for everything you can think of so probably not very memorable. No one is going to use your logo stickers when they get back to the office. Whatever you choose, make sure the experience and the branding are aligned. The goal is to get people talking about your brand, not to add to the landfill.
Need help with planning an event or a marketing strategy? We have people for that at Beatitudo Consulting.
