Everything You Need To Know About Promotional Gifts

The first promotional items ever used were the election merchandise of commemorative George Washington buttons in US history. It dates back to 1789 when the United States elected its first U.S. president. Since then promotional gift industry has come a long way and now it is a multi billion industry that is worth over $77 billion ( 2022 stats)

WHY SHOULD YOU BUY CUSTOM GIFTS?

Promotional products will keep your message and brand right in front of your target audience for a very long time. Everyone loves freebies; and the best part is that it will make a tangible connection with your customers. Promotional items are offered in a range of models and price points, which makes it easy to shop. Studies show that customers are likely to deal with brands that hand out custom gifts than those that do not use marketing swag.

WHICH MAY BE THE BEST IMPRINT OPTION FOR YOU?

Here are some of the popular imprint methods that can be considered for your custom gifts for the upcoming events.

Screen Printing

If you are planning a mass promotional event, you can consider this low cost imprint option. The process involves transferring the premixed color and a nylon/polyester screen to get the message transferred to the custom gift. Screen printing is the best option for customizing promotional gifts like water bottles, stress balls, can coolers and tote bags among others.

Laser Engraving

If you need very sharp and high precision imprints, laser imprint is the best method. Simple and swift, this process involves programming of the logos to be imprinted. Ideal for customizing glass or crystal plaques, metal pens or wooden gift items like recycled pens , cutting boards and much more.

Digital imprint

Multiple colored logos and artwork look better in digital imprints. If you need full color printing over wide surfaces, it will be good option. This imprint method is ideal for custom gifts like magnets or mousepads.

Embroidery

Though this imprint method may not be as popular as the rest of the methods in customizing business gifts, it gives a personal touch and a subtle charm to your branding. This is great for imprinting apparels and apparel accessories like T shirts, rally towels, caps and hats, backpacks, blankets and more. The logo is stitched using an embroidery machine in your corporate color themes.

Heat Transfer

In this imprint method, special printers transfer ink to the selected item under intense heat to ensure a high precision imprint. Ideal for multiple colored logo imprints on T shirts and totes among others.

Debossing or Embossing

Ensure a dramatic 3D effect to your logo with these imprint method. Pre-constructed metal dies in the shape of the artwork are used. The gift item is placed under the die and by applying heat and pressure, the imprint is obtained. Embossing will give a raised appearance for your logo while debossing has an opposite effect. It is great for imprinting custom chocolates, leather wallets, backpacks and more.

ARTWORK

Customers can send in their artwork in electronic work files in editable formats like EPS, PSD, AI, and PDF among others. Bitmap and JPEG images should have a resolution of more than 300 dpi  to ensure clarity.

Free Artwork Assistance

If you do not have a ready to use artwork in hand, the design team at ProImprint can help you come up with an artwork for free, which will be sent to you for approval. You need to make the payment only after approving the artwork.

IMPRINT SPACE  

Choose promotional gifts with appropriate imprint space for your message. For instance pens or keychains might not have enough space to carry an elaborate logo or a long message. Ensure that the imprints are big enough for everyone to see and read. Very small imprints might not show up properly and could compromise the promotional scope of the custom gift.

IMPRINT OPTIONS

Choose an appropriate imprint option according to the custom gifts you choose. For instance, you can place your imprint on all panels or alternate panels inside or outside in the case of umbrellas. Metal keychains can be laser engraved whereas metal tumblers are pad printed. The popular method of imprinting in caps and hats is embroidery.  In custom items like car auto accessories debossing is commonly used while screen printing will make the best imprint method for items like wallets or T shirts.

IMPRINT COLORS

Choosing the right imprint colors will indeed go a long way in enhancing the look of the final product. Make sure to choose dark colors for light colored products and vice versa. Did you know that matte finish will look great on both light and dark products? If you are buying custom glassware items, you can choose any of your favorite colors for imprinting the message as every color will look attractive on glass surface.

PMS COLORS

Apart from the normal colors, we also offer the advantage of PMS colors for our recipients at an extra cost so that you can customize your gifts in exactly the color that you want. Be it your favorite color, corporate color or the theme color, no matter how you wish to go about it, we have the best color choices for you. Don’t miss it!

WHAT MAKES CUSTOM GIFTS  POPULAR MARKETING SWAG

Popularity

8 in 10 customers own anything between 1-10 custom items.  So , can there be a better way to get your message out afterall? As per the popularity ratings, technology items are the most popular gift items in the present digital world; where everyone uses technology items in their work, play and everything in between!

Health and wellness products also enjoy high popularity among the users. Reports show that 27% of recipients carry these logo items wherever they go. Choose from a range of options like wet wipes, Hot and cold packs, hand sanitizers and more.

Custom writing instruments enjoyed a popularity rating of 91%. Reports show that 50% of recipients use custom writing instruments. Long lasting and reusable, pens and pencils make thoughtful corporate gifts as well.

Retention

60% of customers retain their custom gifts for upto 2 years.

The reports of PPAI (Promotional products Association International) show that 60% of customers retain their custom gifts for upto 2 years. While brochures and flyers have a very short shelf life, custom gifts will enjoy a long retention. Every time your recipients see these logo items, they will also remember your brand and message.

Frequency of use

53% of recipients use a promotional item atleast once a week or more! 

Choose practical and daily use custom items to ensure consistent impressions.

Custom gifts never get trashed

55% of promotional items are kept at home while 24% of custom gifts make personal items that the recipients carry wherever they go. Even the recipients who find the logo items not useful, pass it on to others.

HOW TO CHOOSE AN APPROPRIATE CUSTOM GIFT

Choosing the most appropriate giveaways is what makes or breaks any branding campaign. Choosing from thousands of promotional items in the market can be a daunting task. So how do you go about it? Here are some tips to choose the best

Think about your audience – What will be the nature of your crowd? Keep in mind their age group, interests and demographic. It will give you a fair idea of the most popular gifts to consider.

Choose gifts that complement your line of business- Choose gifts that will remind your recipients your nature of business or brand immediately. For instance , realtors can consider using these house shaped keychains to announce new projects; while these cruise ship shaped stress relievers will make a perfect gift to promote cruise holidays and event planners.

Stick to your budget– Custom gifts are available in all possible price points; that range from gifts that cost just a few cents to those that are priced high. So, you can sort by price and shop at your pace at our site.

Choose trending gifts- Remember, your recipients are more likely to prefer trending gifts than old fashioned handouts. So you need to do tweak your promotional gift list often to make sure that the gifts remain popular. Here are a few interesting items that are the smarter versions of their original counterparts.

Pens may be highly popular custom gifts; but stylus pens will make a better choice considering the technological advancements and the change in life style. Most people use smart phones and ipads more than paper to write. The best part is that stylus pens are available at a price that is very similar to regular click pens. Combo models like Varsi Incline Stylus Pens  that have both stylus pens and normal pens are more functional.

Same is the case with keychains. Low in cost yet high in popularity, keychains have indeed one of the lowest costs per impressions. So, it will be a smart idea to offer a keychain that people can use in many other ways. For instance, bottle opener keychains come handy in not just carrying keys, but also in popping the tops of bottles. Surely your recipients wouldn’t be expecting such a gift.

There are so many gifts like the above. Browse our collection and choose a gift item that double pull and enhance your brand impressions.

Choose portable gifts

Custom gifts that let your recipients carry your brand wherever they go will have a double advantage of both brand exposure and portability. Some of the gift items in this genre include the following

Drinkware items: help your recipients to stay hydrated and refreshed by handing out these custom drinkware items. Every time they sip hot coffee or  chilled fruit juice, these custom items will surely put your brand on a proud parade. Besides, these trendy logo items will generate a lot of interest too!

Tote bags: A popular tradeshow staple, tote bags are here to stay for sure. Be it as a handy bag for the beach , the school or the library, these reusable bags will obviously make a perfect gift. Your recipients will cherish it for a long time while your brand on these will clock many miles too.

Apparels: T shirts are the most popular promotional gifts not for nothing. Your recipients will love to be your brand ambassadors by wearing these stylish apparels. It makes a great handout for promoting concerts, sports leagues, brands and awareness events. Go for it!

Caps and hats : Celebrate the sports season with these custom caps and hats that will literally put your brand on to the heads of your recipients. As a weather wear items or a stylish accessory, these logo items will surely enjoy a very long innings among your recipients. They will definitely earn your brand the much needed attention and exposure.

Fun Gift Ideas Are Highly Popular

Business development products need not be always be serious and customary like office desk items. Fun toys and innovative gifts will go a long way in grabbing the attention of your audience and putting your brand ahead of the competition. Choose gifts that will bring out the kid in every grown up with these fun gifts like glow party cups, custom coloring books, inflatables and fun toys among many others. Add a fun twist to your promotions to impress your audience. Reports show that people tend to remember brands that are associated with happy memories. So, what are you waiting for? Place your orders right away!

Seasonal Gifts Give More Value For Your Marketing Dime

Include gifts that complement the changing season to ensure that your customers use these logo items for a whole season. For instance beach balls, sunglasses or lipbalm will make perfect summer staples whereas jackets, beanies or metal tumblers are for fall or winter promotions.

How to distribute

Though the method of distribution is something most marketers overlook, it can have a major impact on the success and budget of your campaign. Are you planning to hand it out in person at your stores or trade shows or distribute through mailers? Light weight items like keychains are best for mailer campaigns while tradeshow gifts can include items like custom pens or notepads.

HOW MANY CUSTOM GIFTS SHOULD YOU ORDER IDEALLY?

Ideally you can order promotional gifts once you get a fair idea about the expected turn out in events like nonprofit fund raising events or invite only golf tournaments. For mass events like tradeshows where you cannot have a count on the likely attendees popping into your booth, it is  a wise idea to order in bulk because firstly big orders carry the best deals and secondly these logo items can be easily stored for future use or and tradeshows coming up later.

For instance, if you are planning to do a specific event like breast cancer awareness event , which falls on October every year, it is advisable to shop for pink themed promotional items and ribbon magnets in a limited quantity; so that you have just enough to cover the event. Or else you may have to wait for next October to use any surplus item!