Gift Ideas Your Clients & Employees Will Actually Use

We get it, finding gift ideas that people will actually use is not easy. Ninety percent of the promotional swag you give to clients and employees ends up at Goodwill or in the trash. Finding the right gift is easier than you think. Here are some tips and ideas based on what we’ve seen as home runs for employees and top clients. 

Think practicality; is it something they can use every day?

We scoured our clients for feedback and even went down a few rabbit holes on Reddit to find out what gifts people keep and what ends up in a donation pile. To no surprise, branded Patagonia gear, North Face jackets, and Yeti tumblers seem to be the fan favorites. 

However, many people surveyed for this article said that they have kept ice packs, stress balls, phone chargers, phone battery packs, glasses, spray bottles, and thumb drives as items they still use years after receiving them. Shocking, right? It’s because they are practical and can be used in everyday life. Bonus: They won’t cost as much as that Patagucci.

Hansel, portable batteries & USB-C are so hot right now.

It is no secret most people live on their phones. Portable battery packs are something anyone can use and will happily keep attached to the back of their phones for added scrolling life. The best part and main reason you want to give this fantastic gift is that your brand is now on the back of that phone. That’s a lot of free advertising while someone sits on their phone in endless scroll mode. 

The US is behind the international curve on the USBc changeover, but it is coming. Soon, all phones, computers, tablets, and many other items will require a USBc port. While some people use both, you can stand out by giving away handy USBc converters. They are very inexpensive but needed for all your gadgets. 

Don’t sleep on umbrellas! 

Be honest. Check your umbrella stash at home and count how many were from a giveaway versus something you purchased. Or, if you are like me, how annoyed were you when you bought a nice umbrella only to lose it somewhere?

Everyone will happily take a free umbrella, especially if it is a massive golf-style umbrella. My best umbrella was a promotional giveaway and sits in my house to this day!  

You can always jump on the drinkware crazy train.

I thought it was in an episode of The Twilight Zone when my 12-year-old niece asked for a Stanley Tumbler for Christmas. There is no denying the drinkware craze that has hit this country. Custom branding popular drinkware brands like Stanley, BrüMate, and Yeti can get your logo on an everyday-use item. 

It’s as simple as just knowing your audience. 

We found that people were most successful when they really understood their audience. If they know their clients or employees are always on the go, pocket chargers, cord converters, and screen sprays might make the most sense. 

If your clients are on the higher end, fancy blankets and over-the-top gift baskets with custom company branding could be a way to stand out from the competition. 

Identifying a need and combining it with the right product can really make your company’s branded gifts shine above the competition. We hope this helped you pick a winner! 

Stan Pillman has over 20 years of content writing experience and focuses on articles that educate people on different products. He simply hopes you learned something from this article to help you make a better purchasing decision.