Top 10 Most Effective Promotional Products at a Trade Show

Promotional products and branded giveaways are very popular at trade shows, conferences, and other similar events. The reason they are so popular even though they are one of the oldest forms of advertising is that they are very effective in helping to promote your brand and make a lasting impression with your target audience.

Promotional Products and Trade Shows Go Together Like Peanut Butter and Jelly

Promotional products make excellent advertising campaigns in many different situations, but they just seem to go hand-in-hand with trade shows. The history behind branded giveaways and trade shows began because exhibitors have a captive audience in trade show attendees, but also have plenty of competition in the same building, all vying for the same buyers. You want to attract those attendees to your booth and offering a free gift for stopping by helps entice those busy buyers to come and see what you have to offer (in addition to something for free). Here are the top 10 most effective promotional products at a trade show:

1. Reusable Bags and Fabric Totes: For carrying around all of the goodies collected in addition to catalogs and other information.
2. Notebooks: Excellent for taking notes during the show and cataloging all the interesting booths that buyers see.
3. Lanyards: Every attendee and even exhibitor employee must wear identification at a trade show. Besides acting as a name badge, it also serves as credentials. The lanyards hold the identification around the neck, but can be branded.
4. Pens: Great for taking notes and writing down show specials.
5. Clothing Items: Hats and t-shirts make excellent gifts. A big challenge for trade show giveaways is that you want your gift to be useful and make it home in their suitcase. Clothes and hats often do the trick because they are valuable and kept for long periods of time.
6. Candy: That’s right! Confections can be branded, whether it is the label. However, today the ability to imprint an image (as in a logo) on chocolate or other types of candies is readily available. It makes for a novelty gift, that although temporary until eaten, is still a memorable conversation piece.
7. Water: Many trade show attendees are thirsty and really appreciate a drink. You can have a branded water bottle or a promotional travel mug or reusable bottle.
8. Umbrellas: These are an old stand by promotional product, but they are still popular and definitely come in handy to the recipients on a rainy day. They will be thankful for you and remember your brand for protecting them from getting wet.
9. Tech Promotional Products: Tech related promotional products are very popular because they are garnered and appreciated. Items like USB memory sticks, mouse pads, or other tech related gadgets are great for trade show giveaways because they attract people to your booth and are kept for long periods of time too.
10. Unique to You Gifts: While all of the promotional products we have mentioned can be generic and apply to any type of business, there is something to be said about choosing a promotional product that uniquely represents your company. It can be something odd, yet memorable or something that represents your industry or company philosophy, like a recyclable gift, industry related item, etc.