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Nash Inner circle Hong Kong ~ USA 1101 Posts |
Curious question for my peers who promote their businesses in trade shows/open houses, a lot of time the organizer will ask participating vendors to include an item for a swag bag (not your brochure or business card, like something substantial ex. bottle of wine, discount code for your service, candy, USB card, all with your logo & info attached to it etc...).
I am iffy about this because when I look at how I shop, I rarely pay much attentions to the items in the swag bag, most of them end up being in the trash. Any of y'all utilize swags to promote your biz and find success from it?
I teach leaders the magic of curiosity and empathetic communication. keynote Speaker | Seattle magician
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Mindpro Eternal Order 10585 Posts |
It seems odd after four days no one has responded to your post, so I'll give you my thoughts. Many people lump together SWAG with premiums. While they can be seen as the same, there are different purposes, perceptions, executions, and benefits between the two.
SWAG (S#*t We All Get) from an event coordinator, host or producer is usually for a Welcome Bag type of thing and of course, they want as many vendors as possible to contribute so it creates an added value perception to attendees. However, unless you are really willing to be creative, unique and spend a decent amount of money, your contributed item will kind of just be in and perhaps lost among the rest. We have tried many different things over the years, but the one that worked best for us was a USB attached to a card. The USB, of course, had our promotional materials, but more importantly, the card stated "Bring this card to booth # xxxx (our booth number) for your free T-shirt. We had 68% claim rate last time which, coming from a SWAG Bag was really good. I much more prefer to do this at our display booth rather than in a SWAG Bag. However, the two-step campaign has worked well for us whenever we've done it. I once read an article about even with all of the fancy, techy or trendy giveaways, T-shirts, hats and USBs were among the most popular. This was several years ago, but the t-shirt thing never seems to go out of favor. I know this past year spinners were popular. Like you, I personally would never respond to most of these offers or pay much attention to them, but this is why I do not operate my businesses from my opinion or perceptions, but rather from an industry perception or position. Knowing and understanding industry trends and habits, even if they do not align with your own, can be eye-opening. Also on a psychological level (which is one of my favorite ways to operate), attendees at a conference, convention or association event adapt into a different mindset and mentality, which is one of the reasons I believe this works as well as it does. It is much like a family on vacation. They will spend money on things they would never buy or even consider back home in their normal world, yet on vacation, spending money on silly, trendy or special things is part of the experience. Same for dining (they'll dine out for three meals a day) and lines - at home most would never wait in lines, yet on vacation, it is much more tolerable and accepted. So many more of these mentalities are at play, and similar mindsets prevail at trade and industry events. Especially if you are popular, established and well-known in that environment, it too can actually create a demand for you and of course your premiums, giveaways and SWAG. |
Nash Inner circle Hong Kong ~ USA 1101 Posts |
NICE!! Thank you for the super detailed input.
I found it hilarious that free t-shirts still reign supreme. Maybe its time to design a fun one and keep them for potential future uses.
I teach leaders the magic of curiosity and empathetic communication. keynote Speaker | Seattle magician
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MikeClay Special user Atlanta GA 761 Posts |
I don't check the Café as often as I used to.
But yeah T-Shirts are KING we used to just give away our book, and it kinda worked. I added a tshirt with it... I can't keep them in stock. I end up giving away 30 -50 each speaking event I do now.
its ok.. balloon dogs don't bite
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