Promotional Products for Your Next Conference
Your guide to promotional products for your next conference
Do you have a professional conference coming up?
Are you hoping to take some promotional products along to leave a lasting impression on potential customers?
You’re in the right place. We’ve put together this guide to help you understand what kind of products work and why,
and how to utilise them at your next conference.
Corporate conferences are such an exciting opportunity for your company. Not only are these an opportunity to meet like-minded business leaders and potential new clients, but they’re a big-time chance to put your products or services in front of the right eyes and promote your brand in a meaningful way.
Working out exactly how you’ll do that, though, can be challenging. At PromoPAL, we’ve worked with a wide variety of businesses, big and small, to create promotional products that will pack a punch come conference time.
The promotional products most often found at Australian conferences
Promotional business products that sport your business’ branding are always going to leave an impression. The products you choose for your next conference should be dependent on your goal, though.
That goal might be better brand recognition, more sales, or promoting one product specifically.
Tshirts, hoodies and sweatshirts
A custom hoodie with your branding, or custom T-shirts promoting one of your products can be amazing for conferences. Think university open days or conferences where you’ll meet dedicated fans of your brand.
Meanwhile, branded merchandise like polo shirts can be ideal for your team to wear on the day. It can create a cohesive look for your team and brand while promoting your business throughout the day.
Lanyards and ID holders, badges and name tags
Custom workwear like lanyards and ID holders, badges, and name tags are awesome filler products to give out to people you meet throughout the day at your conference. They’re another classy addition for your team to wear at the conference, too.
Of course, these products are neatly branded with your business’ name and logo and come in a range of fun custom colours.
Satchels and conference bags
A promotional tote bag is the perfect freebie to give out at your conference. Plenty of businesses will be offering up freebies, and a tote bag will be an exciting gift with practical use – storing all the goodies received throughout the
day.
We love satchels and conference bags because they’re an opportunity to get your branding out there while offering a practical gift to the people you meet.
Plastic and metal drink bottles and coffee mugs
Plastic or metal drink bottles and coffee mugs are another example of practical freebies to hand out at your next conference. These are a cool addition to your booth and an opportunity to create even more cohesion in your team.
But they’re also really practical, both for the conference day and beyond – just think about when your audience heads home and pops your branded mug into their kitchen cupboard. So many potential customers will be starting each morning with your promotional coffee mugs.
Caps and bucket hats
Caps and bucket hats are brilliant marketing tools. Hand them out at your next conference and reap the benefits of your audience promoting your brand out on the street, down at the beach, or at their local park.
It’s marketing with guaranteed flow on benefits.
Keyrings
Put your brand somewhere they’ll take with them everywhere they go. A branded keyring is a clever freebie idea that’s small and easy to distribute, yet has a massive impact. As it travels everywhere with your audience, you’ll make sure your brand is cemented in their minds.
Wristbands
Wristbands are an awesome marketing tool for brand recognition – whoever receives them will wear them everywhere they go. These can be customised to include your brand’s name and logo, as well as your tagline or website details.
Plus, with a range of fun colours, they’re bound to appeal to your audience.
Printed ribbon
A custom printed ribbon is such a special addition to your promotional products. Use it as a special touch on your products or stationery, or use it to tie up a bag.
Much like any of your other custom-printed promotional materials, putting your brand front and centre through something subtle like a printed ribbon is an amazing promotional tool.
These offer serious visual impact and work as a special touch for any corporate or promotional gift at your next conference.
What are the benefits of sending your guests home with promotional gifts?
Corporate conferences are such an exciting opportunity for your company. Not only are these an opportunity to meet like-minded business leaders and potential new clients, but they’re a big-time chance to put your products or services in front of the right eyes and promote your brand in a meaningful way.
Working out exactly how you’ll do that, though, can be challenging. At PromoPAL, we’ve worked with a wide variety of businesses, big and small, to create promotional products that will pack a punch come conference time.
Brand recognition
Brand recognition and brand awareness is a big component. By customising these products with your brand colours, name, and logo, you can make sure your brand stays in their head.
Think of daily-use items, like coffee mugs and water bottles. Having your logo on these is so beneficial as you’re essentially putting your brand into your potential customer’s hands. You’ll be with them everywhere they go.
Promote your business
Traditional ways of promoting your business can be really salesy, sometimes tacky, and often, a bit uncomfortable.
Custom and branded promotional products are a fun way to promote your business without that salesy feeling.
It’s a passive way to put your branding front and centre and remind your customers you exist, without being loud about it.
Send a message
You can send subtle messages about who you are as a company and what your brand is like through these custom promotional products.
By handing out high-quality products, you can offer hints about the quality of your own products. More than that, though, by offering up fun products, like branded bouncy balls, you can send out the idea that you’re a fun and energetic brand.
On the flip side, smart promotional products like stationery can send a message that you’re a serious business.
They make meeting you memorable
When you go to a business conference, there’s a lot going on. You’ll meet a bunch of people, learn about a heap of businesses, and find some people who are excited about your business (exciting!).
Promotional products leave a lasting impression, and they go a long way in making the experience of meeting you memorable.
They last
At the end of the day, a pen with your brand’s logo on it is going to go further than a business card. Think outside of the box and try to keep it true to your business – whether that means being fun, serious, or somewhere in between.
But make it something that will last, so you can keep your brand prominent in their minds for that much longer.
Your team will love these corporate gifts, too
Promotional products are an amazing way to add value to the interactions you share with people at conferences and your customers.
Your team will love these too. Get them their own promotional clothing, like custom T-shirts and jumpers, or other branded products like hats, coffee mugs, or water bottles.
It’s a fun opportunity for your team to represent your brand in a positive way.
Things to remember for your next conference’s promotional products.
When it comes time to put together a list to get your promotional materials quoted, be sure to keep these four things in the back of your mind
Make it custom
Ordering 20 standard red keyrings for the conference is obviously not going to have the same impact as 20 keyrings in your brand’s specific colour and with your logo incorporated into the design.
It’s the customisation that markets you, keeps your brand prominent in their minds, and turns conference guests into raving fans.
Keep it simple
Don’t overcomplicate the products or the design. Keeping it all simple is a good way to make sure the branding is impactful, and your booth looks cohesive and not overdone.
Think about your audience
If your key audience is tradies, a pen or office stationery probably won’t be so on-brand, but a water bottle could be super useful.
In the same vein, if your audience is quite corporate, serious, and professional, a custom hoodie might not be for them.
Think about your audience, what they do, their general demeanour, and things they might actually want or use.
Then, tailor your promotional merchandise to your audience – so you can surprise them with a useful and totally on-brand freebie when you meet them at the conference.
Make sure your brand is consistent
Your custom promotional products need to consistently represent your brand, too. Try to keep your brand cohesive across the promotional items you select.
This means following your brand’s style guide, ensuring your naming convention is correct, and your brand colours are perfectly specific to the hue.
What else goes into a successful business conference?
It’s not just your promotional products that play a key role in the success of your conference. There’s plenty of planning, logistics, and preparation you can get sorted to make sure you leave your next conference feeling confident and ready to turn those conversations into real sales.
Go into it with a goal
Like anything, your conference is bound to be a hit if you go into it with a goal and plan for that goal.
Your goal could simply be brand recognition. Maybe you’re the new business on the block or just haven’t quite made your business a household name in your industry yet. Then brand recognition or awareness is an awesome goal to have.
You can plan for this by taking a team and preparing to have plenty of conversations about who you are, what you do, and why you matter. Preparing an on-brand booth with plenty of branded promotional products to give away will be a brilliant way to achieve this goal.
Your goal could be around a new product you’ve launched, though. In this case, you should plan to promote that product specifically at the conference – think a dedicated banner, branded T-shirts about the product, and promotional freebies you can give away.
Take a team with you
Manning a conference booth shouldn’t be a one-person job. Take a full team with you so you can effectively engage with the people who are interested and work together to promote your product or brand. This is an amazing way to encourage reach at the conference.
Be sure to create cohesion in your team, too. Branded T-shirts or hoodies can be an awesome way to show team unity and make sure your brand is represented in the right way. You can do this with branded water bottles, coffee mugs, tote bags, and loads more, too.
Have an elevator pitch prepared
The whole idea of a conference is meeting other business owners, engaging with businesses in the same industry as you, and of course, promoting your business.
You’re going to run into so many potential customers on this day, so it’s important to be prepared. Otherwise, you might find you’re kicking yourself later.
Have an elevator pitch ready. You know the sort – a quick pitch, summarising all of the best parts and benefits of working with you that you can deliver in the time of an elevator ride.
Preparing yourself and your team with an elevator pitch is an amazing way to make sure you’re ready to pick up sales on the go.
Follow up soon after
Don’t walk away from the conference with a list of warm leads and then forget about them. The longer you wait, the less fresh you are in their minds.
Keep an organised list of leads you meet throughout the day, and be sure to grab their name and preferred contact details. Then, soon after, within a week, we’d say, follow up with them.
This is a way to make sure you don’t leave all those positive conversations behind at the conference.
PromoPAL is Australia’s promotional product supplier of choice
Selecting all of the branded merchandise and promotional gifts for your next conference is just the beginning. Once you know what you need, you’ll need to find a promotional product supplier you can count on.
PromoPAL is a Brisbane-based team supporting businesses all across Australia. With the highest quality products, a commitment to affordability, and quick turnaround times, we’re the choice for some of the largest retailers across the country.
As well as that, companies that partner with us receive a dedicated account manager. Your account manager makes finding and selecting products from our massive range as easy as can be. And when your products need to be custom? We’ll get them made for you as fast as we can.
With more than three decades of combined experience in promotional products, we’re the team you can count on for your next business conference.
