The most successful giveaways should:

- Be easily linked in your prospect's mind to your product or service
- Provide something that will be of value or interest to them and/or
- Do something clever or fun that will catch their eye or create goodwill

Next, let's look at how to link your goals for a show with the items you select.

#1 Are you trying to get as many people as possible into your booth?

If your business is consumer oriented, uses a "mass marketing" business model, or is new and trying to introduce its products or services as widely as possible - you want high booth volume. In this case, you need a giveaway that is generally well-received but not too expensive because of the quantities required.

Candy provides a strong draw, as do fun or interactive items. But remember, though these will get people in your booth - they won't do anything in themselves to make them remember you or the message your delivering. If your goal is simply to attract lots of people - to fill out a questionnaire or to hand a coupon, for instance, then you do not need an imprinted giveaway.

If your goal is to draw lots of people you plan to qualify further, though, you probably will want a second item, imprinted with your company's brand or product information, to be given only to those who have qualified.

#2 Are you looking for a particular kind of prospect?

If your services or products are geared only to specific industries or individuals, then your goal is to find viable prospects without giving out a lot of costly gifts or spending too much time with inappropriate visitors.

An excellent way to have your prospects pre-qualify themselves is by offering something that matches their needs or interests. In this case, you want to provide a gift that your prospect will take with them and be likely to keep on hand long past the end of the show - but it must be clearly branded to keep your company name in your prospect's mind or it is a waste of your money.

For example, once upon a time, one of my client's received a "mouse" stress toy at a show. My client kept it for years because it was well targeted to her professional profile, in the software industry - but since it did not have a company name or logo, all those years of potential positive branding were lost to whoever decided to "save" on the expense of imprinting.



#3 Are you looking to reinforce relationships and promote your brand through increased product/service knowledge?

In this case, your promotional goal is to get specific information to current customers to motivate them to expand your relationship, say through an upgrade or add-on purchase. In addition, this is a situation in which you could clearly benefit from the planning and execution of a pre-show promotion.

A pre-show promotion works by advertising your involvement with the show in advance, to current customers and known prospects. This usually involves an enticement to bring them to your booth. If they bring the coupon you have sent or emailed them, or mention a particular offer number, for instance, they will receive a special gift.

A twist on this theme is to send part of a gift to them, with the remainder available at the show. An amazing percentage of people will arrive with half of their imprinted gift or puzzle piece, ready to receive the rest of the item. This may be the chance you have been waiting for to talk with specific high-profile prospects.

#4 Are you looking for increased name recognition?

An established vendor in a niche market might take a giveaway and add a spin to it. At a clothing industry show I attended, for instance, one manufacturer gave away hundreds of bright red shirts, along with raffle tickets. They offered one $100 gift an hour to someone spotted wearing the shirt within the convention hall, and, at a predetermined time near the end of the show, they gathered everyone who was wearing their shirt into a giant room and picked a raffle - for a brand new laptop. This whole process was incredibly expensive - but it was a rare person who walked away from that event without at least knowing the name, and almost certainly having paid attention to, their product, because by the final day of the show, there were literally hundreds of people wearing identical red shirts. Even I, who own a laptop already, had my bright red shirt on, for that hour.

Who Will They Call?

In a nutshell, if you spend the time to consider your goals before the show - and use that information to select your giveaways carefully - they can not only help get the right people into your booth, but at the end of the day, they will be more likely to make it back to someone's office or home, to sit with your branding before your customer's eyes day in and day out, until the day when they need your product or service, and it is you they will think to call.