Custom Promotional Products Buyers Guide
Custom Promotional Products Buyers Guide
If you're preparing for your next trade show or conference you're probably looking for some fresh promotional product ideas. Should you go with one of the classics like a promotional pen? Maybe something more outside the box like a custom logo portable phone charger. No matter what you're looking for, we've got you covered on just about any promotional product you can imagine. Follow along for a breakdown of the hottest promotional products, how to customize them with your company logo, and how to leverage them for your business.
Popular Promotional Product Brands
By design, promotional products are supposed to get your logo in front of as many people as possible. Because of this many marketers opt to go for cheap, low-quality promotional products that often get thrown out after a single use. At Merchology we're all about brands you know and love. Don't get us wrong, we have plenty of low-cost promotional products available! However, our bread and butter is affordable custom logo products from over 250 of the world's top retail brands that people actually want.
Custom Promotional Giveaway Items
"Promotional item" is a really broad term. Just about anything can be classified as a promotional item as long as it's got your company logo printed, engraved, or embroidered on it. From electronics to apparel and everything in between, here's a look at some of the hottest promotional products around.
Custom Promotional Water Bottles
Promoting your brand is thirsty work. That's why promotional water bottles with your custom printed or engraved company logo make perfect promotional giveaways at a trade show, conference, or corporate event! You can even customize bottles from your favorite drinkware brands like S'well and Nalgene.
Custom Promotional Tumblers & Cups
Keep your drinks ice cold for 24 hours or piping hot for 12 hours with a custom tumbler cup from brands like YETI and Pelican. These personalized tumblers will be sitting on the desks of your clients and colleagues for months to come, leaving a lasting and impactful impression.
Custom Printed Promotional Koozies
Custom printed can and bottle koozies might just be the most cost-effective way to show off your company logo. Starting at under a dollar, these personalized koozies make cheap and powerful promotional items. Not to mention the fact that they'll keep your beer ice cold.
Promotional Notebooks & Custom Journals
Promotional notebooks are the perfect promotional products for trade shows or conferences. When event attendees need to jot down important information the first thing they'll see is your company logo. Plus, when they get back home and review their notes, who do you think they'll remember first?
Custom Promotional Pens
As they say, the pen is mightier than the sword. This might not be true on a medieval battlefield, but it's certainly true when it comes to promoting your brand! Custom logo pens are cheap, especially when you order in bulk, so they're a great way to get your logo into as many hands as possible.
Custom Promotional Totes & Bags
Custom totes and "swag bags" have always been a staple when it comes to promotional products. They're great at conferences where you have to haul all your stuff to a dozen different presentations and breakout meetings.
Custom Promotional Keychains
Giving out a promotional product that can fit into the pockets of your prospective clients and colleagues makes it much more likely to be brought back home. That's especially true if their car keys are attached to it!
Custom Promotional Umbrellas
This promotional giveaway is a bit outside of the box. If it's a sunny day these might not get used for a while. However, if it's raining on the day of your event then you'll be the most popular person there and your logo will be on display anytime someone steps out of the building.
Custom Printed Promotional Golf Balls
Usually reserved for corporate gifts, custom logo golf balls also make great promotional products! With Merchology you can add your logo to custom golf balls from some of the top brands in golf like Titleist and Callaway.
Custom Promotional Lip Balm & Chapstick Tubes
Here's another handy promotional item that can easily fit into your pocket. Custom lip balm and chapstick tubes are especially useful if you're attending an event in an arid climate. We're looking at you, Las Vegas.
Custom Promotional Apparel
Before people started adding their logo to all sorts of fancy gadgets and accessories promotional products consisted of pretty much just apparel. You've got the standard promotional tee. The embroidered hat. The custom hoodie. The list goes on. Here's a look at some of the promotional clothing classics.
Custom Promotional T-Shirts
Custom printed t-shirts: the bread and butter of promotional apparel. Custom promotional tees are the most popular clothing for promo giveaways because they're cheap and offer up a large blank space for a company logo. One advantage of getting your promotional shirts through Merchology is that you can choose from top t-shirt brands like Nike, Gildan, Under Armour, Hanes, and Adidas.
Custom Promotional Hats
When it comes to wearable promotional items, you can't go wrong with custom hats. Headwear makes great promotional giveaways for a few reasons... First of all, promotional hats are cheap when you buy them in bulk and they feature the perfect place for your logo - front and center right at eye-level. Secondly, you can order adjustable hats with a snapback or hook and loop closure so you don't have to guess on sizes without knowing who is going to want one of your hats!
Custom Embroidered Sweatshirts & Quarter Zips
Handing out custom hoodies, sweatshirts, and quarter zips might not be as common as distributing hats and t-shirts, but it's just as effective. Those hotel ballrooms and convention centers can get chilly, and event attendees won't hesitate to warm up in one of your promotional sweatshirts given the opportunity.
Promotional Electronics & Technology
Custom logo electronics and tech are some of the fastest growing promotional products for one simple reason: people actually want them. That means that your promotional item will actually get used over and over again. That also means maximum impressions of your logo and your business.
Custom Promotional USB Flash Drives
Custom USB memory sticks are a handy and affordable way to get your brand into people's hands. You can even take it a step further by uploading your presentation or valuable information about your offering to these data sticks before giving them out.
Custom Promotional Portable Chargers
It can be difficult to keep your devices charged up when you're on a business trip. You're always on the move between hotels and event centers, and keeping your phone charged is vital. Your customers and colleagues will have you to thank for saving the day when their devices hit low-power mode.
Custom Promotional Speakers
Custom logo Bluetooth speakers are pretty much guaranteed to turn heads at conferences and trade shows. Attendees will line up to listen to everything you have to say about your business to get their hands on one of these sweet speakers.
Promotional Phone Cases & Custom PopSockets
It's simple, people love tricking out their phones. That's what makes custom PopSockets and iPhone cases so effective as promotional items. Seriously, people swarm trade show booths for these things all the time!
Applications for Promotional Products
Once you've chosen the perfect product for your company logo, it's all about leveraging that product to maximize impressions and promote your brand. Here are just a few of the most common applications that our customers use their promotional items for.
Trade Shows
There's no better way to cut through an endless sea of kiosks and promotional booths at a trade show and make your brand stand out than with some free swag. The most popular trade show giveaways include water bottles, bags, and electronics.
Recruiting Events
Attracting top talent can be difficult. However, it's much easier to leave a lasting impression on your prospective future employees or colleagues when you've got something to give them. Think custom notebooks, pens, water bottles, and bags.
Corporate Gifts
Sometimes custom logo gifts and accessories serve a purpose outside of generating brand awareness. You can also hook up your internal staff or business partners with some sweet custom corporate gifts. The most popular corporate gifts include custom logo clothing, coffee mugs, and electronics.
New Hire Welcome Gifts
Make your newest employee feel at home by welcoming them with some custom merch. A new employee starter pack can contain things like custom notebooks, pens, coffee mugs, water bottles, and apparel.
Promotional Product Customization Methods
At Merchology our decoration experts can add your company logo to thousands of different products using more than 10 different decoration methods including screen printing, embroidery, pad printing, engraving, etching, debossing, and more. Here are the most popular customization methods for promotional products.
Pad Printing
Custom pad printing is the most common decoration technique for electronics and other hard goods. The main benefit of pad printing as a decoration method is that it can be done on just about any shaped surface. For promotional events, pad printing is often utilized on custom notebooks, drinkware, pens, and electronics. Learn how pad printing is done here.
Embroidery
Custom embroidery is the most popular clothing customization method here at Merchology. As far as promotional items go, embroidery is typically used to add your corporate logo or custom design to hats, backpacks, and totes. Learn how the embroidery process is done here.
Screen Printing
Screen printing is one of the oldest customization techniques around. Silkscreen printing can be used to add your company logo to just about anything you can imagine, as long as it can be made into a flat surface. Custom screen printing is most commonly used on promotional tees but is also often used on personalized activewear, notebooks, and promo pens. Learn how screen printing is done in our step-by-step guide here.
Engraving
Laser engraving is the decoration method of choice for metal products. Our most commonly selected laser engraved products for promotional products include custom stainless steel water bottles, tumblers, mugs, and pens. Fun fact: laser etching can also be done on clothing as well! Learn how laser engraving works here.
Where Can I Add My Corporate Logo?
That's a good question. The answer depends on the product you've chosen to promote your brand. Here's a rundown of some of the most commonly selected logo placement options:
- Phone Cases: back side.
- Backpacks: top center or middle of backpack depending on pocket locations.
- Tote Bags: front or back of tote bag.
- PopSockets: center of PopSocket.
- Portable Chargers: front, back, side, or top.
- USB Sticks: front or back of the flash drive.
- Notebooks: front of the notebook, band wrapping, interior pages.
- Candy & Snacks: on the wrappers, labels, or packaging.
- Pens: either side of the pen.
- Drinkware: just about anywhere on the item.
- T-Shirts: left chest, right chest, center chest or back.
- Hats: front, left side or right side.
Next Steps
There you have it, all the information you need to choose the perfect custom logo promotional products to promote your business! That means it's time to start shopping! If this guide helps answer your questions or make a decision be sure to check out our other product buyers guides. As always, don't hesitate to contact us with any questions about ordering promotional products!