Gift-giving is an essential part of conducting business so here are five rules to follow to dominate the swag game. Choosing what swag to give and who to give it to speaks volumes about who your company is.
The right piece of swag says that you care. It will make a positive and lasting mark on the people who receive it. Whether the recipient is an employee, a client, or a potential client, these are the people that keep you in business and allow your business to be successful.
Showing appreciation for the people around them is one of the keys used by highly successful people. You’ll often hear stories of company presidents and CEOs who remember even the name of the people who open their doors for them.
That kind of appreciation speaks volumes. If a picture speaks a thousand words, then a three-dimensional object speaks more.
In this article, we will break down some suggestions you can use to make sure your swag is something your people appreciate and will remember with pride.
1: Have Your Logo Professionally Designed
A well-crafted logo can say a lot about who you are and what you want your company to be and is part of the five rules to follow. And while it isn’t quite as permanent, it might be helpful to think of your logo a bit as you’d think about a tattoo. That’s not to say you shouldn’t change it, but it is important to remember you might have it for a long time.
Look, we’re sure you’re great at what you do. But unless your business is graphic design (in which case, ignore this), you are NOT a graphic designer.
In all likelihood, you have been able to last in whatever business you have chosen because you’ve stuck to it for a long time and developed expertise that can ONLY be acquired through experience.
Graphic design companies have done so too. So don’t scrimp, don’t DIY, hire the professionals and let them make you a design you’d be proud to plaster all over your office, because trust us, you’re going to be looking at it a lot.
2: Think About the Recipient
One of the most important five rules is the aspect of corporate gift-giving is to know who will be on the receiving end. Unless you’re giving away banded stacks of hundred dollar bills, there is no such thing as the perfect gift that is going to please everyone.
The gifts you will give to your longest clients will be different from the gifts you give to potential new clients. As will the swag you’re handing out at the company party. Each new swag item you order should be custom-tailored to meet the specific needs of a specific group of people.
If you’re opening up a new branch in Alaska, consider branded hooded sweatshirts. Hawaii? Not so much. If you give someone who isn’t a client a mug that says ‘we appreciate your business,’ it might come off as desperate and tacky, and that isn’t the way to win business.
3: Quality is Important
You know those t-shirts you wear once, where the threads are all flyaways and there are holes in the fabric around the collar? Yeah, that’s the opposite of what you want.
When you are ordering products for your company, it is important to think about products you would use yourself, which is why this is part of the five rules.
Paying a little extra for ultrasoft fabric or the pens with real ink or electronics with some actual heft might seem like little details, but we promise, your customers and clients will NOTICE.
No one likes a regift. No one likes to feel they’ve been cheaped out on. Consider the stuff you give away to be a huge reflection of WHO YOUR COMPANY IS and give accordingly.
If you pride yourself on quality work, please, please, please give quality swag.
4: Think Outside the T-Shirt
We get it, everyone loves a t-shirt. I love t-shirts, you love t-shirts, we all scream for ice cream, am I right?
But as much as we love a t-shirt, perhaps it’s time to consider a different tactic. These days, the choices you’ve got when considering swag are on another level. Choosing a creative item to give away might be the thing that sets your company apart. Choosing well means that people might actually use the item you give them (the one with your awesome, professionally designed logo), for a long time, thinking of YOU every time they see it.
5: You Are Your Swag, Your Swag is You
We’ve said this before, in this article, and in others too. But you must remember that the swag you give away IS YOU. Swag is a physical item. Things people can hold and wear and smell and touch. So don’t put your logo on something you wouldn’t be stoked to receive as well.
What you give away is so much more than a product you chose out of a catalog. It is an opportunity. To consider your customers and appreciate your employees. To be the kind of decision-maker you always wanted when YOU were starting out. And to custom curate the answer to the question asked so often in offices in corporate America, what did you ever do for me? So follow these five rules and you’ll certainly dominate the swag game.