There’s no arguing that trade shows are an important marketing tool for both big and small businesses, but there are few tools more valuable when it comes to getting a new company off the ground. According to the Center for Exhibition Industry Research, 80 percent of trade show attendees travel more than 400 miles – a staggering statistic on just how national your audience really is. Want to build relationships with clients and colleagues around the country?

The best way may be to give them something to take home on the plane. Most visitors to a trade show go home with free bags full of free stuff – pens, coasters, keychains, t-shirts, mouse pads, and everything else you can imagine. More than 40 percent of attendees think more favorably on exhibitors who give out promotional items. Why not closer to a hundred? Because so much of it is interchangeable junk.

Using Promotional Items to Stand Out

If brand awareness and building relationships are the top goals of your trade show appearance, as they are for most small businesses, you’ll find they are hard to achieve if you stick to putting you logo on the same trinkets as everybody else. Most of the cheapest options for trade show giveaways are unfortunately forgettable, and you don’t want to spend money on pencils and bottle openers that will just end up in a pile of something people can’t really use. Your promotional products should tie into the story of your booth and presentation but also be something attendees will enjoy receiving. Traditional suggestions for promotional items fall on a strict list. Unique suggestions? They all depend on what kind of company you run.

Making Your Product the Focus

When a client looks at a keychain from a trade show, they’ll remember the logo printed on it, but they may not know if that company sold LED lights or bath soaps. In the same way, when a client picks up a custom logo lighter, it’s likely they’ll keep your company in mind every time they use it. The quickest way to make your freebies memorable is to make them free samples of your product or even gift cards for your store or website. Okay, gift cards add up when you’re passing them out to the thousands of potential clients you can meet every day, but you can consider having some on hand for special occasions. Hand them out personally to people whose hands you shake and who express direct interest in what your company does. You can also think about using media. Many trade show booths now show DVDs on their monitor that add to their display and help capture the attention of passersby. Handing out DVDs that demonstrate your product or introduce attendees to your company in a fun and entertaining way can help them remember you. Some businesses even use trade shows to sell DVDs, so giving them away can make it look like you spent way more than you did.

General Rules to Think About

While it’s important to have a creative promotional product idea, don’t neglect your booth in favor of it. Flashy and expensive gifts don’t matter if there’s not a concise story and concentrated effort behind your exhibit. Along the same lines, don’t underestimate how important your company’s logo is. The right logo design and slogan can make or break your company, and it will be branded on every product you distribute at a trade show. Think about combining gifts, like giving away food or drink items in conjunction with something more substantial. Don’t pour all your money into one area but don’t be afraid to spend a little extra when needed. Remember, 70 percent of all attendees represent a potential customer for your business, so if you’re worried about promotional items being scooped up by less-serious trade show goers, know that the odds are in your favor.

Among the staggering trade show stats is one that might make you feel better about the people you meet at your booth. About half of trade show attendees only visit one show per year. That means you have a unique opportunity to meet people who aren’t asking you to compete with the exhibitors of every event out there, and it’s a no-brainer that you want to bribe them with cool stuff. Well, not exactly, but a little dazzle in the business world can only help.

Technology trade shows are ideal for manufacturers and service companies to present and demonstrate own products to potential consumers. With each new tech generation, users can sell their old tech and receive a trade in value in return.

Gary Well is a full-time tech blogger. Check out the most recent digital disc news as a way to share your info with potential buyers and clients.