Merchandising and Promotional Items at Exhibitions

If you go to an event or Expo nowadays, you’ll be amazed at the quality of event merchandise companies are offering. Gone are the days of a cheap pen and a business card, now you can find everything from luxury stationery, to bags and clothing, and even tech items.

If you have an exhibition stand at one of these events, and turn up without quality merchandise, you won’t have the same conversion rate as your competitors.

It may sound superficial, your products/services should speak for themselves, but you’d be amazed how memorable a piece of merchandise can make your business. Pair it with a slick pitch from your bespoke exhibition stand, and you’ll stand out from the crowd. At one event, we had senior management coming onto a stand to leave details to win a large teddy. At another event we made it mandatory to take a demo of a product in order to get a Minion stress toy. One of these demos led to an order of over £1m with a new customer! It sounds crazy, but it’s a tactic that works!

What is Event Merchandise?

Event merchandise includes any items you give away at an event or exhibition. This often includes:

  • Pens
  • Bags
  • Clothing
  • Drinkware
  • Tech

All of this, if you order it through us, will be customised to match your brand. We know how important branding is, especially at events, which is why we do much more than slap a logo on a few pens and call it a day.

The event itself will determine what merch you have on offer. If it’s an event you created purely for the release of a new product, you want as many people to experience it as possible, and depending on what you’ve created, you may want some of your guests to take it home.

However, most events that you use merchandise for will be large rooms full of your rivals, all within similar industries. Having a few eye catching giveaways attracts more people to your stand and can even help to seal the deal with a potential customer/client.

What are Event Promotions?

Event promotion is the term we use to refer to you handing out your branded merchandise at events. Not to be confused with other marketing promotions that give your company a boost online, on social media, or via print media, things we also specialise in.

We put a lot of emphasis on how important it is to turn up to an event well prepared. Your stand needs to look fantastic, and you and your team should always bring their A-game when it comes to pitching and demonstration.

Even at an industry-specific event, there’s no guarantee that the people who approach you will be willing to invest. That’s why you need to make sure that potential customers only see the best side of your company. If someone interested approaches your stand, and they find someone who doesn’t want to be there, or are ignored completely, that’s an easy sale that you missed.

 

How Promotional Items Boost Enquiries after Events

Promotional items are more than just souvenirs for anyone who listened to your pitch or watched your demonstration. When they get back to their home or office and are looking through their haul of goodies, seeing your merchandise will remind them of your pitch and what you did.

It’s rare that you’ll meet people at events who will be 100% sold on the spot. They’ll want to return to base and think about it before they commit. It’s also rare that your exhibition stand will be the last one they visit, so your pitch starts to blend in with a dozen others.

A quality item, even something as simple as a stress toy, reignites the interest the person had, and they’ll be more likely to look you up. But any experienced business owner knows that relying on people to get in touch is not the way to capitalise on a successful event.

Follow-up is more important than the pitch or handing out merchandise. If you collected any phone numbers, email addresses, or LinkedIn profiles, you need to get in touch as soon as possible before they forget you. Some businesspeople think this makes them look desperate – we know how effective it is.

But how do you collect this valuable information? Well, there’s a lot more you can do at an event than just talk to people.

Offering Winnable Merchandise at Events

Not every piece of merchandise you offer needs to be a free item handed out just for listening to your pitch.

One of the best ways to encourage engagement with your stand is a challenge or activity. This is not only a better way to sell your business, it’s a lot more fun for people who might be sick of pitches or are looking for a company willing to do things differently.

These activities can have prizes or entry into prize draws. The winner, or best scorers, or random players get some free merch sent directly to them. As always, these items should be plastered with your brand, so their victory or lucky day will be associated with your business. We recommend using high-end items like tech or clothing for this, or even a large bundle that has a bit of everything, something worth competing for.

This has a huge benefit for you too. To sign up for the giveaway or event, take visitors’ details. You can then send them a thank you message a day later, along with any prizes they have won, and mention the services/products you provide. It’s the ideal way to reach a wide variety of people without feeling like you’re sending spam, and it’s a lot of fun on the day of the event too!

 

How to Use Event Merchandise and Promotions

Handing out some branded company merchandise may seem like a simple task, but as you can see, there’s a lot more to it than many business owners realise. It’s just like marketing as a whole, you may have a surface-level understanding but until you speak with the professionals, there will be a lot you’re missing out on.

We specialize in helping businesses maximise their branding through events, websites, branding, videography, and more. Instead of just helping you with one aspect of your marketing, or giving you vague pointers on a few, we guide you through the process, helping you to establish your brand and promote it in a way that suits you.

To get the most out of your next event, and have some quality merchandise to give away, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.