Will your promotional items be the talk of the show or end up joining the multitude of other useless items in hotel trash cans?

Purchasing promotional items for trade shows can be a daunting task that I have dealt with for the better part of 10 years as an exhibitor. Let me help you with a few great items that will make it into your attendee’s luggage and not left behind in the hotels circular filing receptacle.

Six Fantastic Promotional Items

Below I have listed six items that have been promotional hits that I have distributed or received during my trade show adventures. I have also included explanations of why these items made my top 6 favorites list.

Breath Mints — This had to have been the best promotional item to date. Multiple promotional companies offer personalized tins with a handful of breath mints inside. We ordered four boxes for a three-day tradeshow and actually ran out the 2^nd day. During the last day of the trade show we still had people coming up asking if we were the company that was handing out mints. The great part of this promotional item is that it is useful during the show and will take up minimal room in the attendee’s luggage.

USB Flash Drives — Even though flash drives are becoming a staple at trade shows, they are still a great promotional item that will prove useful for years to your attendees. Make sure to populate each drive with your company’s information and what you are exhibiting. Creating digital brochures are a great way to cut down on printed clutter and make it extremely easy for your customers to reference after the show.

Lanyards — All shows require you to wear a badge. Make sure, at the minimum, all your independent sales reps and floor staff have lanyards with your logo and even booth number. It’s a very low cost but effective way to permeate your brand image throughout the trade show.

Hand Sanitizer — If you are hardened trade show veteran, you go to every trade show knowing that you are going to shake a lot of hands. Nothing is more valuable than being able to know you are making a fighting effort to stay healthy.

Bottled Water — Handing out personalized bottles of water was a great success. We used our logo on the front, and also information about our newest released products on the back. This also proved to be a great resource while holding meetings with prospective clients.

Pens — Cheap plastic pens will likely never make it past the trade show floor. Cheap plastic pens tend to be left at different booths, leak after use and not to mention write horribly. While browsing for pens to purchase for our next tradeshow I was surprised to find out that you can get brand name metal pens with your logo on them for a minimal price increase over the typical plastic pens. Make sure to spend the money on quality pens to ensure these make the trip back with your customers to their office.

What promotional items will you be purchasing for this years trade shows? Leave a comment below and let us know what will be at your booth in 2014!