HOS: Hospitality Towels

Everyone loves a freebie -why branded items make the best gifts and how to convince customers to use them

Giving your customers a gift once in a while is an excellent way to keep them loyal, it makes them feel special and more likely to shout your virtues from the rooftops. But what kind of gift should you choose? And how can you ensure it is actually kept and avoids ending up in the dustbin?

Items, particularly garments, that have been customised with your company’s branding are a far better choice than generic goods because of the additional marketing benefits. If your gift is worn or used by the customer, then everyone they come into contact with will also see your logo. They’ll be promoting your business without having to say a word. Gifts can also serve to keep your company in a customer’s mind, for example if you operate in a competitive industry with little to differentiate you from your rivals that cheap gift could be what sets you apart from everyone else.

Of course, you only get all these benefits if you can persuade your customer to actually make use of your custom gift in the first place. Which is easier said than done. So how can you make sure your gift doesn’t end up in the bin? Firstly, try choosing something a bit different (from the usual pens, etc.) but still practical, it’s unlikely any gift will make a customer go “Wow! That’s amazing!” (unless you’re really pushing the boat out), you want to pick something that makes them think “I’ll keep that, it might come in handy”. Printed cloth bags are particularly good for this purpose, everyone is used to carrying branded bags anyway and currently eager to keep hold of reusable bags and avoid the plastic bag charge. Secondly, as the custom goods are being given away free it’s tempting to choose the cheapest option and keep costs as low as possible. However, the problem with very cheap fabrics is that they are often are quite weak and will start to show wear and tear after a couple of uses. Spending a little more on better quality items means they are more likely to be kept and used.

Finally, another often overlooked point, make the gifts look good. When shopping for goods that will be given away for nothing it’s easy to focus on cost and forget about visual appeal, which is the quickest way to guarantee an item getting tossed in the bin. Who’d bother keeping something that looked cheap and ugly? If your custom gift looks good and of a decent quality it is not only more likely to be kept by the customer, your company will go up in their estimations too.