The conference goodie bag is a long-standing tradition that has taken on a life of its own. Whenever you attend an industry or educational conference, you will invariably be handed a goodie bag of items assembled from all the sponsors and keynote presenters at the conference. If you are one of the sponsors or presenters at a conference, you will often be asked to send along promotional materials and/or items to be included in the conference goodie bag. Generally, only those sponsors who are mid-to-high level contributors to the conference get a place in the goodie bag, so consider it an honor for which your company has paid – as well as an opportunity to make your mark on all the attendees at the conference.

Of course, there is a down side to that. Your promotional items will be competing with the promotional items of all the other companies that have bought real estate in the conference goodie bag. Because make no mistake – that is exactly what your sponsorship entitles you to – real estate in the conference goodie bag, a chance to make an impression and the captive eyes of the entire conference attendee list. Sounds like a situation made in heaven, does not it?

Here is the rest of the bad news. Most conference attendees immediately go through their goodie bag, dump most of the paper in the trash and find the one or two really neat things that they want to keep. Get where I am going with this? You want your promotional items to be the really neat things that they want to keep. How do you choose promotional items that are real keepers?

Stretch your budget to get the best you can afford.
Remember, conference promotional items, unlike promotional items for general marketing purposes, have a very specific audience. Budget the most that you can afford for your promo items, and then break it down per attendee. Do not undersell yourself – your company is worth it.

Know your audience.
Take the time to research the type of attendees for the conference. It is easy to choose generic conference giveaway items. Everyone does it. If you want to make an impression, it is important that you know who you are trying to impress. Choose promotional items that your target audience will really appreciate and use.

When in doubt, go for the fun factor.
Conference attendees are there to have fun as much as they are to learn. If the purpose of your promo item is higher brand visibility or name recognition, go for the fun factor. One pharmaceutical company took this to the extreme at a medical convention. Their promotional item was a neon colored water blaster emblazoned with the company logo packaged on a cardboard backing that read “We always shoot straight with you." Goofy, inexpensive – and incredibly memorable.

For more ideas on memorable conference promotional items, browse the many items available at an online supplier of promotional products and gifts. Ensure that your next marketing campaign is well targeted and sets off on the right footing by requesting an online quote and finding out as much information as possible.

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