Nobody knows your audience better than you (ideally!). But before ordering and sending promotional gifts, you need to determine who you will be approaching, and what you want from them. In the case of prospects or potential clients, you are probably trying to start a conversation, so a smaller gift like a pen or calendar will keep your name in front of them.
You also need to consider demographic factors. If you are a software company with suites designed for non-technical users (recipe software, quilting software, etc.) then sending a jump-drive or blue-tooth headset won't create a good image of your company. But an embroidered pot-holder or iron-on patch surely would.
Setting Your Budget
How is it that Google can afford to send branded digital picture frames, lava lamps and computer-mice to people who are already customers? Because they know that their customers will tell others that they got a great gift for spend x-thousands of dollars this year, and those personal recommendations will bring in thousands of dollars of new business in the coming year.
It is an important consideration after you have determined who your audience is to find out what their value will be to you if they take your desired action. What will be the profit if a prospect who receives a pen from you opens an account with your company? How about if you sent them a desk clock? What is it worth for bloggers in the industry to write about you? Would they be more likely to write about a pen or a thumbdrive? It is important to consider return on investment when you evaluate price, not just absolute cost.
Projecting Your Company's Image
If your mission statement is to eliminate the hassle of utility bills by allowing customers to pay them online, then the last thing you'd want to send them is a checkbook holder (unless you get very creative with your marketing!).
Your promotional products need to project the kind of image you want for your company. If you want people to think you are cutting-edge, send your best clients and digital-picture frame with your logo. If you want prospects to see your company as reliable, send them a customized calendar with advertising campaigns from your early days as the images.
When you consider these factors in your purchasing decision and add in a little creativity, you will find that your promotional products exceed the traditional (read: boring) pen and calendar sets, and turn into something people will talk about.
