Tradeshow promotional SWAG – “stuff we all get” – is a useful tool for shaping first impressions of your brand. Yet, not all promotional items are effective. Items that are cheap or useless reflect poorly on your business. Fortunately, with proper planning, you can develop ideas for tradeshow swag that your prospects will love.

You might be asking: What makes a promotional item great? The best items achieve three things: They are useful, cost-effective, and they are branded. Plus, you could say that great tradeshow gifts are unique – potential customers only need so many branded pens. If you can manage those four goals with your promo products, you’re much more likely to boost your perceived value with prospects.

Are you looking for ideas or tradeshow giveaways? Here are a few ideas that will help get the creative juices flowing:

1.  Branded Water Bottles

Water bottles are always a handy item, but there’s a fine line to walk. A cheaply produced plastic water bottle might create the wrong impression. Instead, opt for aluminium bottles. They look classier and are more durable, and your potential clients are guaranteed to love them.

2.  Custom-Printed Sticky Note Pads

Sticky notes have so many uses, and they’re always an in-demand office supply item. But it pays to think outside the box. You don’t have to pick the standard square layout. Instead, you can play with the shape. If you work in a banking business, for example, custom-printed sticky notes in the shape of dollar signs will help to drive your brand image home.

3.  USB Car Adapter

A USB adapter for the car is useful and novel, and they can be custom-printed on the cheap. That’s why they’re such great giveaway items. Plus, people will use them and remember your brand every time they charge their phone in the car.

4.  Microfiber Cloths

Almost every American adult owns at least one touchscreen device. And the screens of those devices are constantly dirty. Brand microfiber cloths are the perfect solution. They’re cost-effective and extremely useful, and they can be given away in plastic carrying cases to make them more portable.

5.  Business Laptop Skins

Laptop or tablet skins that fit on the back of your device are a powerful branding tool, and they may, in some cases, make for great giveaway items. Skins are particularly useful for B2C brands, but the key is to be subtle with your branding. Not every customer will want your company’s logo on the back of their device. But if you can find a design that looks attractive, while adding a bit of brand flair, you’ll have a real winner on your hands. At the very least, make sure all the devices at your booth are branded with skins; it looks professional, they’re cost-effective, and they help develop brand equity.

6.  Stylus Pen Keychains

Here’s a novel take on two standard tradeshow gifts: Keychains and pens. Modernize these gifts and give away branded stylus pen keychains. One reason: They’re more cost-effective compared to actual stylus pens, and they help show that your brand is forward thinking. Plus, we all have a device the stylus will work on, so they’re more useful than ever.

7.  Golf Tees

Golfers always have a need for tees. That’s why they make a great giveaway item. They come in handy, they’re cost-effective to produce, and they can be branded in some interesting ways. You might decide to brand the box and offer standard white tees. Or you could go with colored tees that match your brand’s image.

Selecting great tradeshow gifts might seem difficult, but it doesn’t have to be. Just remember to make them useful, unique, and cleverly branded. If you do that, everyone will want to stop by your booth and chat.