Corporate gifts, such as branded travel tumblers, keep your company name at the forefront of people’s minds. Employees and clients alike appreciate corporate swag, and these promotional products offer countless benefits for your business. Learn more about the exciting advantages, and discover the best corporate swag ideas to set your company apart.
What Is Corporate Swag?
Corporate swag, or company swag, refers to branded products that businesses give to employees and clients. Popular corporate swag options include printed tees, versatile totes, USBs, water bottles and the classic branded pen.
Corporate swag offers an effective way to unite and engage with your team — even when they work remotely. Another way you can use corporate swag is to reward loyal clients. For example, handing out branded calendars at the start of the year or gifting high-quality glassware after closing a deal are excellent ways to strengthen client relationships.
Aside from enhancing staff and client experiences, corporate swag items increase brand awareness and drive more sales. According to the American Marketing Association, 80% of consumers are likely to take action after receiving a promotional product — even if they’re unfamiliar with the brand. If you decide to invest in corporate swag, you’re likely to experience the benefits in your bottom line.
9 Benefits of Swag for Your Employees and Your Business
Many swag options have a practical function. For example, branded pens are always useful around the office. However, swag offers many more benefits for your employees. Explore some of the top ways in which swag impacts your team.
1. Grow Your Company Culture
It’s no secret — workplace culture matters. A positive culture helps boost engagement and makes employees feel more satisfied with their jobs. One Gallup study found that team members who strongly agreed that they feel connected to their organization’s culture were 3.7 times more likely to be engaged at work.
A branded product offers an effective way to foster a sense of belonging. Additionally, you can gift items that align with your core values. For example, an eco-friendly lunch set helps cement your commitment to sustainability. Similarly, a self-care gift can promote a healthy work-life balance.
2. Boost Team Unity
The average American adult spends around 90,000 hours at work. Spending all that time at the office is much easier when you bond with your co-workers, and nothing unites a team quite like branded T-shirts. Wearing the same apparel can help foster a sense of camaraderie, resulting in a stronger team identity.
Encouraging effective teamwork within your organization ensures better communication between departments and increases problem-solving abilities. In addition, employees who trust one another will feel more supported as they tackle work challenges.
3. Increase Accountability and Responsibility
Corporate swag is a physical reminder of a team member’s connection to your company. When employees understand their role in an organization’s success, they are likely to feel more responsible for and invested in the work they produce.
Increasing accountability and responsibility within the office helps to drive overall productivity. In addition, knowing that their efforts have an impact will help employees feel more content.
4. Make Team Members Feel Appreciated on Special Days
Marking special occasions can help your team feel like more than just a face in the crowd. Some ways to celebrate employees along their career journey include:
- New hire packs: A welcome pack with some tech essentials, such as a power bank or headphones, ensures a strong start to any professional relationship.
- Work anniversaries: Honoring employees for their service with a quality watch, picnic hamper or wine glasses helps encourage more good work.
- Holiday gifts: Year-end is synonymous with gift-giving. Spoiling your employees with a quality winter jacket or tote bag full of treats helps to strengthen morale.
- Spontaneous spoils: Events like Random Acts of Kindness Week are an awesome opportunity to acknowledge your employees when they least expect it.
5. Build Brand Awareness
The branded golf cap you give your client during the holidays does more than limit sun exposure. Each time they wear it on the golf course, they help to showcase your business name.
Corporate swag — such as caps, T-shirts and jackets — act as a walking billboard, helping more people discover your brand. Since people can only support your business if they know it exists, this is one of the most effective ways to get your name out there.
6. Increase Brand Recognition
Even when customers know about your brand, they may not be ready to purchase your products and services. They also have many options, making it more challenging to ensure they choose your business over your competitors.
Corporate swag helps you optimize your brand recognition strategy so that your business remains at the top of customers’ minds. In addition, offering clients premium items helps align your brand with quality. Each time your customers use their branded water bottle or yoga mat, they’re reminded of the value you offer. Clients are also likely to hold on to valuable products, making your brand more memorable.
7. Promote Employee Retention
Your employees are often your greatest resource, and finding ways to show your appreciation helps retain the best. High-quality items send a clear message that you recognize and value your team’s hard work.
The American Psychological Association also connects gift-giving with feelings of trust and social connection — qualities that help create loyal employees. Investing in swag can help you reduce your turnover rates and reduce recruitment, onboarding and training costs.
8. Increase Customer Loyalty
When clients enjoy the swag you gift them, you create a more favorable impression of your business. In return, they’re likely to be more loyal and continue to work with you. Repeat customers help your bottom line, as there’s less need to spend your capital on customer acquisition. In addition, customers who know your brand are likely to recommend you to their personal networks.
9. Boost Social Media Engagement
Instead of expecting new clients to come to you, it’s best to meet them where they are — and with approximately 5.17 billion people on social media, they’re likely on platforms like Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. Swag can help your business create a more robust social media presence.
For instance, you can create a campaign in which you encourage team members to take photos in their branded apparel and share them on relevant platforms. Adding a custom hashtag will maximize your reach. Similarly, offering a giveaway for the most creative swag photos will stimulate excitement and increase organic content generation. However, you don’t want to make social media sharing mandatory — doing so makes the gifts seem less genuine.
Challenges of Providing Corporate Swag
If your company is considering distributing swag for the first time, it’s best to be aware of potential challenges. Here’s an overview of some common obstacles:
Navigating Additional Costs
Corporate swag costs include the price of the item, design work and distribution. While these expenses can add up, it’s important to remember that you’re in control of your budget and can set a limit on how much you want to spend on items. Choosing practical items that employees can use in their work lives — such as a branded mousepad — helps to ensure the best value for your swag investment.
Creating Unique Designs
Finding an appealing way to incorporate your logo or tagline can be a further obstacle. Working with a company that has a specialized design team can help mitigate this challenge and ensure you project a professional image.
Forming a Favorable Perception
Some people may be hesitant to accept swag, especially if it’s generic or unoriginal. To encourage everyone to get on board, choose high-quality, inclusive, custom corporate merchandise. You could also conduct a survey and ask your team to select the items they’d like most to get a better idea of employee preferences.
Storing Promotional Items
To maximize your budget further, you can take advantage of volume shipping discounts. However, this presents the problem of storing inventory. To streamline the logistics, you can work with a promotional product provider that offers warehousing and distribution services.
Working with a business that specializes in company swag and branded merchandise is often the best way to overcome common challenges. They will oversee the process from start to finish, ensuring better results from your swag campaign.
10 Corporate Swag Ideas That Employees Love
Every employee has a different style and set of interests, contributing to the diversity of your team. We’ve put together a list of ideas for company swag:
- Columbia® water bottle: A healthy workforce is a productive one — and one of the easiest ways to maintain good health is by drinking enough water. The sturdy sports bottle from Columbia® helps your employees stay hydrated on the job.
- Blue light glasses: Extended screen time means more exposure to blue light, which potentially causes cataracts and macular degeneration. One way to minimize the effects of blue light is to give your employees a stylish pair of blue light-blocking glasses.
- Lunch bags and coolers: A functional cooler or lunch bag helps employees keep their food fresh while showcasing your brand. Larger coolers also make a special gift for work anniversaries or other important milestones.
- Nike polo shirt: A Nike Dri-FIT polo is a great option, as its durable fabric means staff can wear their shirts long after the event. Both the ladies’ design and men’s fit feature Dri-FIT moisture management technology for enhanced comfort.
- RFID lanyard: Another employee gift that makes office life easier is the RFID card and badge holder. If you work in a building with multiple access points, this is particularly helpful for employees going in and out of different offices.
- Aria earbuds: A quality pair of Aria earbuds will allow your employees to listen to their favorite tracks while they work. As the Harvard Business Review suggests that music increases attentiveness during simple work tasks, this swag may even boost productivity levels.
- Everest tumbler: From hot pink to vibrant green and aqua, the Everest tumbler range has a color to suit every employee’s personality. The tumbler’s double-wall construction keeps ice teas cool and cappuccinos hot, so each sip is the perfect temperature.
- Umbrella: An extra umbrella is always useful. By using Rebel Sublimated branded umbrellas, your team helps to get your business name onto the city streets.
- Carhartt jacket: Carhartt is a leader in durable apparel, making its jackets an instant favorite with employees. You can select either the ladies’ fit or the men’s design and have your company logo embroidered on the chest.
- Yoga mat: Yoga helps alleviate stress, neck tension and lower back pain — all conditions that employees experience from time to time. A branded yoga mat prompts employees to try out yoga and experience all these wellness benefits.
Top 5 Ideas That Clients Would Love to Receive
While clients always enjoy receiving a freebie, the quality of your gift matters. Approximately 72% of consumers judge a company’s reputation based on the value of its corporate swag, so it’s worth choosing gifts from leading brands. Here are some of our favorites:
- Puma golf cap: Many important business decisions happen on the golf course — gifting your clients a Puma adjustable golf cap helps to celebrate these wins. Your logo will take center stage on the front of the cap, ensuring maximum brand exposure.
- Verona wood wine opener: Say “cheers” to closing your latest business deal with a distinctive Verona wood wine opener. Its unique wooden handle gives it a premium finish, allowing you to showcase your company name or logo with style.
- Carbonite Executive Pen: When it comes to quality promotional pens, you don’t get more premium than the sleek Carbonite Executive Pen. This pen guarantees smooth writing and comes in a magnetic close gift box.
- Calendars and planners: Time is a precious commodity for your customers — help them optimize each day with a branded calendar or planner. Each time they pencil in a meeting or write down a birthday, they’ll catch sight of your logo, keeping your brand top of mind.
- Carhartt dog chore coat: The only thing needed to complete this gorgeous Carhartt dog chore coat is your logo. Gifting these to your clients will help you assemble a team of the cutest brand ambassadors yet.
Customize Quality Corporate Swag With Inkwell Global Marketing
From curating custom employee SwagPacks™ to distributing client gifts around the world, Inkwell Global Marketing is your partner in corporate swag. Take inspiration from our list or explore our website and start enjoying the many benefits swag offers your business.
We keep precise control over the design, production and distribution of our custom-branded products, and storing your items in our warehouse facilities can lead to cost savings, better efficiency and enhanced customer satisfaction.
For more information about our products and how you can customize them to reflect your brand, call our knowledgeable team today at 732-617-3500. We’re here to help you leverage corporate swag to boost brand awareness, customer loyalty and team morale!
