Promotional products are a necessity for a memorable function. They can be used to build up publicity for the event, to reinforce the theme of the event, and to help your guests remember the event for years to come!

Perhaps you have a list of to do’s for your event that you have almost completed. You have been planning and organizing for weeks, months, or even all year – but if you haven’t included some promotional product in your list, you have set yourself up to miss a huge opportunity. Don’t you want your event, and more importantly, your company, to be remembered? What better way for your customers to remember your company than with a promotional product gift from an incredible event where they had a wonderful time? A creative, appropriate, and well executed promotional product is the perfect gift item for your event guests. You can even send a small promotional item with the invitation to build excitement prior to your event.

Build Anticipation

The most important factor in hosting an event is making sure that your guests come. What better way to make sure guests are excited about the event than to send them some sort of memorable and useful promotional item with the invitation? For example, the “American’s Bank” might host an open house promoting the opening of a new branch. It works out for them to set the opening for the fourth of July and they use this tie-in to add extra interest to their promotion. They plan to have a small fireworks display, free hot dogs and hamburgers, and movies and games. To build excitement about the event they choose to send out a promotional fireworks magnet with an invitation to all of their perspective customers in the area. Many of these customers use the magnet and thus, remember and attend the event.

The Long-Term Event

Some events, such as vacations rewarded to top salespeople or other work-related, long-term goals require stamina in planning, organizing, and staying excited about the outcome. One fabulous way to keep employees motivated about long-term rewards is through promotional items surrounding the theme of your companies reward. What would help employees stay on task more than a tropical stress ball, reminding them of the goal and reducing the current stress simultaneously? If your company is planning a long-term reward for top employees, it should have a theme. If your top 10 salespeople are going to win a trip to the Bahamas, title your contest, something like “Sprint to the Tropics”. Make a presentation of announcing the contest, or make a formal announcement and put one in every employee’s box. All of these strategies build up the excitement of the contest and create a sense of anticipation for employees that, if continued by the company, will continue to motivate employees year-round.

Other promotional products that will continue the suspense throughout the year are: desktop accessories, calendars, computer products – all featuring the tropical theme. Posters and signs can also help keep the goal in sight.

Benefit Functions

It is easy for the whole community to get excited about an event being held for a local, good cause. Hosting a fundraiser for a good cause will not make your company money directly, but the positive publicity will bring many customers who now associate your company with the urge in themselves to do what is right.

If you plan to hose and event of this proportion, it is crucial to choose a well organized team of employees who want to put the event together. Their interest will keep them excited about the event and will help the event itself run smoothly. It can also be advantageous to work with the community organizations who also support and or do community volunteer work, as they have much experience hosting these types of events and are also well networked with the many similar organizations and people who would be interested in attending the event. Some such organizations might be the schools, fire department, police department, local government, and local volunteer organizations.

There are also many other companies that would like to take the opportunity of advertising at your nonprofit event, and could do so through donating their products or services to the function. This allows them to post a banner or some other form of publicity at your event and gives your event more support and puts it on a grander scale.