The Pros and Cons of Exhibition Giveaways

A popular strategy among exhibitors wanting to boost return on investment and increase foot traffic on the exhibition stand is providing freebies! The items range from branded promotional items, trinkets, stationery, product samples and even food and drink.

While the tactic has the potential to be highly effective, it’s important to weigh up the pros and cons before deciding whether to incorporate giveaways into your exhibition strategy.

Exhibition stand giveaways can be a powerful tool for attracting visitors to your stand. They provide the “bait” that can lure visitors onto your stand, giving staff the opportunity to initiate conversations!

Exhibition giveaways featuring your company logo or branding can serve as walking advertisements that go home with your stand visitors.

When visitors use, wear, see or even eat these items, they are once again exposed to your brand, which helps to increase your brand awareness even after the event is over.

Your stand staff can use freebies as a means to collect contact details and turn your stand visitors into leads.

Trading freebies for contact details can be mutually beneficial. The visitor is reminded of your brand when they see the item post-show, and you come away from the shows with a broader range of leads.

Offering high-quality, useful giveaways at your exhibition can leave a positive and lasting impression on your visitors, making them more inclined to remember your brand and consider you in the future.

Visitors will subconsciously relate the quality of these items to the quality of your business, so providing high-quality exhibition giveaways is a great way to present yourself as a high-quality business.

Unique, exciting giveaway items can generate significant buzz amongst exhibition visitors, drawing more people to your stand and creating a memorable experience that has your brand name all over it.

There’s no denying that exhibition giveaways, whether branded or unbranded, can be expensive.

For branded items, costs can include designing, manufacturing and shipping, as well as eventually transporting them to the venue. If you intend to offer food or drink on your stand, some venues have licenses covered by external catering companies and may charge you corkage or concession fees.

If not managed carefully, the expense of providing exhibition giveaways can end up outweighing the benefits that they offer.

While giveaway items can help your staff collect contact details, not everyone who visits your stand for a free stress ball will be genuinely interested in your products or services.

With this in mind, you may end up with a long list of unqualified leads that are extremely unlikely to develop into paying customers.

Sometimes, the “junk” traffic garnered by freebies can also swamp the stand, which adversely, deters genuine prospective customers!

Exhibition giveaways can sometimes lead to clutter on your stand or, in some cases, even litter on the surrounding floor, which can negatively impact the stand’s aesthetic. However, this can be easily avoided by planning the setup and making staff aware so they can keep an eye out.

Many exhibitors will be offering giveaway items at your event, so what you offer will need to be unique to stand out.

This over-abundance can make it difficult to attract visitors solely based on stand giveaways, and expensive to offer the most attention-grabbing items.

Invest in high-quality, useful freebies that resonate with your target audience. A single, memorable item can be more effective than a large collection of generic ones.

Make sure that the items you give away align with, and complement, your brand, stand visuals and business offering, as well as the exhibition’s overall theme.

For example, at The Land, Leisure & Tourism Show, one of our clients Evelyn Ecology offered Hazel Tree Saplings. For a company that focuses on increasing biodiversity in habitats, that was an excellent giveaway, suiting their overall theme.

Likewise, Gemporia Craft recently offered a chance to take part in their crafty tombola! This was great as the prizes were relevant to the crafty brand, and leads were encouraged to return to the exhibition stand for the prize draw!

When collecting visitors’ contact details, be upfront with them about how their details will be used and ensure that you remain compliant with all data protection regulations.

Choose your exhibition giveaways wisely. Make them unique, attention-grabbing and engaging to distinguish your stand from the plethora of others giving away freebies.

Everyone loves a quirky sustainable freebie. Try to offer eco-friendly giveaways that effectively demonstrate your commitment to the environment.

Exhibition giveaways can be a powerful tool for attracting visitors to your stand, creating buzz, building brand awareness, collecting leads and leaving a lasting impression on your stand visitors.

When used properly, exhibition giveaways can offer a valuable addition to your exhibiting efforts but, to make the most of this tactic, it is essential that you carefully consider the costs and potential drawbacks, as well as how they fit into your overall exhibition strategy.

For more information on Quadrant2Design, please take a look at our credentials.