Look under your chairs! You get a gift, you get a gift! Everybody gets a gift! While we’re not all able to gift big like Ms Winfrey did, we go back to the age old saying “It’s the thought that counts’. And with branded corporate gifts this couldn’t be more relevant. Everybody loves receiving gifts. They make us feel special, and happy. In most cases, giving or receiving gifts (or free content) has been associated with creating long-term bonds between the giver and the recipient.

Gifting is a strategy

Branded corporate gifts are a great way to establish branding strategies and build awareness. More and more businesses are opting for brand-embossed gifts for their employees and clients. Along with showing your appreciation to those who help your business thrive, a branded gift also works as an effective market strategy. It’s quite literally a win-win sitch.

In most corporate cultures, giving gifts is important, whether you want to acknowledge a loyal customer, appreciate a hard-working employee, enhance the relationship between you and your client, or reach out to a prospect.

We all like being reminded that someone always cares. While sending your clients branded corporate gifts seems like a great idea from a moral standpoint, it also has lots of other benefits.

· Your clients are more likely to pay attention to you when they receive gifts.

· Gifts also help in conveying your helpfulness and goodwill to your current and prospective clients. This shows your business in a positive light, and improves your image.

· Brand awareness – Add your brand’s logo or contact information. This helps spread awareness about your business. For example, sending office stationery with your logo printed to your clients indirectly makes your business a part of their workplace environment, thus also positively boosting their opinion of you, as well as the sales.

· Customers and clients love getting gifts, who doesn’t? They are often more likely to give you repeat or continuous business if you make the effort to send a thoughtful gift. It also helps to reinforce the partnership or link between your business stakeholders, while also increasing loyalty to your business. This is part of building your brand.

Some of our favourite branded corporate gift ideas are:

• water bottles,
• wine with a branded/personalised message, stationary,
• tote bags,
• blue tooth speakers,
• and luxury food hampers.

A few things to remember before choosing your branded corporate gift:

· Consider your audience – To make a good impression on your clients, it is better to understand what kind of a gift will be able to help create a positive image of your business. While office stationery is the most obvious (and popular) make sure that your client can resonate with the gift you choose.

· Timing is important – If you plan on sending out festive or holiday-themed gifts to your clients, it is important to plan a few months ahead so that you have enough time to order them, get them packed and attach personalised notes.

· Consider cultural differences – Different cultures and countries have their respective rules regarding client gifting. It is important to research the various gifting and holiday traditions of your clients. Be sensitive towards each other’s cultures – this ensures a strong bond between your client and you.

· Personalise the gifts – Adding a hand-written note along with every gift shows your clients that you care about them. Besides, printed cards are impersonal and do not convey goodwill as well as hand-written notes do. Adding a sentence or two about your client in the notes you send them also helps create a positive image of your business.

Appreciation nation

There are a lot of aspects to branded corporate gifting that vary from one business to another. Take note of what your clients and customers may like or dislike, before elaborately planning out a client-gifting campaign. No matter what the gift is, the main message that needs to be conveyed to your clients and business prospects is that you appreciate their presence and partnership. Go forth and gift!