Meeting Planning Innovation

Whether it’s on the trade show floor or at industry networking receptions, there’s plenty of swag flying about. After all, everyone needs a clever giveaway to stay memorable with prospects, right?

Not so fast, says Heidi Thorne, a leading expert and speaker on promotional products marketing.  Heidi helps organizations to make smart promotional product choices across many segments. Her new book, SWAG: How to Choose and Use Promotional Products for Marketing Your Business is a must-read for anyone responsible for lead generation at trade shows and events. Heidi also serves as Editor for the Promo With Purpose Today blog.

Here are highlights from my conversation with Heidi Thorne:
 

Tell us more about your own career start. What drew you to this field?

I was working my way through college and first landed a job as a Sales Assistant at the Palmer House Hilton & Towers in Chicago. It was a fast-paced and exciting work environment – definitely a great place to learn the business. I was promoted to Account Executive, where I was responsible for sales at their conference center. Later, after graduating with a bachelor’s degree in business, I joined a trade show management firm, where I sold exhibit space for industrial trade shows nationwide. My role expanded to include advertising and public relations.  Later, I taught college courses and sold print advertising for a number of trade publications. In 1999, I launched Thorne Communications, a marketing agency specializing in promotional products.

And now you’re an author, with your new book, SWAG: How to Choose and Use Promotional Products for Marketing Your Business. What prompted you to write this book?

With 12 years of selling swag, I’ve had ample opportunity to watch how people choose their promotional products. Unfortunately, sometimes these purchases are automatic, with little thought to how these items might align with their marketing objectives, image, and values. In 2008, I codified the buying process into the Promo With Purpose concept. Today, I continue to educate event professionals and marketers on best practices through my blog. The book was one more way to get this important information out to a wider audience.

Trade shows are under more scrutiny these days. How do promotional products help drive better ROI for exhibitors and show organizers?

One of the biggest opportunities is in using swag in pre-event promotions. Offering an incentive, a desirable promotional product, to those who visit your booth is a proven traffic booster. But here’s the important thing: By limiting the incentive to those who respond to the pre-event promotion, it helps you focus more on pre-qualified prospects attending the show.  Many of my clients are able to save money, which in turn, frees up more funds to purchase higher quality items. 

What changes are you seeing in promotional product choices today?

It’s interesting, but a recent promotional products industry survey showed that the top selling products are low tech. We’re all still human beings and creature comfort items, like T-shirts and mugs, still rule.

That said, there’s been a substantial increase in the purchase of computer-related products, which is kind of ironic. I suspect many people are still automatically purchasing things like USB drives, but with today’s smartphone technology, those items have less appeal. Today, people can text, connect, and share information that was previously going on that USB drive.  Computer-related products have a shorter shelf life, so a word to the wise: Think before you USB!

Green promotions are still lagging a bit, due to higher costs and fewer options. At the recent Advertising Specialty Institute Show in Chicago, I was pleased to see a greater emphasis on “Made in the USA” promotional products. I believe we’ll see more of that in the future.

Best practices often encompass DOING and NOT DOING. What would you like to see us stop doing in our use of promotional products at events?

The one thing event organizers need to STOP doing is buying promotional products on auto-pilot.  For example: Offering attendees a bag or lanyard is no longer a given for all events. With more emphasis on greening our events, think about reusing past items or going with alternatives. For conferences, most attendees are already bringing briefcases, backpacks, or some kind of bag. They usually don’t need a tote bag, too. Some attendees might be willing to bring last year’s lanyard. You might also offer these items at a cost, on site, if they forget.

How might promotional products work within the context of a larger social media strategy?

Many show organizers are integrating social media with promotional products by imprinting QR codes or text “opt-in” codes to capture more buyer information. Earlier this year, we launched PWPMobile.com to provide mobile text marketing services that can be used alone or in conjunction with other products.   We’re also seeing more event professionals imprint Twitter handles or Facebook pages on promotional products. Twitter and Facebook also loop back to the pre-event marketing strategies we discussed earlier. It’s a great place for a “Stop by our booth and get this great promo product” message.