[caption id="attachment_1848" align="alignnone" width="756"] Image source: Trewmarketing.com[/caption] Trade shows are a pretty big deal in the world of big business. They're the perfect venue for drumming up support about a new product -- you can attract dozens of reporters who will happily write up articles about your latest ideas, and on top of that everyday consumers will gather in droves to marvel at your products. So, needless to say, you definitely want to put your best foot forward. Custom clothing can bring your trade show presence to the next level. Here are four reasons why you should pull out all the stops and bring customized clothing to your trade show. 1. Freebies! Everybody loves a freebie. Trade shows run rampant with giveaways, discounts, coupons, contests, raffles, and pretty much every other kind of promotional deal you can possibly imagine. When people go to trade shows, they actively seek out freebies that will make up for the price of admission. If your competitors' booths have freebies and yours doesn't, then you can bet your bottom dollar that your rivals across the aisle will attract more viewers. [caption id="attachment_1849" align="alignnone" width="1000"] Image source: Theharkerherald.blogspot.com[/caption] 2. Hats Are a Cut Above Have you ever been to a trade show before? Navigating those narrow aisles makes you feel like you're merging into interstate traffic. There are people everywhere and it takes forever to get from point A to point B. It's practically impossible to see anything except a sea of heads bobbing along in front of the massive booth signs. Hats are a great way to turn the crowd into a marketing opportunity. Normally, I'd say that the best promotional item is a t-shirt, but hats are the only article of clothing that will stick out in such a huge crowd. [caption id="attachment_1850" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Image source: Latimesblogs.latimes.com[/caption] Imagine, for example, that you've got your booth set up with bright yellow colors and you hand out equally bright yellow hats. Anybody who looks across the crowd will see a peppering of yellow hats that inevitably draw their gazes toward your booth. 3. Create Subconscious Hype It's important to color-coordinate your booth, especially if you're going to hand out promotional items. If your company has a dominant purple logo, then you need to be sure to use purple tablecloth, hang purple signs, give away purple pens, give people free purple hats, etc. Over the course of the show, all of that purple will gradually make an impression on people, leaving them to wonder, "What's the deal with all of this purple? I should go check it out." [caption id="attachment_1851" align="alignnone" width="3000"] Image source: Yourstoryalive.com[/caption] It's a bit silly, but true -- if a bunch of people are getting involved in something, then everybody else is naturally curious about whatever it is they're doing. It's just human nature! 4. Know Your Audience Everybody at a trade show expects to find free pen. Are free pens useful? Yes, but they're not so useful that people will go out of their way to get their hands on them. You need to make your freebies invaluable by appealing to your audience. Is the trade show set in winter? Hand out embroidered winter beanies and earflaps. Is the show in the middle of summer? Give away embroidered head bands. One clever strategy is to give away tote bags. People will come to your booth specifically for your tote bags, just because they'll be carrying around a bunch of random junk and they'll want some way to carry it all. [caption id="attachment_1852" align="alignnone" width="1600"] Image source: The4rsramblings.blogspot.com[/caption] Is all of this effort worth it? Absolutely. Press, bloggers, and consumers will take what they learn from the trade show and share that information with their friends and colleagues. When a blogger gets back home and is wondering what to write about, you want to make sure that his gaze lands on hat, t-shirt, or tote bag with your company logo on it. Spending money on promotional custom clothing could easily be the cheapest and most effective marketing strategy you've ever tried.
Create your Company Store for Employee ordering
Create your Company Store for Employee ordering