Christmas has come and gone but corporate gifting is a year-round necessity for businesses. People love receiving gifts! Giving gifts is a proven method to develop, maintain and strengthen business relationships. Over the years, our corporate clients have given us feedback on how sending corporate gifts have helped to boost their business. Based on that feedback, here are 5 ways giving corporate gifts can help you optimize your client, employee and affiliate relationships:
- BOOST YOUR PRESENCE: Do not ONLY send Christmas Gifts
A majority of businesses send corporate gifts around the Christmas holiday to clients, employees and other affiliates. It is important to send gifts around this time of year because you don’t want to be the company that didn’t send a gift; however, do not lose sight of the fact that your gift is somewhat diluted because everyone is sending gifts at around the same time. Sending corporate gifts at other times of the year gives your business the chance to stand out and be the focus of attention. Give gifts for life events such as birthdays, births, work anniversaries, and other business or personal achievements. This says you are paying personal attention to the person or entity you are sending the gift to and will increase loyalty to your business. Don’t send just any gift though, always keep in mind that the gift you send will be a reflection of your business and the recipient will associate the quality of your gift with the quality of your company, so be sure that the gift you are sending is of top-quality.
2. BOOST BRAND AWARENESS : Integrate Branding into Your Gifts
Customers and clients who receive corporate gifts are more likely to spend more on products and services from the company that gifted to them, especially when you can build brand awareness around the gift. Gift possibilities are numerous and sorting through the options can be tedious at best. However, one of the best category of business gifts that are universally appreciated include gifts that are readily consumable, like gourmet food items that can be enjoyed right away and by more than just the recipient. Food gifts are likely to be shared and the more people they are shared with, the more people will see your brand and remember it. Branded items such as pens, mugs, bags, and other items are also great gifts; but those types of items are best as an accompaniment. Studies have shown that 63% of consumers give away branded products when not needed, so give a gift they will actually use/consume. Find a company that will allow you to add your branded items to the gift at little or no extra cost and be sure to include all of your relevant contact information on that item.
3. BOOST RETURNS: Save Money on Marketing Costs
Advertisements on TV, social media posts, and billboards are looked at for a few seconds then attention is diverted elsewhere. Branded gifts, on the other hand, help people remember and recognize your business. According to a PPAI study, 76.1% of participants could recall the name of the product on a branded item they received in the past 12 months but only 53.5% could recall the name of an advertiser they had seen in a magazine or newspaper in the previous week. Let that sink in. Gifts cost a lot less than paying advertising costs while gaining the recipient’s full attention for a much longer period of time. Plus, if they take the gift home and share it, others will also be exposed to your branding and that is essentially free marketing to more people who are more likely to remember YOUR brand because they had a personal experience associated with it.
4. BOOST CUSTOMER LOYALTY: In Turn, Boost Leads & Referrals
Finding new customers and leads is typically both the most difficult and greatest expense to companies. When it comes to your business, you need to appreciate and keep your existing customers happy. A recent research study showed that increasing customer retention rates by just 5% results in increases in profits by 25% to 95%! People get their brand recommendations from friends, family members and acquaintances; therefore, existing customers are vital to unpaid advertising. With new products showing up everywhere across social media platforms, customer referrals become pivotal when it comes to generating referrals and new customer leads. You always want to continue strengthening your relationships with your best customers and there is no better way to do so than give them a gift to let them know you are as loyal to them as they are to you.
5. BOOST EMPLOYEE RETENTION AND MOTIVATION
Nobody (or at least very few) want to go to work, but while your employees are at your office, you want them to do the best job possible. Turnover is extremely costly and time consuming, especially when it comes to your managers and other key players. Increasing motivation and personal satisfaction in employees can decrease turnover and keep your top talent around for the long-haul. If employees are engaged and feel appreciated, they are less likely to look for other opportunities. Give individualized gifts for accomplishments and life events or find a way to provide a gift to a group of employees. Having something delivered to the office for groups of employees every so often can go a long way to breaking the monotony of their typical day at work and increase job satisfaction and overall office morale, resulting in higher retention.
How Our Complimentary Corporate Concierge Can Help
- Corporate Discounts on many of our gifts
- Our program gives the flexibility to choose dates in the future to send gifts, even if there are multiple gifts to different people that you want sent on different dates and to different locations. We make birthday programs extremely easy!
- We can make your branded ribbon and/or cards in-house at a reduced rate.
- You can send us cards, business cards or, other informative/educational inserts to have added to your gifts at no extra cost*
- You can send us your specially branded items to have added to you gifts at no extra cost* Examples: Branded pens, bottle openers, calendars, DVDs, chocolate bars, pear slicers, information wheels, etc.
- Select a gift, send us the names, addresses and dates you want them sent and we do the rest.
- We can provide tracking numbers to you for all gifts that you have sent out
- We can assist with Corporate Wellness Programs by utilizing our HarvestClub services
- Ability to customize which of our products go into your gift to fit your needs*
Contact our Corporate Team today for more information
at 1.800.387.0096 ext. 4524 or corporate@thefruitcompany.com
*Restrictions Apply. Restrictions include, but are not limited to: item(s) must be able to fit into the selected gift and must be in compliance with all federal and state regulations. No alcohol, tobacco, or marijuana-related products can be added.
