Marketing gifts are a great way to forge a connection with your audience, far beyond what can be accomplished with banner ads or emails. With any marketer or competitor having the ability to reach out (even daily) to your customers and prospects, it’s never been more important to go above and beyond to make an impression with meaningful gifts such as:

• Thank you gifts for attending an event.
• eGifts for downloading a piece of content.
• Marketing swag as gifts throughout the buyer journey
• Referral gifts for customers who share your product or service with friends.

The success of direct mail in this effort is clear, which is why 93% of marketers have at least considered using direct mail to reach out to their target customers or accounts. The results can be seen in better connection, response, and conversion from your recipients.

When sending marketing gifts, it also helps to pay attention to the industry or company type(s) you’ll be addressing with your send. For instance, personalizing by industry with some useful, nicely branded and unexpected goods can reap rewards (read: not a notebook or a koozie). You can also tailor your sends depending on whether your target is an SMB or an enterprise client, whether they are B2B or B2C, or even in a specialized field such as real estate or healthcare. Personalizing in this way can ramp up your response and your revenues over the long haul.

For sending ideas tailored to each of the industries and specialties listed above, check out more information by following this link.

Using gifts to improve the results of your sales prospecting can be extremely impactful. In fact, Hubspot reports that 72% of companies with less than 50 new opps per month didn’t achieve their revenue goals, compared to 15% with 51 to 100 new opps and just 4% for companies with 101 to 200 new opps. This type of touchpoint, when used correctly and effectively, can push both your inbound and outbound sales prospecting by presenting prospects an alternative to the overwhelm of emails and calls. (Even a simple handwritten note can be used to make a great impression). The effect of gifting is tied up in strong psychological motivators like the Endowment Effect, that can influence decisions toward reciprocity (business) that exceeds the value of the actual item given.

A sales prospecting gift worked into the customer journey can improve outcomes even when giving a token gift such as a gift card for, say, coffee or a free lunch. They solidify the connection begun when the prospect sought you out.

Some great ideas for these types of gifts include:

• A small, personalized item to make a connection or thank a new lead for their time.
• A coffee eGift card as a nice touch to accompany a call or a meeting.
• A swag item to strengthen the bond before or after a demo.
• A welcome package with a branded gift once a buyer closes a first sale.
• A renewal gift to thank a repeat customer for their continued patronage.

Personalization plays an important role in how the customer or prospect receives your gift. Personalizing based on their company, industry, role, region, or personal/professional interests can show that you’ve invested the time in getting to know them and showing their patronage has value beyond the bottom line.

If you’re interested in learning how to personalize your gifts, and get some great ideas for your next send, check out more information and tips here.