Maximizing Your Swag Budget

You know how vital swag is to your marketing strategy. Incentivizing new customers, cementing your branding, and boosting your team’s morale are examples of how swag elevates your business. Plus, who doesn’t love free stuff? You may get wrapped up in the world of branded apparel and cute tote bags, but don’t lose sight of your budget in the process. So, how much should you spend on your swag budget? 

A strategic budget doesn’t just keep you from overspending. It serves as a roadmap to understand your audience, pinpoint your brand identity, and reach your marketing goals. Get the best return on your investment by utilizing these strategies for maximizing your swag budget.

What to Include in Your Swag Budget

A few staple items to include in your swag budget are key to your marketing success — internally and externally.

Items to include in your swag budget:

  • Event Swag. When promoting your brand at trade shows, career fairs, or conferences, the goal is for people to remember you. By providing a free swag kit, you’re creating a positive experience surrounding your brand and establishing your brand identity. 
  • Branded Apparel for Your Team. Who better to promote your brand than your team? With high-quality, attractive swag like apparel, water bottles, or tote bags, your employees will be proud to represent your company.
  • Employee Appreciation Gifts. It’s always important to celebrate your team and reward hard work. Don’t let accomplishments go unrecognized. Gifting great swag to team members will incentivize more quality work in the future and make them feel special.
  • Customer Appreciation Gifts. Loyal clients are crucial to your brand’s success. Be sure to set aside a portion of your budget for gifting your repeat customers as a thank you for their business. Your clients will feel appreciated and keep coming back.
  • Prospective Customer Gifts. Incentivizing prospective customers with gifted swag will leave a lasting impression and generate leads. A unique gift to a potential client could be the catalyst for a strong relationship.

Setting Your Swag Budget

It’s important to have a plan when setting your swag budget. Don’t start spending willy-nilly on every cool piece of swag you see. 

Start by determining your marketing objectives and what kind of investment you want to make. You might focus on improving your brand identity, increasing sales leads, or nurturing relationships with existing clients. 

You must also determine which promotional products you plan to use in your swag marketing. Each product will serve a different purpose or audience. Ensure the products you choose align with your marketing objectives.

Every business’s budget is different, but by comparing your budget to companies of a similar size, industry, and market, you can get an idea of how much investing in swag takes. Don’t forget to build a buffer for necessary fees like shipping, warehouse, and fulfillment costs. 

You should also prepare for unexpected costs or special occasion celebrations like milestones for your company. 

If you increase the size of your company, be prepared for a bigger team. Anticipate how many new employees you plan to onboard in the year so you can prepare for new hire gifts. 

Finally, be realistic about how much you can spend and what quantities you can purchase. You can still build an effective swag marketing strategy no matter how small your budget is.

5 Tips for Maximizing Your Swag Budget

Setting a budget can be overwhelming, but by staying organized and planning ahead, you can feel confident that your bases are covered.

5 WAYS TO MAXIMIZE YOUR BUDGET:

  1. Divide It Up. Divide your budget up quarterly or semi-annually. Breaking down your budget into bite-size chunks helps you to better plan what you want to buy. It’s best to allocate the most money to the fourth quarter, so you’ll have extra money for holiday gifts at the end of the year.
  2. Take Advantage of Bulk Discounts. Don’t spread your budget too thin on multiple products. By buying a few products in bulk, you can stretch your budget further and have more versatile products to go around. 
  3. Simplify Designs. Cut down costs where you can by removing the excess. You can save money by limiting your designs to one or two colors, decreasing the size of the design, or printing on one side of a product instead of the front and back.
  4. Partner With a Vendor. Swag vendors can take care of the legwork while you focus on designs. They may also provide discounts on shipping, materials, and labor. Also, swag can take up a lot of space! A swag vendor can provide the warehousing for your swag so it doesn’t take up precious office space (Cubicles are small enough already!).
  5. Plan and Order Ahead. Manufacturing and shipping take time. Don’t get caught in a bind by ordering at the last minute. Planning lets you relax, knowing you’ve invested in intentional products that boost your brand. 

Make a Lasting Impact Whatever Your Budget

An effective swag budget comes down to planning, researching vendors, and knowing your marketing goals. It doesn’t take a huge budget to make an impact. If you plan strategically, you can maximize your swag budget and achieve the best return on investment. 

When choosing your swag vendor, you want a company that can create quality products that will stand out. Lettering Express provides businesses with the products they need to be noticed and remembered. Contact us today to get the swag you need on your budget to take your business to the next level.