While the world has decidedly moved on to digitalising almost everything, there are some things in life and business that still make better sense and conjure more powerful connections with a physical touch.

Corporate gifting is one such thing.

Isn’t it just a simple act of giving your clients a pen or a notebook, maybe even a thumbdrive nicely emblazoned with your company logo?

Nothing can be further from the truth. Giving a corporate gift is an art and since you’re investing good money on it, why not do it properly and meaningfully so that you get the most mileage out of it?

In this article, let’s take a look at how to make the most out of your corporate gifting and elevate it to an art form.

What is a corporate gift?
Let’s first start with getting the definition of what a corporate gift is, right.

A corporate gift is a physical item that businesses give to their customers - old and new - for the sole purpose of getting the recipients to remember them.

A corporate gift should never be mistaken as a present; the former serves a very specific commercial and brand building objective while the latter can be given for no reason.

Many businesses fail to differentiate between the 2 types of gifting and as such, waste a fair amount of money every year without getting back the desired returns in brand recall and sales.

Why are corporate gifts important for my business?
If you want to show your clients that you appreciate them, in a genuine and thoughtful way, corporate gifts are one of the best ways to go about doing it.

Nobody rejects a well-intended gift

A corporate gift is also one of the most effective ways to enhance your brand’s message and key value proposition.

As such, when conceived and executed properly, corporate gifts provide an excellent return on investment (ROI) by increasing brand recall and strengthening relationships that lead to more and sustained business.

Corporate gifts are basically effective ways of marketing. So gift-giving really helps you to improve your business if your marketing strategy is phenomenal. You must have a clear image of your company values, your brand’s message, and what type of image you want to present.

If you build your marketing strategy wisely, it will really help you to raise your business. Don’t forget that corporate gifts are the most important part of your marketing strategy.

As a general rule, the way to think about corporate gifts is best expressed with this old saying – “People will forget what you said, they will forget what you did, but they will never forget how you made them feel.”

Does corporate gifts really work?
Studies have found that close to 33% of corporate gift recipients showed interest in doing business with the gifter subsequently.

When people feel good because of what you have done to make them feel that way, the chances of them liking you and wanting to do business with you is bound to increase.

Beyond the feel good factor, if your corporate gift is a utility item and is something that the recipients will get to use and/or come in contact with every day, they are definitely going to have your brand and the top of their minds. The brand recall impact is almost infinite.

What makes an awesome corporate gift?
Because corporate gifts are so effective at cutting across the noise and putting your brand right in front of your recipients, it can backfire spectacularly and do irreversible damage to your brand and the qualities associated with it, if the gift in question and the idea behind it are conceived and executed poorly.

So it is essential that you make careful considerations of what makes a suitable corporate gift.

There are a few criteria that you may want to take note of when choosing a gift, such that you always come up on top and win your clients over.

It’s not about you
A good corporate gift should first and foremost be of use and value to the recipients. Giving away the traditional pen or wall calendar is just a poorly veiled hope of other people seeing your brand when your recipients use your gift.

The truth of the matter is, every smartphone has a calendar app so nobody really needs a papered wall version anymore, and there’s probably way too many pens lying around in the office for yours to be taken notice of.

Don’t fall in the trap of convenient (and lazy) thinking when it comes to corporate gifting.

The gift should be relevant and useful to the person receiving it. It will show that serious thought has been put into conceiving and producing this gift and that you value the recipients enough to go through such thought processes.

Do this right, and the gift recipients will think of you and your company every time they use or enjoy the gift.

Play the long game
The best gifts come with no strings attached. Resist the urge to plan a sales call right after sending one. You don’t want your client to feel that they are getting something from you only because you're trying to shop for their business.

Instead, make corporate gifts a part of your broader client engagement strategy and focus on building up goodwill in the long run.

There is such a thing as too much
You probably think that giving something lavish to your client tells them you value their business.

However, your clients may instead wonder how much margin you are building into your selling price to them that allows you to afford such generosity.

As cliche as it sounds, sometimes it really is the thought that counts. You don’t want to be seen as a cheapskate of course, but you should not go overboard either.

When coming up with a good gift, exercise more of your creativity and imagination rather than the mere strength of your wallet.

Aligned with your brand’s message
The corporate gift should be an item that complements - or even elevates - your brand position and message.

Whenever your gift recipients see the gift, it should remind them of your brand and what it represents.

This feels like common sense but you’ll be surprised at how many amateurish mistakes were made everyday in the business world when clients receive gifts.

One bad example that we’ve come across involved a recycling company that advocates environmental friendliness distributing its annual calendar in highly un-environmental friendly plastic wrapping.

One size doesn’t always fit all
Most of the time, it is perfectly alright to give all of your clients the same gift.

But, as different clients weigh differently in terms of their importance to your business, it is probably worthwhile to segment them into groups and consider their gifts separately.

You may want to identify who your highly valued clients are, and allocate a different budget for their gifts.

This is after all business, and you should always know where you should be spending your marketing dollars to get the most bang out of your buck.

For the remaining pool of general clients, a common gift may suffice just for the sake of maintaining some brand visibility. Good gift options in this range include items such as lanyards, notebooks or even thumb drives.