How to Assemble the Perfect Conference Goodie Bag

Prioritise Value

Consider every item in your goodie bag carefully. A perfect party favour is something that’s useful immediately, enhances guest morale, and remains helpful once they’ve left your event.

Think less about where your brand logo design will be printed and more about what the gift says about your mission. If you give away lazy, disposable materials to your guests, they will quickly end up in a landfill (or in the ocean), and you will look cheap and shortsighted in your attempt to impress guests. A boring goodie bag—like a boring event—can easily become a forgotten waste of resources.

Provide Snacks

If you’re going to give free products to your guests, you should provide fuel for focus. If attendees have to wonder when they’re going to eat next, they will be less engaged with the information and networking opportunities your event has to offer.

Your guests will be more energetic throughout the day (and less likely to fight one another for happy hour hors d’oeuvres) if you provide plenty of snacks in their swag bag. Prioritise foods with minimally processed, healthy ingredients—but ensure that they also taste good,perhaps some healthy chips and delicious dips. For the sake of mass appeal, try to choose foods that don't clash with common food allergies such as peanuts, gluten, and dairy.This thoughtful selection will not only keep your attendees' energy up but also ensure everyone can indulge without worry.

Source Locally

Offering local swag adds unique character to your event’s goodie bag and supports the surrounding community. Include gifts and sponsors from suppliers close to the location of your event—even if you already have Fortune 500 organisations on your sponsorship team.

This thoughtful touch will deliver extra personalisation to your goodie bag and require fewer carbon emissions for preparation, packaging, and delivery.

Make Memories

Where your logo appears is less important than how your choice of swag caters specifically to event attendees. Knowing what type of person comprises your guest list will give you insights into the most enticing and memorable kind of goodies. Do they value more a custom printed packaging on the products? or maybe a limited edition special item.

Choose a theme to make your swag bags more memorable:

– Fun-filled: The perfect bag to liven up the dull moments waiting between speakers or activities. You could include a custom board game related to the event, stress balls, crossword puzzles, a disposable camera, or a whoopie cushion.

– Self-care: The perfect bag to help your attendees relax during or after the event. This could include a candle with a unique packaging, lavender-scented hand lotion, mints, a facemask, or chocolate.

– Outdoorsy: The perfect bag for attendees who like camping or hiking. Your bag could include a hat, dried backpacking meals, a compass, lightweight rope or carabiners, a waterproof notepad, or a backpack.

– Work Essentials: The perfect bag for office workers who would enjoy nothing more than a good notebook, a new planner, and high-quality pens.

– Tech Enthusiast: The perfect bag for those who are attached to their screen. This could include a branded USB drive, phone wallet, laptop case, or selfie stick.

Encourage Engagement

Include at least one call-to-action inside your goodie bag for post-event engagement. If you reward guests for activating or registering some part of their swag bag, you gain an additional opportunity to collect data from your target audience.The call to action will make your attendees more engaged with your event. Any reliable packaging box manufacturer can do it for you in a hassle-free manner.

Making QR codes and placing them on branded materials can direct attendees to take an incentivised, post-event survey where they’re entered to win a gift card or generous sponsor discount. Use a hashtag as part of your goodie bag design to encourage guests to share their experiences on social media. Additionally, consider including exclusive coupon codes in the goodie bags, giving attendees an extra incentive to engage with your brand. These voucher codes can drive post-event sales and extend the event's positive impact on your business.

Event hashtags are helpful when compiling the media surrounding an event. Host a simple social media contest with additional prizes for your guests. Encourage a funny photo or caption contest along with the chosen hashtag.

Digitise Goodies

Depending on your location, many events will be forced to go virtual this year. If you’re hosting a virtual event, you can still offer attendees something in the way of swag bags.

Collect mailing addresses while registering attendees; then, gather and mail goodies to each guest in advance of your event. A virtual goodie bag can also be presented on a special landing page from which attendees can conveniently download their swag.

Digital goodie bags could consist of free trials of premium software, gift cards, food delivery, prize drawing, coupon codes, and other perks that can be enjoyed remotely.

The perfect goodie bag doesn’t have to be expensive to be memorable—but including high-quality products will surprise and delight your audience.

Featured image: Goodie Bag via unsplash

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