Gifting is a great way to show your client’s and employees’ appreciation. However, gifts are so much more than that; they are relationship-building tools that you can use to grow your business.
And we all know intrinsically that building business relationships is a good thing. However, the trick is to do this strategically to produce a return on investment.
So what are corporate gifts, which are the best ones, and how can you optimize your corporate gifting program for the most impact?
What are corporate gifts, and which are the best ones?
A corporate gift is any gift given by your company to your staff, clients, or prospects. They must always observe professional etiquette, which differs based on the relationship between the giver and the recipient. In many companies worldwide, the corporate gifting culture is well established, and gift-giving is integral to maintaining good business relationships.
Corporate gift items such as gadgets, gift cards, mugs can be manufactured in all shapes, colors, and sizes. However, if you want to stand out at meetings and events, you need to think outside of the box.
Corporate gift basket ideas provide you with creative and unique possibilities to impress your employees or clients. Moreover, from food and gourmet snacks gift baskets to swag or wellness packs, these curated corporate gifts are the perfect way to create an immediate emotional connection and show appreciation.
Things to consider when optimizing your corporate gift program
The connection between gifting and business growth
Business relationships contribute to your company’s growth by assembling people who believe in your product and are ready to wholeheartedly and actively promote it to others. These people, also known as brand evangelists, are not only satisfied with your product or service but have an emotional connection to your business. They are convinced of your value as a business. They will champion your value to others by helping you expand brand awareness at a low cost.
How is this related to corporate gifting?
Gifting is one of the many intelligent strategies to help you create brand evangelists in the first place. A perfectly chosen and timely delivered gift with a beautiful message demonstrates how much you value the recipient. In addition, as we already mentioned, the gifting process creates an emotional connection between you and your recipient, which helps nurture the relationship. As a result, your business gets increased referrals.
What is the right occasion for gifting?
Corporate gifts are great for any time of year. Most businesses opt for corporate gifting during the holidays (Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving, Valentine’s Day, International Women’s Day, etc.), awards ceremonies, retirement recognition, and more. However, it is essential to emphasize that the most effective gift programs capitalize on unexpected timing to impact their recipients significantly.
For example, you can surprise your clients and send gifts to celebrate a company milestone. That is also a great idea if you want to celebrate partner successes. Or send gifts to your partners and employees upon completion of a project. Also, a great occasion to send corporate gifts is when welcoming new employees or celebrating employee anniversaries. And yet another effective and intelligent way is to use corporate gifting in conjunction with a PR or social media campaign.
What should your corporate gift be based on?
- Tastes and Preferences. To select the most appropriate gift, you must know your client’s personality and likes and dislikes. For example, if your client is an animal lover and has a dog, giving them a branded frisbee dog toy or travel bowl will hit their soft spot. As a result, this meaningful act of providing an appropriate individual corporate gift will most likely result in a quality reciprocal response from your client.
- Personalize. Whenever possible, opt for personalizing your corporate gifts to give them the quality of sincerity. For example, engraving your employee or client’s names on a fountain pen or water bottle makes the gift so much more personal and unique to the recipient.
- Budget. Another critical aspect to keep in mind is to allocate a specific budget for corporate gifting and always stay within it. In addition, avoid giving overly lavish gifts as extravagant gifts may sometimes be perceived as a bribe.
- The level of relationship. When looking for the perfect corporate gift, remember that the type and how you give it to your employee or client will depend on the business relationship you have established with them.
Conclusion
Corporate gifts are designed to promote your brand and establish a strong relationship with your employees, clients, and prospects. However, before making a purchase, ensure that you have a clear vision regarding the purpose of corporate gifting. Most importantly, remember that corporate gifting can result in business growth if planned appropriately.
