Mailing Swag To Attendees For Virtual Events!
Jun 06, 2022
Mailing swag to your attendees as part of a virtual event is a great complement to the digital atmosphere you're creating! It puts products that attendees can touch and feel directly into their hands from sponsors, speakers, and of course- their event host!
I've planned one virtual conference that used a physical swag bag and it went really well!
Not only did the event attendees love the gear we placed inside the goodie bag, but the sponsors enjoyed being able to put a physical product with their branding into the hands of their target customers, just as they would have done at an in-person conference.
In this post, I want to share a little about the process of mailing physical swag for virtual summits and digital events and some options you have for filling those bags with special goodies.
Mailing Swag To Attendees For Virtual Events!
So for this event, we knew from the beginning we would be sending a physical swag bag. We had two options for pulling this together:
- Design a swag bag filled with goodies we would brand for the event. In this option, our logo would be on all the products.
- Curate a swag bag for the event that offered a variety of brand visibility. In this option, our logo would only be placed on the items from us, and sponsors would be able to place their logos on the items they picked out to offer to attendees.
We knew the box would be an additional expense, but if we went with option #2 we could offset most of the cost by recruiting sponsors who wanted to include their branded products. We knew it would take some extra leg work to pull it all together, but also felt it would be an amazing opportunity to say thank you for attending.
We Decided To Go With Option #2.
The swag bag was made a perk in our marketing and positioned as such to potential attendees as well as an additional opportunity for potential sponsors.
We didn't know exactly what would end up being in each box, but we knew we would be including a notebook, vinyl sticker, and thank you card directly from us. Everything else would be coming from sponsors. So we marketed the swag bag with general wording and imagery and didn't promise what we couldn't deliver.
In hindsight- it would have been nice to know a few of the items and have a nice graphic that we could have put on the sales page. But... you live and you learn!
What To Include In Your Swag Bags
There are a variety of companies online that can help you pull together a swag bag for your event, that doesn't require you to go through all the trouble of asking sponsors to ship their goodies to you, create each of the swag bags and then ship them to each attendee. Each company has different products they can offer, but there are some basic items that I believe make a great swag bag...
Swag Bag Inclusion Ideas
- Thank you card
- Vinyl stickers
- Notebooks
- Pens
- Tshirt
- Hats
- Highlighters
- Water bottle
- Coffee cups
- Thermos
- Tote bag
- lunchbox
- Sling bag
- Backpack
- Charger
- Battery Pack
- Earbuds
- Selfie sticks
- Keychains
- Lanyards
- Gift cards
- Snacks
- Mints
- Hand Lotion
- Stress ball
Whatever you decide to add to your swag bag, make sure you think about what you're attendees would actually want and or use. Practical items are great and creative items stand out. A mix of both will make for a great swag bag that your attendees love and utilize!
