Three of The Best Trade Show Giveaways
Have you been thinking about how to improve your trade show brand awareness game? Then you’re in the right place! Trade shows are an effective way to get in front of new customers and grow your business. So, if you’re going to an industry trade show for the first time, how do you make an excellent and lasting first impression?
In the following guide, we’ve put together a list of the best trade show giveaways for your next trade show event. Let’s get started!
Custom Socks: The Best Choice For Trade Show Giveaways
As a promotional product, custom socks are a memorable, useful, and a durable choice. We’ve got very strong opinions on this point, but hear us out!

Giving out company branded socks is a fantastic trade show giveaway. Everyone wears socks. They are literally helpful to the recipient, creatively versatile, and can be a long-lasting way to promote your brand. We can easily customize the socks with your logo or slogans specific to a product or service campaign or make it generally about your company.
Aside from trade shows, socks can be given away at marathons, triathlons, or races as a goodie bag item or as part of charity fundraising events.
For example, these sock styles are made to fit most people perfectly with a one size fits most design. Their design includes a reinforced heel and toe and are made with soft woven fabrics that feel great on your feet.
Custom Water Bottles

Practical giveaways always work. With an eye-catching design with the right balance of color and style, a custom branded sock will serve you well at your next trade show or other promotional event. Customized Water Bottles
Another fantastic trade show giveaway is a water bottle. It’s an easy to brand and practical option. Everyone loves a good water bottle! They are a common promotional product as they have a high perceived value though relatively inexpensive.
Versatile enough to let people carry them around wherever they go — at school, work, or even on vacation – water bottles are widely used across age groups, all-the-while spreading your brand image wherever a person goes..
Moreover, water bottles are highly customizable. Balancing a logo or large graphic is key to making the bottle useful and attractive to encourage use. Get that right and people will remember where they got them from!
Lip Balm
Lip balm is used every day — no matter where they’re going or what time of year it is. Lip balms work well because they come in different flavors and scents and appeal to a wide range of people.
Moreover, a lip balm is a small item you can easily hand out to your customers while they browse at your booth. It’s an inexpensive giveaway, but it will still make your customers happy!
In addition, it’s something that most people don’t think about until they need it, so the fact that you gave it away will make them remember you when they need it.
The only downside of lip balm is that it can melt in hot weather, but otherwise, it’s a good choice for any event.
When Should You Give Them Out?
There’s nothing like a freebie to get people talking. And when it comes to trade show giveaways, the best way to get people talking is to give out something valuable and memorable.
The most obvious time to give out a trade show giveaway is at the end of your presentation or booth display. This will help reinforce your brand in their minds and remind them about what you do.

The most effective trade show giveaways are relevant to the event itself. Here are some of our best trade show giveaways tips:
- Think about how promotional freebies tie in with your advertising strategy. Compliment the product or service you are promoting that the event.
- Give away free items that your target audience resonates with. Try relating your item to the experience the customer could have with your company.
- Experiment with different promotional items to help your business stand out.
- Use giveaways as a hook to get people interested in revisiting your booth or website later. Make the item work with an offer on your website to capture information or sales or create a redeemable offer only for that event.
- Use items that are both entertaining and convenient to hand out as freebies. Promotional products thats are small will naturally be helpful in terms of cost and transport, but also think about ways they can bring a sense of delight when used.
What To Consider When Choosing A Trade show Giveaway?
There is a lot to keep in mind if you want to make your trade show giveaway effective. Everything matters, from the trade show to your company’s marketing goals, to even the type of product or service you’re tying to it. Let’s look at some of the most important factors when choosing a trade show giveaway.
The Trade Show Itself
The first thing you are likely to consider is the trade show itself. How many people will be attending? How long is it? What kind of products or services will be there? Is it local or national?
All these questions are essential because they help determine which items will work best for your company and its goals.
Your Marketing Goals
Next, ask yourself about the marketing goals for the event. Do your plans involve building brand awareness among potential customers? Or increase sales leads by getting people’s contact information at the show? Maybe both?
Whatever your goal is, make sure that your choice in the tradeshow giveaway aligns with it so that it can help achieve those objectives.
Target Audience
The best trade show giveaways are ones that attendees will use and appreciate. This is why it’s essential to know who you’re targeting with your giveaway, where they’ll be during the event, and how they’ll use the items.
Be Unique
This is more than just having something different from what everyone else is giving away. Any item with your company’s name on it will be noticed, but if it’s something no one else has or a trendy item that isn’t saturated in the market, it will stand out even more. Design plays a role too, and getting that right is important.
Be Useful
A helpful item will be used, meaning more people will see it and remember who gave it to them (and hopefully associate their positive experience with your brand).
It also means they’ll be able to keep using it long after the event ends — making them think about your brand every time they use it!
Let’s Get Started With Sockrates Custom!
We’re a custom sock company so we love custom socks, and we’re sure you do too. Our mission: to help companies produce the best possible sock swag for their clients and employees.
We do our best to provide our customers with exceptional design, customer service, and quality products at a great price. We hope you’ll try us — we’d love to create something special just for you!
Bottom Line
Promoting your business can be very challenging in a competitive market, especially for small and growing companies.
Trade show giveaways are a time-tested way to promote a company’s events, services, and products so make the most out of it!