CUSTOM DRINKWARE
This promotional giveaway might not be specific to just recruiting events since everyone drinks water and coffee, but it's still the top overall choice. Part of the reason for that is because it's a sustainable choice too, using reusable bottles and tumblers cuts down on plastic bottle consumption! My personal favorites are from Camelbak, Pelican and Otterbox.
Seeing as how I tend to have ridiculously high standards for what I drink from, it is worth showcasing some of the other non retail brands that have the same quality and appeal for larger scale promos like Manna, Arctic Zone and h2go.
2. Phone Stands
Custom phone accessories are a hit when it comes to recruiting event giveaways. If your goal is to make the highest number of impressions possible on your prospective employees, students, or colleagues, a personalized pop socket with your printed company logo is the way to go. Just think, how many times do you look at your phone in a given day... the average is approximately 74 times a day for Americans ages 18 to 24! Even better, at large quantities, they are not very expensive.
3. Printed Face Masks
I know we wanted these to only be a popular item of 2020, but with current trends, it looks like face masks will be in our lives for the foreseeable future. There are so many face mask options now, 2 layers, 3 layers and even 4 with a filter pocket! Cotton, polyester, cotton/poly. Screen printed, sublimated, TEK Transfer or leave them blank. Ones that go around the ears, over the head, adjustable, stretchy, youth, adult, and even extra large for those with larger heads.
4. Custom Notebooks & Journals
Promotional notebooks are the perfect promotional items for recruiting events, trade shows, and conferences. When potential employees need to jot down important information the first thing they'll see is your company logo. Plus, when they get back home and review their notes, your company will be the first one that they remember. Some of my favorites are JournalBooks, Moleskine and Chameleon-like.
5. Portable Chargers
If you travel a lot for work or need to be on your device for hours on end, these are a must. Make sure your phone and other electronics never run out of battery with a personalized power bank. Branded portable chargers are an excellent addition to your recruiting event giveaways collection and also make great corporate gifts too!
6. Screen Printed Tees
Custom screen printed t-shirts are not only the biggest staple in the promotional products industry, it also happens to be the item we produce over 10,000 of every day. T-shirts are the most popular clothing for recruiting event giveaways because they're affordable and offer up a sizeable blank space for a corporate logo and fun artwork. If you really want to outshine the other recruiters in the T-shirt game, we offer brands like Nike, New Era, Bella+Canvas, Next Level and Carhartt.
7. Reusable Tote Bags & Cinch Packs
Embroidered or screen printed totes make perfect promotional bags because they're cheap, easy to decorate, and can hold all your other promotional products that you might get at a recruiting event, including those items from other recruiters, so who gets all the branding impressions now? They're also frequently made out of eco-friendly materials like hemp and recycled cotton canvas. Plus, they make great reusable grocery bags, another sustainability win!
8. Bluetooth Speakers & Headphones
Weather you are listening to music, podcasts or on a conference call, bluetooth speakers are always a nice gift. They come in a wide range of prices and styles, with many great options starting at under $10 for speakers and under $2 for earbuds!
9. Printed and Laser Engraved Metal Pens
These are my least favorite promotional item, probably due to writing thousands of orders for them, but they are still the most popular giveaway at recruiting events in sheer volume. College students and prospective employees are going to need something to write down all of the good things about your company! That’s why custom printed promotional pens are so ideal for recruiting events.
If you are going to go with custom printed pens, then I recommend Sharpie, because those are by far the most useful.
10. Can Coolers and Koozies
Custom logo can coolers and personalized bottle koozies might just be the most cost-effective way to showcase your company logo at recruiting events. Starting at under one dollar, these custom printed koozies make cheap and powerful promotional products. Plus, they'll keep your beverages ice cold!
Bonus
11. Hand Sanitizer
Another hold-over from quarantine is the oh so popular hand sanitizer. The promotional product industry completely sold out of hand sanitizers in Q2 of 2020 and was the most requested and produced item for Q3 and Q4. It was such a hot item, that many breweries and distilleries switched from crafting their tasty beverages to making hand sanitizer solutions. We see this trend continuing into 2021 for sure.
Honorable mentions: Embroider hats, microfiber cleaning cloths, and lanyards.