Since a very long time companies have given presents to their customers at least once a year. This is one of the most traditional marketing ideas; it still works very well and, therefore, almost all companies keep on practising it at least on Christmas.

Nevertheless, it is important to choose a good gift if you want to succeed. It does not exist the perfect gift, as it depends on the situation and the things our customers like. That is why it is very important to choose well.

When we are thinking about which corporate gift we should choose, we must have some things in mind:

• What is the purpose of the gift?
• Who is getting the gift?
• When and how will the gifts be given?

Only if the answers to those questions are clear we could take the most appropriate decision. If they aren’t we should stop and think about them before deciding.

Why are these questions so important? Because they can easily guide us towards the perfect gift for our customers and towards the gift which can make us reach our objectives. Depending on the answers we give to each of the questions we should choose a different gift.

What is the purpose of the gift?

Brand marketing

Then we should choose a gift related to one of our products or services, a gift with our company’s logo on it, a gift with our corporate colours or a gift which can be used as a complement to one of our services or products.

Show appreciation

When we want to thank a customer for his faithfulness or for having done a big purchase we should choose a more refined gift. In this case we should think about the customer in order to find the perfect gift for him. In this case we can forget about the company’s logo and colours.

This type of gifts can be given also to employees who have achieved certain objectives or that show a high engagement with the company. It is important to treat in certain moments our employees in the same way we treat our customers, in this way the company will work better.

Who is getting the gift?

A prospect customer

If we want to make a gift to people in a fair or to a prospect customer after our first contact with him, for example, we should choose a modest gift related to our company and products. In this way we can show what we can offer him.

A customer

Gifts to existing customers can be a little more personalized and do not need to show the company’s products or philosophy in a very obvious way, as the customer already knows.  In this case it is easier to choose a gift related to the interests of our customers or we can use the gift to show them a new product or service that we are about to launch.

When and how will the gifts be given?

The when is important because, unless the gift is timeless, it is important to choose a gift appropriate to the season or a specific situation. For example, if it is Christmas we can include some aspects of the Holidays in our gift; if we will give the gift in a yacht party we can choose a gift related to the nautical world.

The how must be used to define the packaging of the gift. We won’t need any package if we want to give the gifts to anybody attending a fair, but we will need a highly secure packaging if we will send our gifts by mail, especially if the gift is quite fragile.