Being in this industry for such a long time, we have seen many holiday season gifts. Some companies spend the entire year on completely custom holiday gifts, like snow globes, custom toys, a direct mail campaign.
Others come in right about now and hire us to “HELP!” Ideally the best time to start thinking about a gift is July or August. No one wants to think about Christmas in July, but let’s face it, in order to really find or create a holiday gift that delivers your message in a thoughtful way… you need time. Not to mention time for the fulfillment of the project and shipping time to get it to your client.
It’s not too late to order holiday gifts for your clients or employees now. In fact, we have some amazing ideas in this blog (scroll down). But first, here are some do’s and don’ts of Corporate Gift Giving. Thanks to Susan Straub-Martin of Strauberry Studios for putting together a comprehensive list for a Biznik networking meeting.
DON’TS
1. Don’t give clients or employees personal items. You may know that your client uses Anna Sui perfume. It is not an appropriate gift.
2. Don’t give them alcohol or tobacco. Or even related products. Unless you are having a themed event and it makes sense – like a wine party for the holidays. Then a corkscrew and decanter might be an appropriate gift. A bottle of wine is still not.
3. Don’t give expensive gifts. I had a client who catered to the wealthiest of wealthy, and still never gave a gift of more than $20 or so. Instead, they did something custom so they knew for sure the client wouldn’t have anything like it already.
4. Stay far far away from politics and religion, even if that is your business.
5. Don’t give gag gifts, unless you are a gag gift business.
6. Do not give your boss a gift. In a lot of corporations, that could be considered bribe.
7. Marketing yourself is ok, but remember, the holiday gift is just that.
DO
1. Keep the gift gender neutral. This especially helps when you are gifting the same item to multiple people. It keeps things easier, and personal taste takes a back seat.
2. Personalize your cards. Actually take the time to hand sign them.
3. Send a holiday basket or group gift for the entire office!
4. Present the gift in person if you are able.
5. Give a gift that reflects you as a business. Something that ties in what you do without over marketing yourself.
6. Set yourself apart from the crowd by delivering your gift early in the season, beating your competition. Or even better, send a Thanksgiving gift, thanking your client for their business. Or a New Year’s gift inviting them to be your client in the next year, or Valentine’s gift. One year we did a campaign sending out huge chocolate lips to our client, with a card that read “What better time of year to kiss up than Valentine’s Day?” It was a success, and we definitely stood out from our competition.
7. Research cultures. If your clients or employees are from India, don’t give leather (some hold the cow as Holy). If they are Chinese, do not give them a clock (the phrase “gift of a clock” also sounds like “funeral”).
As promised, here are some of the hottest gifts this year that fit into all of these categories!
Seeded Cards: When the holiday season is over, your client can just plant the card!
Digital Photo Frames: Especially for our troops overseas.
Unique USB Drives: We don’t know one person who couldn’t use one.
We have gobs and gazillions of other products that you can search for here (click).
