Corporate Event Gifting: Creative Ideas that Stand Out

Whether your company’s goal is to network with other industry professionals, build customer relationships, or establish your thought leadership, professional events can help you push your objectives across the finish line. With 66% of companies spending more on events recently, professional events have become a staple in many industries.

The best events stand out to attendees and encourage them to return in the future. However, given the sheer volume of corporate events in the current landscape, it’s increasingly difficult to make your mark.

That’s where corporate event gifting comes into play. By offering gifts and mementos of your event, you can make your initial investment go further by winning prospect loyalty and building your brand identity. You can even use these ideas as prizes for gamified elements of your event. In this guide, we’ll review how to offer gifts that keep on giving (both to your company and your target audience).

Corporate Event Gifting FAQ

Before getting into corporate gift ideas for events, let’s answer pressing questions you might have about this prospect engagement strategy.

• Which gifts are most effective? This varies based on your company’s goals, budget, and values, as well as the event’s theme. For instance, if your company prides itself on its low carbon emissions, Unwrapit recommends focusing on digital gifts, experiences, and charitable donations as gifts—you’ll reduce physical waste and remain true to your values.
• How personalized should gifts be? Gifts should be as personalized as possible to resonate with your target audience. However, it can be challenging to personalize gifts at scale if you manage your gifting program individually. Leading corporate gifting companies provide personalized gifts at scale with interfaces that allow attendees to choose the gift they like best.
• How can you measure the success of event gifting initiatives? Track and report on key performance indicators, such as your gift claim rate and attendee feedback. If you work with a corporate gifting company, they can monitor and report that information for you. You may also use your event management solution’s polling or survey features to gauge attendees’ opinions about your event gifting. In fact, some digital gifting platforms have built-in surveying and polling to capture sentiment and ask other questions of your attendees.
• How can we reduce event gifting costs? A win-win solution is working with event sponsors to provide gifts. While you receive gifts or funds you can use to purchase them, sponsors spread awareness of their brands.
• Should gifts be the same for all attendees? This depends on your budget, but generally, the gift’s value should correspond with the participant’s influence. For instance, you might gift a high-profile keynote speaker a tablet to thank them for their support, but that likely isn’t feasible to give to all event attendees.

Event Gift Ideas

For each type of gift, we’ll review what it is, its unique benefits, examples, and a pro tip to ensure your success.

Physical Gifts

• What they are: Physical gifts are tangible items that attendees can take home with them.
• Why they work: These gifts are often practical, ensuring your company makes a lasting impression.
• Pro-tip for offering physical gifts: Prioritize sustainability. Studies estimate that around 40% of corporate gifts end up in landfills. Offset your environmental impact by using eco-friendly materials and sourcing from companies with a green track record.
• Gift ideas:
  • Drinkware. Provide different types of drinkware to account for every occasion. For instance, insulated drink tumblers are great for on-the-go attendees, whereas wine glasses might be ideal for your more social recipients.
  • Desk accessories. These items can be useful for anyone in a corporate role. For more influential recipients, such as keynote speakers, offer quality custom desk accessories, like a nameplate or paperweight.
  • Local food baskets. This is a perfect idea if your conference attracts a large out-of-town audience. Offer small, non-perishable items like assorted snacks, a bottle of wine, and candied fruit from local businesses so attendees can take a taste of your community home.

Experiential Gifts

• What they are: Experiential gifts allow attendees to access exciting or relaxing opportunities.
• Why they work: While physical gifts offer individual benefits, attendees can use these gifts to connect with others, enrich their worldview, and try something new.
• Pro-tip for offering experiential gifts: Offer flexibility. Some experiences can only occur under certain parameters, such as a specific season, date, or location. Provide as much flexibility as possible, such as by offering open-date vouchers, so busy recipients can use the gift when they have time.
• Gift ideas:
  • Sports game tickets. Regardless of the time of year, there’s an active team ready to engage the sports aficionados at your event. Provide free or reduced-price tickets to the sports team of the attendee’s choice.
  • City-specific experiences. Every city has a host of unique experiences to explore. Provide a voucher to enter museums, limited-time exhibitions, and landmarks in the attendee’s city of choice.
  • Wellness activities. Life in the corporate world can get stressful quickly. Give attendees the chance to unwind with wellness-based activities, such as yoga classes or a spa day.
  • Meal certificates. Treat recipients to a delicious meal at a restaurant of their choice.

Combination Gifts

• What they are: Combination gifts offer physical and experiential components that build on each other.
• Why they work: These gifts offer the best of both worlds, appealing to a wider range of event attendees. Plus, these gifts are often higher-value, making them ideal for thanking big players.
• Pro-tip for offering combination gifts: Cohesion is key. Ensure all gift components directly relate to each other to provide a holistic, positive experience.
• Gift ideas:
  • Wellness kit and personal training session. Pair athletic clothing or a yoga mat with a related class voucher to help your attendees get active.
  • Travel kit and vacation voucher. Send attendees on a trip to remember with a travel pillow, sleep mask, and a voucher for a reduced-price vacation to a destination of their choice.
  • Virtual cooking class and ingredients. Want a virtual-friendly idea to engage attendees wherever they are? Offer a virtual cooking class and provide the necessary ingredients so they can follow along at home.

---

Now that you have inspiration, it’s time to launch your own event gifting program! To get the most value from your program, market your offerings extensively. Highlight your available items in event marketing collateral and throughout the event so attendees know what they can take home and how to acquire it. You can also note who won valuable gifts in your event follow-up to encourage future sign-ups.