Portable USB memory has advanced significantly in the last few years, and the range and style of flash drives available today are many. Companies who want to market their logos and products to a large audience of potential customers are using promotional pen drives to “spread the word” about their business.

The phrase “pen drive” is a general term for many types of USB storage that don’t all necessarily look like pens. The other interchangeable terms for this type of portable storage are flash drives, jump drives, and memory sticks.

However, the most stylish pen drives do resemble executive ballpoint pens. When you unscrew the cap, however, instead of a writing instrument you find a handy USB flash drive to store documents, data files, pictures, and other important information that can be used with any available computer.

For a business that sells products or services, promotional pen drives offer opportunities for cost-effective advertising and for building up brand awareness with their clients. Customers appreciate these promotional “freebies,” since they can be plugged into any available USB port on a Windows or Mac-based computer and used without any previous setup requirements.

Offering pen drives to all your customers makes smart business sense, since it generates opportunities for repeat business when people use the devices outside of your place of business. What you really get is a portable business card that has your business name, logo, address, or phone number.

If the recipient uses this device in public, it may generate conversation from satisfied customers who can tell others about what your firm does or how well they were treated when they did business with you.

As data files, computer documents, and digital photo files get larger and carry more information, a pen drive can provide some much needed storage space for frequently used files on a computer that are not vital to the operating system. Those who design audio devices, satellite receivers, and other electronic equipment are adapting their products to accept pen drives by adding USB ports to their components for easy transfer.

This means that music files, pictures, and digital media can now be accessed on more than just computers. The increasing availability of high-speed internet service and wireless networks allow business people to share information more quickly and easily than ever before.

In essence, by offering promotional pen drives to business associates and customers, not only are you contributing to the growth of your brand name and reputation, you are opening doors to inexpensive channels of communication that weren’t possible less than ten years ago. Flash drive companies are also addressing data security concerns by including encryption software with many of the newer drives.

The cost of producing flash drives is dwindling, and those savings are passed on to those who purchase them. They are more lightweight, durable, and reliable than other forms of media storage, with no moving parts. In addition, there are now wide ranges of “sizes” of pen drives that can now store up to 64GB of re-writeable data, although 16GB drives are much more common.

Remember, these are small devices that can easily fit in briefcases, backpacks, even trouser or shirt pockets. The colour, size, and style combinations now available are incredible, and designing promotional pen drives to match the personality of your business could be a small step that generates repeat customers and a greater market share than one might think possible.