How to get the most from your Promotional USB Memory Stick Budget

With sales of promotional USB memory sticks continuing to show no signs of slowing it’s obvious that companies large and small understand the benefits of using them as a give away. If you’re about to join in the fun and you’ve started looking for your own USB sticks with your company logo printed on them then you’ve probably got a reasonable idea of how much you want to spend on them.

In terms of making sure you get the “best bang for your buck” when sourcing them you can either pursue a strategy of getting the largest number of USB sticks your budget will buy or, you can embark on a plan to make sure that your giveaways make the greatest impact possible.

If you go for volume (and lots of companies do) then you’re probably just looking for something cheap and cheerful that you can hand out at a show or at strategic locations where your target customers can be found. A real example of this approach is Barratt Homes who handed out thousands of USB sticks at two Tube stations in London. The tube stations were adjacent to their new housing development and just “blanket bombed” the stations over a couple of days and targeted commuters – the USB sticks they handed out were printed with details of the housing development and they were pre-loaded with the sales brochures, floor plans and prices of the apartments they were trying to sell.

Cheap Printed USB Memory Sticks

The primary objective in this scenario was to get the USB sticks into the hands of as many people as possible. So, they opted for the cheapest design (the Twister) with the smallest amount of memory needed to pre-load their documents onto. To keep the print costs down they only printed in 1 colour and finally they wanted the sticks delivered in “bulk” with no outer packaging – this not only reduced the manufacturing costs but the reduced weight and bulk reduced the overall shipping, storage and handling costs. They were not interested in the recipients keeping and using the USB sticks over and over again their principal objective was just to market their apartment and push their brand.

Whilst this approach was fine for Barratt Homes it’s not necessarily the right approach for everyone. If, for example, you’re trying to encourage journalists to write about a new product or the launch of a new service or you’re targeting executives at a conference or seminar then you’re best to use your budget to buy a smaller number of “top-end” USB sticks with lots of memory and bags of style or alternatively you might even want to commission your own fully bespoke (custom) USB sticks.

Top-end USB sticks include USB writing pens or USB stylus pens that also double up as a USB memory sticks – these products exude quality and get incredibly positive feedback but they’re too expensive to use a “give-aways” to random prospects. Custom USB sticks are, as the name suggests, designed and manufactured exclusively for one customer and are typically manufactured in the shape of one of their “hero” products.

Squeezing the most from your budget depends on what your underlying objectives are; if you want quantity then go with the budget ranges, choose smaller memory sizes, print just 1 colour on one side get your USB sticks supplied in Bulk (with no packaging). But, if you want to make an impact or you have high-end clients to build a relationship with then sacrifice numbers and go for quality or, in an ideal world, get your own Custom USB sticks commissioned.