Guide to Corporate Gifting

By Heather | March 6th, 2023

What is corporate gifting?

Put in simple terms, a corporate gift is a gift given by a business to any other party. These could be partners, clients, employees or customers and can be a great way to show your appreciation. They can make an excellent marketing tool, boost awareness of your company and endear your company to a first time customer or client by showing that you value the relationship.

Why should your company use corporate gifts?

The bottom line is always going to be a major concern to a business and corporate gifting is an outlay that has to be weighed. Are the benefits and possible returns worth the initial costs to the business?

Client or customer base:

Showing a customer you appreciate their business can pay dividends in the long run. It’s difficult to recruit new customers to a business so it’s sensible to hang on to as many of your existing customers as possible. Corporate gifts for important clients can help to make your customer feel valued and keeps your company fresh in their mind. I still remember the welcome basket left by the letting agent in my first “proper” rental flat. It was a nice touch. It made me feel like they appreciated my business, and I recommended that company to friends because that simple gesture left me with a lasting good impression.

Corporate gifts can also help your customer service management when it comes to dealing with customer complaints. A gift can help to show that you have taken their complaint on board and genuinely want to make amends. As well as being cost effective when compared to cash or voucher methods of compensation, a thoughtfully chosen gift can often show more “care” than a monetary alternative.

Business to business:

Cultivating good business relationships takes time and effort, so it makes sense to nurture them. Sending a corporate gift is a great way to show that you value a particular business relationship or to express your heartfelt thanks to someone who helped your business grow in some way. Ensuring your business partners feel appreciated and looked after will help to secure the future of your working relationships and could even lead to recommendations and grow potential for new business partnerships.

Marketing:

Branded corporate gifts or promotional items are a great marketing strategy and can help to get your company name and logo out there and fresh in a potential customer’s mind. They are great for building brand awareness and, as long as they’re of a good quality, will help to make customers feel valued by giving them a “little extra”. Exhibitions and roadshows are a great place to chat to potential clients about your business, and sending them away with a small branded gift can help to ensure they remember your name.

Influencers:

In the age of Instagram, many companies benefit greatly from “Influencers” appraising their products on social media. The most popular Influencers have the luxury of picking and choosing which products to focus on as they are inundated with requests for collaborations. Most collaborations comprise of the business sending samples of their product to the influencer and the product being given an online/video review. In most cases the sample itself is the compensation for the review. Including a corporate gift alongside any free products can help to endear your brand to the influencer and show them you’re grateful for their exposure. This may even lead to more thorough coverage of your item vs a competitor’s product.

Employees:

A lack of motivation in employees can often stem from feeling undervalued by their employers. This can lead to poor performance, high staff turnover and loss of profits. Corporate gifting can help by making your employees feel appreciated in the workplace. There are several opportunities for employee gifting throughout the year that you may want to take advantage of. A thank you for outstanding performance, a thoughtful gift on each employee’s birthday, appreciation of long service  or as a cost effective way to provide a Christmas bonus.

Incentives such as these can help to boost the morale of your workforce by showing you value their work, improving employee satisfaction, engagement and mental health. Which will in turn boost the productivity of your workforce and drive performance.

Examples of corporate gifts

If you’ve ever been to any kind of corporate event, you’ll be familiar with the usual branded pens, notebooks, mouse mats and stress balls emblazoned with company logos. This can come across as a bit shallow, a poorly veiled advertising attempt (Admittedly, the most memorable corporate gift I ever received was a full sized space hopper from a mobile phone company… but it wasn’t exactly classy!).

If you want to be sincere in your corporate gifting, it is best to choose products that your client will enjoy as a stand alone item. Save the branded stationary for office use and event goody bags and choose something that will surprise and delight the recipient.

Items like hampers, chocolates, wine, spirits and champagne are great choices for corporate gifts as they hint at a sense of celebration, luxury and elegance. They can be tailored to suit an individual recipient, eg. most people have a preference for either red or white wine. Choosing a gift based on individual tastes shows that you have taken extra care to select a gift they will really enjoy.

The value of these items a perfect level for this type of gifting as it is low enough not to cause issues with bribery laws which state that gifts should not be of an excessive value for the given context.

What can we do for your business?

At Bottle In A Box we offer a wide selection of wine and spirit gift sets and hampers, and can work with you to create something unique for your business. We have access to a huge range of alcohol, mixers, chocolate and snacks and we can tailor a combination of items ideal for your corporate image and the occasion that you’re celebrating.

We can also offer a range of personalisation options, with gift cards included inside each box with your company’s logo and branding, and we can even work with you to create a unique box or sleeve design that can truly make your corporate gifts unique to your business.

To get started finding the right corporate gift options for your business, head on over to our Corporate Gifts page.