I know. It’s not even Thanksgiving yet, right? It’s too early to think about Christmas gifts. But unless you’re skipping Christmas it’s time to choose what your organization is going to give and who you’re giving it to. If we take the emotion out of early holiday advertising and look at organizing holiday specialty products as a business operation, it’s easy to see the practicality of planning ahead. For example, if you were a stationary retailer, you wouldn’t wait until school began to order supplies for back to school. If you sold road salt, you wouldn’t wait for the first snow before you called your supplier. If you were planning a company picnic, you wouldn’t go to your local deli the morning of the event to find food and supplies. Would you?

Who Should be on Your List?

Customers – Should it be every customer, top customers, new customers, established customers or? Will you give the same promotional product to every customer? Should your specialty gifts be segmented by the product or service the client uses, size of the organization, or the amount of business they conduct with you?

Employees – Should gifts be based on tenure, position, contribution to the company or should gifts be uniform? Would it be wiser to base promotional holiday giveaways by demographics? For example, a gift for millennials another for boomers. Should a selection or choice be offered?

Vendors – How important are suppliers to your business? Have you overlooked them in the past? Would a holiday gift representing your appreciation of their service be appropriate?

What Should You Give?

Cards – Christmas cards may not be as prevalent as they once were, but they’re still appreciated. How do you feel when you receive a card, especially when someone has taken the time to leave a handwritten note?

Food – Cheese and meat platters, smoked salmon, candies, and nuts in various holiday containers, boxes, and jars; folks look forward to these traditional holiday gifts. How fun is it when your office receives them?

Apparel– Why not give branded T-shirts, ball caps or jackets? Last year I received a jacket from a vendor. I enjoy and wear it several months out of the year.

Calendars –  Not everyone exclusively uses Google calendar or Outlook. A lot of folks use traditional calendars as well. My favorites are cat calendars. I mean…if anyone wanted to gift me a calendar—just saying.

Electronics – Everyone uses electronics from smartphones to laptops, and everyone needs covers, stands, and backup power. You can’t go wrong.

It may not be Thanksgiving yet; Black Friday is still in the future, but it’s time to finalize your holiday promotional gift plan. If you’d like some help, our team at  TKO Marketing Solutions  will be happy to help you…call it a wrap…with ordering your holiday promotional gifts..