Need to Skim? Key Takeaways:
- Swag bags are a great way to show appreciation, but their value depends on budget, practicality, and occasion. Useful items ensure they’ll be used and not thrown away.
- When brainstorming swag bag ideas, a theme isn’t required, but a few noteworthy theme ideas include welcome kits, wellness, tech, and wearables.
- With many employees working remotely, swag bags foster strong connections by welcoming new team members and helping existing ones feel included and valued, no matter where they are.
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What Makes a Great Swag Bag?
If you’re familiar with the Imprint Engine brand, you know we usually shy away from the term “swag,” because frankly, we believe it degrades what the word represents. But today, we’re not talking about cheap tchotchkes or throwaway crap you’ve seen in goodie bags of the past. We’re discussing the kind of swag bags that reinforce community, foster connection, and leave a positive impression of your brand through the power of high-quality, thoughtful gifts. Let’s get into a handful of swag bag ideas for employees to budget for this year.
5 Tried & True Swag Bag Ideas for Employees
1) Welcome kit
Welcome kits reassure new hires that they made the right choice in taking a job with your company. These kits can be especially meaningful for remote employees who may take a little more time to feel connected with your company culture due to proximity. Include items that are branded but still useful, like tumblers, gadgets, desk plants, stationary, or apparel like golf polos, vests, or jackets. Read more of our ideas for employee welcome kits.
2) Wellness
Show that your company cares about a healthy work/life balance and personal wellness with swag bags filled with today’s most popular self-care products. Include products such as herbal teas, aromatherapy candles, face masks, luxury hand lotion, vitamins or supplements, premium water bottles, healthy snacks, or gift certificates to a local spa or wellness center.
3) Tech
For tech-forward companies, tech-focused gifts communicate your savvy values while making your recipients’ workweeks quite a bit easier. Popular tech essentials to consider including in your swag bags for employees are power banks, personalized laptop sleeves, wireless headphones, portable speakers, wireless charging desk mats, or wireless keyboards and computer mice.
4) Wearables
Wearable merchandise like hoodies, t-shirts, and hats are useful swag bag items to include for employees or anyone who would love to rep your brand. The key is choosing high-quality, fashion-forward pieces that people will feel confident and comfortable wearing. Remember, they’re passively advertising your company each time they wear it, so make sure it looks good and tells the right story! Read our list of the best company swag ideas.
5) Travel
Travel-themed kits are a great way to show appreciation or advertise your services to commuters, business travelers, and recreational jet-setters. Travel swag bags should include portable, practical items like tablets, e-book gift cards, sleep masks, travel-sized hygiene kits, or compact accessories like reading glasses, storage pouches, or mobile chargers.
Swag Bags: A Must-Have for WFH Culture
In a reality where WFH and hybrid work models are the new norm, swag bags are effective tools to make employees feel connected and valued from wherever they get stuff done. Gallup tracked the percentage of remote, hybrid, and on-site U.S. employees with WFH-capable jobs. 26% are fully remote, 55% are hybrid, and only 19% are fully on-site. That’s a huge market to tap into using thoughtful items tailored to WFH setups. When curating your swag bags, consider including ergonomic accessories, relaxation kits, or productivity gadgets like headphones or rechargeable desk mats. Read our full list of meaningful work-from-home gifts.
Swag Bag FAQs
1) Are Swag Bags a Good Idea?
Swag bags handed out at an event, seminar, or onboarding process are great tools for engaging employees or clients and leaving a lasting positive impression. While our crew at Imprint Engine avoids using the term “swag,” we believe there’s a time and a place for it… like this helpful list of swag bag ideas. Curious about why we avoid saying “swag”? Click to read more.
2) How many items typically go into a swag bag?
Swag bags generally include three to five items, but your budget, event, or occasion may certainly call for more or less. If you opt for more premium products, you might have to sacrifice quantity to stay within budget — which is A-OK!
3) How much should I spend?
That’s totally dependent on your budget. Once you’ve determined a budget, divide it by the quantity of bags you need and there’s your price per bag! We also recommend leaving a little wiggle room for incidentals.
4) How can I make sure swag bag items will be used?
While you can’t force people to use the products you’ve thoughtfully invested in, you can make them want to by choosing things that are high-quality, practical, stylish, and appealing to wear or use. Do this by tailoring items to your audience’s general interests and needs. Unsure of their general interests and needs? Don’t be shy! Ask!
5) Is it important to have a theme?
Sometimes yes, sometimes no. A theme is not necessary, but it does help your swag bags stand out at events or mark a specific occasion. Themed bags can also work cohesively with marketing campaigns to make your message even more memorable.
Upgrade Your Swag with a Partner Who Gets It
Whether you’re welcoming a new employee, impressing event attendees, or making a splash with prospective customers, swag bags help you get your message across and stay at top of mind. It’s important to choose products that are high-quality, on-trend, and on-brand so that your consumers will use [and hopefully show off] your thoughtful investment for years to come!
Curate the best swag bags for your company with help from Imprint Engine.
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