When choosing promotional items, your most important task is to first identify what purpose the items will serve. Will you use your promotional items to gain new business, or reward existing customers? Or are you simply looking for a way to say “thank you" or “hello" or “I appreciate you" to a group of people with whom you work or conduct business? It may not always be necessary for you to purchase personalized promotional items when generic options will suffice. Choosing generic items over personalized items will often hold down your costs and make your selection and production processes faster. Before choosing between generic and personalized, however, it is important to evaluate the pros and cons of each option.



Generic promotional items are those items which are symbolic of an event, an organization or a product, but need no personalized imprint or engraving to identify the source. Suppose you are looking for promotional items for a social event. If so, it is often possible to choose an item that is simply tied so closely to the theme of the event that no personalization is necessary. There may be so logical a link between the items you choose and the event they represent that personalization could, in fact, become redundant.

Generic promotional items can save many dollars in your budget. With per-piece charges common for personalization, you could be making a wise financial decision to simply use items where the symbolism says it all without any need for additional pictures or words. Because personalization often takes time to choose, set up, and proof, you could also save on that non-renewable resource.

There are many instances, however, where personalized promotional items are far handier than generic items. Does your organization want to build up a stock of a variety of items to give away at trade shows, career fairs or other events of that nature? Personalization is definitely the correct route in that circumstance, as you will want to take every step possible to ensure that the name and logo of your business is prominently displayed and prodigiously circulated. Do not take for granted that an attendee at such an event will automatically remember where an item came from – there are often so many vendors present that they can blur together, so use personalized promotional items to ensure that you stand out.

Although personalized promotional items can be costlier and more time-consuming to produce, view that expenditure as an investment in your organization. The return on value for buying personalized promotional items can be new customers, renewed loyalty, and an enhancement of the overall perception of your organization in the marketplace as a whole.

When choosing between generic and personalized promotional items, ensure that you first know the intent of use for those items, then decide upon the best use of your budget, and finally choose the best items that will represent your organization. Choosing promotional items should be a fun task, as it gives you the opportunity to really influence how others will view your company. The choice between generic and personalized promotional items can influence your organization for years to come.