USB flash drives - also often referred to as thumb drives

or jump drives - act as reusable portable hard drives.

These small units - about the size of a pack of gum - can

easily be carried in a pocket, worn around the neck like

a necklace or used as a key chain by your clients and

prospects. There are even USB flash pens - with the flash

drive "hidden" inside the writing utensil.

USB flash drives plug directly into your Universal Serial

Bus (USB) port of a computer and are typically built to

hold between 64 megabytes and 2 gigabytes of data. The

popularity of flash drives have grown significantly over

the past several years as storage capacities have increased

and USB-enabled computers have become ubiquitous. The

popularity and capabilities of flash drives has led to the

advent of flash drive marketing.

The use of USB flash drives as effective marketing tools is

continuing to evolve for forward thinking marketing

professionals.

Custom Flash Drive Marketing Delivers Branded Product To

Customers

Thumb drives can be stamped with a company's logo and as a

result, custom logo USB drives have become trade show and

convention favorites.

Companies are giving branded custom logo flash drives to key

customers and prospects providing them with an instant

reminder of your company every time they use the flash drive

to transfer files or back up a document. Providing your

customers (and potential customers) with a branded custom

logo USB flash delivers a great way to market by keeping your

brand in front of customers while giving them something of real

value they will use over and over.

Flash Drive Marketing Delivers Branded Product With Targeted

Messages

Using flash drives as branded giveaways and corporate gifts

are just the tip of the marketing iceberg. Savvy marketers

are increasingly using the storage capabilities of these

compact devices to deliver their message. Flash drives can now

be pre-loaded with data, music, video or other content. The

devices can also be setup to auto-run a marketing message or

load a specific website when inserted into a computer. Customers

are able to continue to use the flash drive, storing their data

alongside the pre-loaded content. A custom logo USB flash drive

that also holds a pre-loaded message or presentation offers

companies the benefit of delivering a branded product AND

targeted message at the same time.

The concept of delivering your marketing messages via thumb

drive was started several years ago when automobile

manufacturers provided flash drives pre-loaded with

presentations touting the features of their latest models.

The idea has caught on - and not just for big companies.

Looking for creative and cutting edge ways to stand out from

the competition, large, medium, and small sized firms,

companies and organizations across a wide range of industries

are now looking to flash drive marketing to communicate their

messages.

Ways That Organizations Can Utilize Flash Drive Marketing:

* Schools can provide handbooks and required course materials

to incoming students via thumb drives featuring school colors

and mascot. Students can continue to use the thumb drive for

data storage and transfer throughout the school year

* Design and creative agencies can provide multi-media

portfolios with links to additional web-based content

* Bands can promote and deliver new music via flash drive. In

addition, bands can use USB mp3 players to allow users to

listen to music directly from the device

As the popularity and capabilities of USB flash drives continue

to grow, marketing professionals will continue to find unique and

innovative ways to utilize flash drive marketing. The marketing

possibilities may only be limited by the imagination.

Article written by Jim McKinley.