

Ask HN: Do flyers/give-away pens/tchotchkes work? - tworats

Part of our marketing involves in person interactions, typically in market-vertical conferences, sometimes in sales calls.<p>I'm wondering about the efficacy of spending money on printed brochures, branded pens we'd give away, and various other tchotchkes that have been proposed.<p>Is there any return on these things?<p>Our audience is primary business finance. Just about everybody else that markets to this group makes a big effort on their print and promotional materials. I'm loathe to spend the money without knowing what my real return will be.<p>Anyone have experience / words of advice on this?
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ibejoeb
I once gave away mini gumball machines filled with M&Ms. My booth was pretty
packed. The industry was almost entirely comprised of middle aged, middle
class people with families, so they took them home for the kids (perhaps half
empty).

Personally, I always like a spare pen, but everyone gives them away, and I
can't tell you the name of the company whose pen I last picked up.

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bmelton
Generally, not to the person you're giving them to. However, they are pretty
effective advertising for things like coffee cups, laptop bags -- items that
are likely to be used on a daily or semi-daily basis, and that are large
enough for people to see and wonder "Okay, just who exactly IS
<your_company_name>?!?"

The big catch with that of course is that most people already have a coffee
mug or laptop bag, and aren't likely to switch to yours, so, while they'll
gladly take them from you at your booth, they'll probably end up in a closet.

