In today’s highly competitive, fluid and fast-paced business world, conveying genuine appreciation has become a vital component of engaging and retaining valuable customers and clients who are the lifeblood of ongoing success in any line of business. Offering an excellent product or service certainly goes a long way toward this end, but it starts with getting their attention and building a relationship. Ensuring customers feel truly appreciated and cared about by your organization is a difference-maker. According to Hubspot (referencing a widely cited study by the Rockefeller Corporation): “Customer appreciation is more than being extra nice to your customers; 68% of consumers will not buy from companies that do not care about them.”
A terrific way to demonstrate customer appreciation is by offering thoughtful gifts tailored to individual recipients. Personalized corporate gifts demonstrate a genuine desire to connect with individuals and help facilitate relationships that can lead to further business and inspire customers to become brand ambassadors through word-of-mouth, social media, personal recommendations and endorsements. However, using a cookie-cutter approach to corporate gifting can come across as insincere:
Research has found that gifting impacts the psychology of business, with small gifts leading to increased sales revenue. One study also found that gift giving influenced reciprocity and feelings of trust… A generic approach [however] might look like your company [is] sending all of its customers the same gift, such as a marketing product from your organization. While this might get the job done, it’s likely that a personalized approach to gift giving will land better, and seem more genuine to your customers. – Success Coaching
As a people engagement company, Summit deploys branded merchandise in creative campaigns that are meant to effectively engage customers and target audiences in ways that are meaningful for both giver and receiver. Summit has the industry knowledge, finely-honed processes for delivery and the dedication of highly-experienced teams to turn the act of corporate gift-giving into the art of effective customer engagement and appreciation. Here are just a few examples of how Summit has achieved this critical success with different client segments.
Our client was a software company that wanted to thank the presenters at one of their virtual events with curated gift kits that had the individual presenters in mind. We customized three gift kit options for their panelists, presenters and speakers. The events team could select the appropriate gift kit in a password protected area that we setup on our client’s hosted e-commerce site, which was then pre-packed by our fulfillment team and shipped from our warehouse on an as-needed basis.
During the pandemic, we held Summit Live, a dynamic and collaborative virtual event where we showcased an array of human engagement tools to help our clients connect with their customers and stakeholders to show their appreciation. Presenters shared stories of highly successful projects centered around virtual engagement, e-gifts, pop-up shops and more. Our attendees were invited to customize their own personal gift kits with options for sizing, best ship-to-address etc., featuring our “Spark Something,” messaging and chalked full of items needed to celebrate the ‘stay in,’ reality of the times.
Sample Gift Kit for Summit Live
Keeping virtual board meetings fun and engaging was also a challenge during these times, especially around the Holidays and into the New Year. When Summit was asked to inject some imagination leading up to an important board meeting, under a tight timeline, our team came up with a creative campaign: 12 days of engaging gifting to keep them coming back. We curated a series of twelve gifts in custom packaging for each recipient, who was then asked to open the designated gift on the corresponding day. The self-care themed branded gift kit was delivered to their door and included spa products, a stay-safe kit with a mask, no-touch tool, hand sanitizer, as well as a cocktail kit.
Customer appreciation and engagement can also be expressed through creative community service that resonates with your audience base. Summit’s Food & Beverage team did just that with an innovative community service campaign for Aussie Beef & Lamb with their Simply Spring: A Mother’s Day Series.
The Campaign to Elevate Mother’s Day with Australian Lamb
This customer appreciation campaign was “designed to be of service to the community by demonstrating not only how easy it is to cook with lamb, but also how to elevate your Mother’s Day celebrations using Australian lamb,” featuring renowned Chef Renate DeGeorge. In each of the four weeks leading up to Mother’s Day, Chef DeGeorge hosted a mini-series episode during which she taught three home chefs a different lamb recipe meant to inspire ideas for the perfect Mother’s Day celebratory meal, while introducing the entire audience to fun and innovative ways to cook with the high-quality lamb products offered by our client.
Corporate gifting as a means to express customer appreciation and strengthen business relationships is growing sharply across the globe, especially in the U.S. and among small and medium sized enterprises, with customized gifts playing a prominent role:
Corporate gifting is a booming market. A Grandview Research report showed its worth at $318.2 billion globally in 2019. The U.S., one of the largest players, anticipates a 4.4% CAGR from 2021 to 2028, as per Allied Market Research. SMEs hold a significant 65% share, with customized gifts forming over half the market. – Gitnex.org
If getting started with a new corporate gifting campaign seems daunting, or you’re stuck for ideas on how to creatively refine and improve your existing campaigns, Summit is here to help. Simply Contact Us and let us know what you’re looking for. Our experienced team of experts will guide you through options and ideas to customize your gifting campaigns so that your audience feels truly appreciated and valued… a win-win for everyone!
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