Finding meaningful ways to connect with your team members, business partners, and clients is incredibly important, especially during a time where many people are struggling to keep in touch. Perhaps that’s why there has been such a significant rise in corporate gifting ever since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Excellent corporate gifting can significantly improve your company’s client and employee engagement and retention, not to mention spread some much-needed joy!
An Introduction to Corporate Gift Giving
When done well, corporate gifting can help show your appreciation for your clients, partners, and team members and increase loyalty to your brand. On the other hand, when done carelessly, corporate gifting can be wasteful and impersonal and leave a bad impression. If you’re going to spend money on gifts, you better make it count! Our gifting experts have plenty of tips and ideas to share to help guide your corporate gifting and leave a lasting impression on whoever the lucky recipients may be.
5 Keys to Successful Corporate Gift Giving
Corporate gifting is important, but it only adds value when it’s done right. Here are 5 key things that separate a great corporate gift from a mediocre one:
Useful: You don’t want your gift to end up in a landfill, so try to think of something the recipient will actually use and appreciate. If you don’t know much about their preferences, consumable items are always a safe bet. Some delicious, local produce or locally-made snacks will very rarely go to waste.
Unique: Try to put together a gift that they couldn’t go out and find easily on their own. You can still give a classic gift, like a basket of edible goodies – just be mindful and put a little more care into the curation and details in order to make it exciting and special. Choosing locally made or artisan products will make it much easier to be unique.
Local & Small Batch: Rather than something cheap and mass-produced, try to source the items in your gift basket from artists and small businesses in your area. Not only is this a more ethical and sustainable way of gifting, it will be greatly appreciated by most recipients! Rather than a coffee mug they could find anywhere, go with a one-of-a-kind, wabi-sabi mug from a local potter that they’ll cherish.
Personalized: Sure, a gift card can be useful, but it’s not especially thoughtful or personalized. If you want to show more appreciation for your clients or employees, try to think of what makes them special – their individual hobbies, interests, and preferences – and use whatever you know about them as inspiration. It can be as simple as knowing whether your team members prefer coffee or tea in the morning and giving them a Morning Rituals gift basket that aligns.
Sustainable: Sustainability is an increasingly important consideration when gift giving. This goes for the gift itself as well as the packaging and wrapping! Check out our blog post on sustainable and mindful gift wrapping if you need some creative ideas.
Employee Gift Ideas to Avoid
An important thing to avoid with corporate gifting is excessive branding. One survey found that nearly 75% workers would prefer to get a gift without their company logo on it. Try to deliver gifts that truly represent your brand, without going overboard. It’s a delicate balance, but too much branding can make your gift seem like a marketing gimmick!
One way to achieve this is with subtle, customized gift tags, boxes, belly bands, stationery, and stickers that are beautifully-designed and on-brand. We offer this service to our corporate gifting clients and have only been met with positive feedback.
6 of Our Favorite Company Gift Baskets
If you’re looking for specific gift ideas, here are a few of our favorites:
1. The Home Office Upgrade
The number of remote workers in the United States is expected to nearly double in the next five years. A gift set like this one is a great way to help your employees transition to working from home, or to welcome them onboard a remote team. It includes both practical and fun items to make working from home feel more comfortable and enjoyable. Maybe this gift will even result in a little boost in productivity!
Shop this Gift Box
2. Food Lover Deluxe
Food gift baskets are a classic corporate gift, and for good reason, but many of them are boring and outdated. This unique food gift box is full of delightful, small-batch goodies, like bourbon pecans, 100% pure honey, delectable vegan granola, and much more. Your partners, clients, or employees won't be able to resist digging into these luxurious treats!
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3. Support Local
As previously mentioned, supporting small and local businesses is becoming increasingly important to the majority of consumers, and your employees, clients, and partners are no different! Those based in Southern or Northern California will love these gift boxes filled with locally crafted products that tell a unique story. As an added bonus, a gift like this also helps make a positive statement about your brand and company values.
Shop Local Gift Boxes
4. Support Black Artisan Owned Businesses
Another way to make a positive social impact while gift giving is to support black-owned entrepreneurs and artisans. This gift box even takes things a step further by contributing to the NAACP. The unique items in this box range from superfood latte blends to a luxurious shea butter body lotion… everything about this gift is so much more exciting and meaningful than your average corporate gift basket!
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5. Relax & Restore
With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, employee stress is at an all-time high. Perhaps that’s why wellness and self-care themed gifts have soared in popularity. A gift set like this one is a great way to show your clients and team members that you care about their wellbeing and want them to take time to focus on themselves. It’s a perfect way to celebrate the end of a big project or thank an especially hard working team member.
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6. The Mixologist
Traditionally, many businesses give clients a celebratory bottle of wine or champagne to mark a special occasion. This gift set reinvents a classic and feels much more thoughtful and unique. When you aren’t able to meet in person for celebratory drinks with a client or are trying to make a virtual work party more fun, this gift set is a fun and festive solution. Keep in mind, with alcohol-related gifts, it’s important to be mindful about different lifestyles and cultures and not make assumptions about people’s preferences.
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Personalized Gifts for Employees
What’s even better than any of the pre-curated gift sets above? An even more personalized, custom corporate gift set! When you go custom with your corporate gifting, you can really stand out and generate positive associations with your brand. You can hand-pick each of the items in the gift basket or box, add subtle branding, and even customize the wrapping to make a bold first impression. Because all of this takes time, thought, and creativity, you can partner with an experienced corporate gifting service to help you with everything from the curation to the delivery.
A Professional Partner for Corporate Gift Giving
Our custom gifting services will take the stress out of your corporate gift giving and help you maximize the return on your investment.
Whether you want to send 25 luxury client gifts for a special event or need 25,000 custom employee appreciation gifts, Bestowe will provide you with a seamless experience from start-to-finish and help you exceed expectations!