Using promotional products at trade shows and conferences can help start conversations with prospective customers. The right type of giveaway can even influence attendees to consider doing business with your company. Hand out a unique gift that people will use over and over and you can earn long-term brand recognition.

While the other booths at your next event will be handing out T-shirts, pens, and water bottles, you can create buzz by being unique and outfitting your prospects with custom dress socks.

An advantage that socks have over, say, T-shirts and hats, is that you can more subtly brand socks so that prospects are more inclined to wear them. People typically don’t wear apparel out in public that shills for a company they’re not associated with. But with socks, you can place a logo on the part of the sock that will be covered by pants or shoes, which means they can be worn just like a normal sock. But the person will see your logo every time they put the socks on or wash them.

There are some important questions to ask when designing your custom dress socks. What specifically do you want to promote at the trade show? Are you seeking awareness for your company? Are you promoting a new product or service? Are you attempting to create new customers in your specific market or trying to siphon market share from a competitor? Have you recently undergone a name change? Do you want to create buzz for an upcoming event or product launch? The answers to these questions will help you design your custom knitted socks with an appropriate design and packaging artwork.

Lastly, make sure the people who receive your giveaway don’t leave without providing you a way to contact them after the event. You can offer the socks to those who fill out a form, drop their business card in a bowl or allow you to scan their conference badge. Then make sure you follow up with those potential leads once you’re back in the office.

About the author

EVERSOX is a worldwide supplier of custom branded socks for businesses, retailers, and promotional products distributors — with over 10,000 designs manufactured & 100 major brands served since 2010.