You’ve just launched your new business and signed up for a networking event to spread the word. Phew, one thing off your to-do list. Except you forgot perhaps the most important thing – promotional materials.

Fortunately, you stumble upon this blog which tells you everything you need to know about designing promotional materials or ~swag~ for your business!

Set aside time.

If you want physical materials, you will want to allow yourself approximately three weeks of turnaround time to ensure that your swag gets designed, printed, and mailed on time. If your timeline doesn’t allow that, fortunately many companies offer rush shipping for additional fees.

Go for products that are affordable and useful.
You want folks to think of your company as much as possible, so create items that will be used/seen often (i.e. pens, post-its, stickers, hand sanitizer, magnets, or even a stress ball – you’d be surprised how quickly these go!) We don’t want you breaking the bank with these, so choose affordable options, that way when all your pens disappear at your next tabling event, you won’t be scrambling to replenish your stock.

Create informative content.

In addition to catching the eyes of guests with your flashy pens and stress balls, you will also want some informative materials, such as a banner, flyers, and postcards. Retractable banners have become a popular tool for companies to share valuable information. Rather than having to carry around a poster, the retractable banner “retracts” fully into a manageable size that fits inside a protective case. We recommend opting for the tall standing banner, rather than tabletop banner, so your table can be used to display all of your nice swag! Your designs should be eye-catching and accessible, so that all viewers can appreciate its beauty! This color contrast tool allows you to test the accessibility of your color scheme with different font sizes. You want your print materials to be informative, but not too wordy, and once again eye-catching so that folks passing by your table will want to stop and learn more.

Work with a designer.

When working with a designer, make sure you both have a clear understanding of the deliverables along with the total number of edits allowed. This will allow for a smooth design process and a more streamlined way to get a final product that meets your expectations.

Vistaprint & Canva are your friends.

Vistaprint has so many (and I mean SO many) customizable swag items from pens to mugs to banners. They even let you design directly on their site. If you want swag for your event, Vistaprint has your back! Another useful tool for designing promotional materials, such as flyers and postcards, is Canva. Canva is available at both free and paid tiers and even offers their own printing service, so you can go straight from design to print.

If you need help designing promotional materials, please contact us and our creative graphic design team will be more than happy to either take the reins on design or guide you through the process of designing on your own!