USB Keys – Open Up New Marketing Opportunities
When people think of USB flash drives they typically think of standard shaped flash drives like the ones your buy from any high street store. These are normally made from plastic, are rectangular in shape and the focus tends to be more on function than form.
As a basic flash drive they’ll do a good job at storing data and enabling it to be carried around easily but these standard plastic USB drives are not the best solution if you are looking to make a marketing impact and give your brand a bit of a boost. Why settle for a standard plastic (boring) flash drive when there are now so many exciting alternatives available.
USB flash drives are the promotional product of the moment primarily not only because they are now available (fully printed) for a few pounds but also because they:
- Have a high perceived value by the people they are given to
- They’re easy to use
- They’re small and portable
- They take print and branding well
- They create a bit of a buzz and an impact when handed out
- They’re about the only reasonably promotional product that you can pre-load your sales data and presentation data on before you hand them out.
- Their cost can be fully or partially offset when you pre-load them with data because you save money on brochure printing and transport costs.
- They’re cheap to mail out as part of any physical DM pack because they’re light and thin – some options are thin and light enough to qualify for standard 1st class postage rather than packet post.
The promotional USB flash drive market is incredibly competitive at the moment. One of the benefits of this is continuous innovation in their design and fabrication. Today there are hundreds of different models available including wooden flash drives, credit card shaped flash drives and wooden USB barrels to name just a few.
One of the more interesting new USB sticks to emerge in the last year or so is the USB key. This is a metal flash drive in the shape of a key – various key shapes are available – they’re thin, robust and they look fantastic when engraved with a company logo or you can use resin stickers on them if you need to reproduce a coloured logo or brand.
Just like any “regular key” they slip easily onto a standard key ring along with the rest of your keys (yes they’ll get a bit battered and scratched over time just like any key) but by being with your car and house key you’ll always know where it is.