Five Unique Ways To Personalize Promo in 2024

Generic customer experiences are so 2008. In 2024 and beyond, consumers expect unique, hyper-personalized experiences from the brands they love most. And personalization isn’t just a trend. In fact, 62% of consumers would stop supporting a brand if they received non-personalized content, including promotional campaigns. 

Sure, printing a recipient’s name on a mug counts as personalization, but your audience expects a little more pizzazz this year. Turn more heads in 2024 with these five out-of-the-box promo personalization ideas.

1. Let AI do the heavy lifting

ChatGPT, Midjourney, and other AI tools are all the rage these days, and for good reason. These tools can help you save time and simplify the promo personalization process. 

In 2024, use AI to make personalization possible in your promo initiatives, whether that’s through:

• Leveraging predictive analytics to understand your target audience and choose the best promo products for the job
• Generating content marketing ideas
• Creating custom images for your promo products
• Sifting through customer data to create personalized quotes or sayings for promo products
• Split testing different designs based on customer personas and preferences

Personalization typically requires a lot of time and effort to pull off, especially at scale, but AI makes personalization a cinch. All you need is a decent amount of customer data to pull helpful insights.

2. Create branded boxes

Branded boxes are a collection of promotional items that tell a cohesive story or experience. These boxed experiences were popular during the pandemic, but they’re growing in popularity with both consumers and brands. After all, who doesn’t love the thrill of opening a curated collection of gifts?

It’s possible to build hyper-personalized brand boxes that lead to even more Brand Love moments with your audience. For one, try personalizing the box packaging with custom printing on the inside and outside. You can even personalize the contents of each box, giving all recipients the same two base items and three other customized products. 

3. Take physical marketing online

Promotional products are effective because they’re a physical marketing strategy. In an era when brands almost exclusively promote themselves online, digital channels like social media are more crowded than ever before. We still love social media, but it doesn’t give brands the mindshare it once did. 

Physical marketing methods like promo put you at the front of the line, skipping over crowded Instagram feeds and email inboxes. But you can also personalize these physical experiences by linking them to trackable digital experiences. 

For example, share a QR code that takes your audience to an online game or custom Spotify playlist. This is a marketing goldmine because it allows you to gather helpful interaction data. It also gives you additional touchpoints to delight and engage with your audience that you might not get with physical promo alone. 

There are so many ways to integrate technology into promotional product campaigns, including:

• Augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR): AR and VR are evolving technologies that allow your audience to interact with your product or brand in a virtual space. For example, you could build a digital showroom where users can try your products with smartphones. Provide AR or VR helmets for in-person events, allowing people to explore digital worlds, compete in fun virtual games, or play with your products in a cool, creative space. 
• LED screens: Integrating your audience’s names into a live experience with promo is a great way to boost engagement. For example, maybe you give each attendee an RFID tag that responds to nearby LED screens when they walk by, displaying their name and a welcome message—or any other personalized message based on their history with your company, location, and other data points. 
• 3D printing: 3D printing is a unique way to create bespoke shapes and designs tailored to individual preferences, marketing campaigns, or your brand image. It’s a big hit at in-person events where attendees can see their products printing, although 3D printing is also a cost-effective way to personalize brand boxes. Consider 3D printing attendees’ photos, names, company logos, mascots, and more for a memorable, personalized experience.

4. Create moments of unexpected joy

Brands give away plenty of promotional materials. How can you make your promo stand out on a crowded expo floor?

Don’t discount the value of the unexpected. For example, scratch-offs and water-activated ink add a dash of interaction, mystery, and excitement to your next event. Try temperature-sensitive products, like color-changing mugs or nail polish, to reveal new colors or messages for a fun element of surprise. You can even share products in their favorite color or build a curated experience based on their order history.

5. Engage the senses

Most promotional products engage with recipients’ senses of touch, sight, and sound. Taste and smell aren’t as common in promo, but these senses are more closely tied to memory than any other senses. 

Aesthetics matter, but when you want to build personalized experiences that attendees remember for years after an event, integrate taste and smell into your campaigns for a multi-sensory experience. Try to personalize this as much as possible. For example, at your next event, create a “build your own custom scent” station where attendees can make their own candles or perfumes that you’ll mail to them after the event. 

You can also create a custom fragrance or candle for your brand—we guarantee recipients will think about you every time they catch a whiff! Just try to go for crowd-pleasing scents that aren’t too strong.

Pioneer personalization in 2024

Thanks to technology, personalization is an evolving marketing strategy that’s becoming easier to pull off. Consumers in 2024 and beyond expect nothing but the best from brands, so it’s never been more important for businesses to invest in new, innovative approaches to personalization. 

Now’s the time to create engaging, memorable, and effective promotional campaigns that cut through the clutter. Whether you’re planning an in-person event or a boxed experience, Boundless is here to help. See how Boundless’s inspiration, direction, and tools unlock your brand’s promo potential.