Career fairs are always a good way to get people engaged and find the role of their dreams. One of the best ways organizers and organizations keep attendees top of mind is by having giveaways and swag bags. While in-person events have always been ideal, virtual events are still popular and a great alternative for attending an event that’s in an inaccessible location.
What Is a Swag Bag?
When attendees attend a career fair, most of the time they receive a bag filled with promotional items that have information and keepsakes from all the sponsoring organizations and vendors. That’s the swag bag meaning that most people know. Putting together career fair giveaways isn’t just about collecting items – these swag bag items are part of a larger strategy. The better the swag bag ideas, the greater the chance of being remembered.
Swag bag ideas for virtual career fairs and events
Virtual career fairs can be part of an organization’s hybrid events strategy. Although the career fair is a virtual venue, there are many virtual swag bag ideas that keep attendees engaged. It can be difficult for some organizers to wrap their heads around creating a virtual swag bag that is effective, especially when corporate swag bag ideas are usually physical and tangible.
As you create sustainable events that include virtual components, a swag bag for virtual event participation becomes a vital piece of the engagement tools and event tech integrations used to keep your attendees interested. The goal of the virtual swag bag is to keep participants connected.
Your virtual venue should go beyond the typical swag bag crossword. There are many virtual event products that help create memorable, immersive experiences that may cross over into the physical before or after the event is over. Many virtual event solutions have attendees fill out their information as they register, so they receive branded merchandise at home.
The key is in working with a team that understands the logistics of virtual events and can provide helpful information to keep your attendees happy. Here are some virtual swag bag ideas:
- Branded Clothing
Everyone likes to get free clothes, right? Get your sponsors on board and send attendees branded clothing like socks, sweatshirts, or even sweatpants. For the crew that’s stuck watching from a computer or television, it provides connection in the right way.
- Laptop Stand
This doesn’t have to be something very expensive, but it should be something that can be branded with a logo. For individuals looking to find employment or a new career, this is a helpful item that they’ll always remember.
- Physical Gift Cards
While getting a coupon from Amazon is cool, it’s the personalized experience that people remember. A tangible gift card toward something that can help their career search will always resonate with them.
- Unboxing Experience
All the items listed above can be included in one box to create a magnificent unboxing experience. This adds value to the career fair (they will return and tell others too), makes a huge first impression, and creates a personalized branding experience.
- Digital Merchandise
Having a customized career fair experience from a virtual standpoint can still be memorable. Granting access to eBooks or subscriptions to learning platforms and online courses that can help advance someone’s career is always helpful.
- Resume Builder
Partnering attendees with a free career session that includes a resume is a good way to help those attendees that can’t be there in person.
- Food
Depending on how long and structured the career fair is, you could provide UberEats or DoorDash codes for discounted meals as they participate in the sessions.
Choosing Virtual Swag Bag Items To Suit Your Audience and Budget
Picking the right swag bag contents for your hybrid and virtual events takes careful planning and understanding of your attendees. Do a poll to see what types of merchandise they would want to see in their swag bags prior to the fair. People love free swag bag items. It’s also important to consider the budget. Any merchandise that needs to be mailed has to have a postage budget. Depending on the size of the swag bag, it could get costly.
If you’re only planning to provide virtual gifts, make them memorable and useful. People attend career fairs for a few reasons: to network, to find a job, to weigh their options for another job, and to see what’s out there. You should have a hashtag for your virtual swag bag to create organic content because when you have memorable merchandise and experiences, people want to share. Stay away from cheap swag bag items. You don't want to tarnish the experience or your brand.
Utilizing the right virtual event platform makes a difference. You want virtual attendees to feel just as, if not more comfortable in getting the information, meeting the vendors, and networking as if they were there in person.
Work With a Team That Gets Things Done
If you’re considering putting together a virtual or hybrid career fair, request a virtual event platform demo from the team at 6Connex to see how you can provide next-level experiences for your event.
