Amy Schwartz
Product Marketing Manager
Measuring the impact of your brand has historically been tricky to pin down.
You can put loose metrics together for direct web traffic, word-of-mouth referrals at events, and mentions on social, but it certainly doesn’t capture the full scope of your programs.
The “go with your gut” projects born out of brainstorms are the first to go when marketing budgets get tight simply because you can’t prove how effective they really are.
Company swag and other branded items are often seen as a budget burn instead of a value add.
The typical process looks something like this:
1. You want new t-shirts for an event or a fresh batch of employee onboarding boxes.
2. You work with your agency, come up with a ballpark budget, research the best vendors, source the items, work on designs through way too many rounds of feedback, only to get hung up with the team on a collective shirt color decision.
3. Before you know it the month deadline is in two days and you end up rush shipping a bulk order to the office of Gildan might-as-well-be-sandpaper tees. Then, at the event you hand them out to strangers, leaving you wondering: “So what now, and what do we do with all the leftover inventory?”
There’s a better way. Actually, there are two.
To effectively manage budget and measure impact, you need advanced insight into every step of the process: order quantities, warehouse inventory, what’s been ordered and when, in-transit and delivery information, and most importantly, attribution to accounts.
Introducing In-App Swag Creator and Paper Plane Agency, your swag solutions for the full spectrum of projects—from keep it simple to creative and complex.
The newest feature addition to Postal Engage, Swag Creator allows you to easily design and order custom swag items to be sent from the Postal Marketplace or add directly to your company swag store via Postal Brand.
For larger, curated projects, partner with our experienced creative services team at Paper Plane Agency. Let our experts focus on creating the best out-of-the-box experiences, including direct mail, promotional materials, branded swag, and custom kits.
Paper Plane Agency
For custom-branded projects that require a bigger lift like onboarding boxes, customer appreciation gifts, or bulk employee appreciation gifts, work with the Paper Plane team for a white-glove service from ideation to delivery.
The Paper Plane Process:
- Discovery: Ideate and brainstorm together to make sure we are staying on-brand and bringing your vision to life.
- Design & Source: We connect with our network of trusted wholesale and specialty vendors and present you with a visual of branded packaged items that meet your desired budget and timeline.
- Kit & Warehouse: Once approved, we lock in your branded merchandise and ensure it arrives in perfect condition. We then kit and warehouse, so that your gifts are ready to go whenever you need them.
- Send via Postal: Use Postal Engage to easily send and track custom projects to your employees, customers, and prospects all over the world.
Work with our team of experts
Paper Plane is supported by creative project managers that work right alongside you as an extension of your team throughout your project to handle the logistics.
This year alone, our team has completed nearly 500 projects, totaling over $4.5M in spend. That’s a lot of swag.
The team works with your internal team to bring your brand vision to life, with the knowledge and expertise of having been there and done that.
From the initial concepts to sourcing premium (and memorable) items to nailing the final speaker kits for our event, it couldn't have worked out any better. A few big name speakers even said this was the best corporate gift they'd ever received.
- Mark Huber, Head of Brand & Product Marketing at Metadata
Guarantee high-quality projects
The Paper Plane team has strong relationships and product knowledge with over 300+ Postal Vendors.
This allows our team to pick specific vendors based on project needs like budget, timeline, quantities, and locations.
We know that quality is key so finding the right items, at the right budget takes extensive research and product knowledge. We work with our vendors to stay on top of the hottest trends and eco-friendly products.
The Paper Plane team at Postal is the secret to my gifting success! We efficiently partner on high-quality sends that drive external prospect engagement and internal employee joy.
- Ricky Salguero, Event Marketing Manager at Mezmo
Build creative custom kits
Our team knows what a superior unboxing experience looks like and works directly with specialty vendors and our warehousing team to make sure your recipient receives your gift exactly the way you want.
Cut time spend significantly by working with one vendor, Paper Plane. Plus, managing inventory with one warehouse partner eliminates countless hours tracking down items and figuring out which ones you need to re-up.
Available in two flexible pricing plans, Postal Warehousing team stores, ships, kits, and packs items from existing inventory and new projects.
Whether you have a ton of different projects or just a few pieces to store, the items can easily be accessed digitally within your Postal Marketplace and sent to recipients through MagicLinks, personalized emails, or direct sends.
Postal offers transparent and competitive pricing for every project. There is no scope creep- our requests get done on time and on budget with a dedicated rep for each project.
- Casey Patterson, Manager of ABM at Fivetran
Swag Creator
With the in-app Swag Creator, you can create and send custom-branded swag within Postal Engage.
To use the Swag Creator:
- Choose from thousands of high-quality items that fit your budget and deadline.
- Customize with your logo and order the amount you want (minimum quantities are listed per item).
- See proofs, order a sample, and pay for swag using your Postal budget.
- Get notified when your completed swag has arrived at the Postal warehouse and is available in you marketplace of approved items.
- Send your new swag items one at a time or in bulk using Postal Engage, or add them to your swag store with Postal Brand.
Customize and send thousands of swag items
We’re cutting down on the third-party logistics involved with creating, ordering, and sending swag.
With Swag Creator, you can choose from a variety of items, ranging from signage to tech accessories.
Every item can be customized, branded, and ordered within minutes—without leaving the Postal app.
Order swag when you need it
We’re hoping to eliminate excess and reduce waste by allowing you to do smaller runs of items so you don’t need to hold on to old swag in a closet at the office.
Within the app, there’s a large selection of items, requiring minimum quantities as low as 10, and all inventory is managed within Postal Engage.
Swag is stored in Postal warehouses and available to send (one-off or in bulk) in a few clicks.
Create swag that fits your budget and timeline
Your budget isn’t flexible but we don’t think that should limit your options to one or two items.
The Swag Creator gives you the ability to filter items by category, price, minimum quantity, and turnaround time.
See the impact of your swag projects in real-time
The final step in the swag creation process is distribution and tracking. Easily send your custom boxes using the Postal Engage marketplace or add branded items to your Postal Brand storefront.
Track and report on ROI and impact to pipeline of your offline efforts to see what’s working to encourage event attendance, increase sales velocity, retain customers, and keep employees engaged.
Head over to our help center to learn more about accessing the new Swag Creator or get started with Postal to learn more about how we’re changing the way you source, send, and track corporate gifts and branded swag.
