Looking for an alternative to typical branded swag, fruit basket, or wine delivery that is also meaningful, useful, and easy to personalize to each of your recipients of annual corporate gifts? Consider choosing a book to stand out from the pack alongside a person-to-person note.
Why Gift a Book?
- Books are relatively inexpensive. On average, paperback titles range between $8 and $15, and certain e-versions and audio versions can be even more affordable or even free. Picture frames, desktop business card holders, and branded USBs fall within the same budget but are not nearly as unique. Power banks and Bluetooth earbuds, by comparison, typically start at $30 or more, and vases and stemware can cost between $70 and $200, depending on the brand.
- Unlike other swag that can be forgotten, books offer a chance at additional engagement every time a client or event partner reads it.
- Printed books also allow you to personalize them with a handwritten dedication on the front cover. This is a great way to strengthen relationships with clients and other important contacts and lets them know you value them as individuals. In today’s world of automated and digital connections, human connections are important ways to reinforce loyalty.
Here are a few of our top recommendations for event-friendly book giveaways.
For Fiction Lovers
A Gentleman in Moscow – Amor Towles
Background: Set in pre-Bolshevik Russia, this story follows the former Count Rostov as he spends decades finding unique ways to hold on to the refinement and culture of his aristocratic upbringing, while also navigating an increasingly complex world of communist rules and expectations.
Reason for Gifting: It is a fantastic lesson in how to manage change, rise above difficult situations, and maintain one’s own personal integrity.
For Professional Development
Find Your Why – Sinek, Mead, and Docker
Background: A follow-up to the popular Start With Why by the same authors, this business title encourages readers to pursue helpful activities and insights for transforming motivation into current and future business decisions and opportunities.
Reason for Gifting: Alone, or alongside the first book in the series, helping people discover and leverage their “Why” makes for An excellent team-building piece that can re-energize creativity in any workplace.
For Personal AND Professional Growth
Background: If the author’s name sounds familiar, it’s because she’s also the prolific creator of mega-hit TV series such as Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal, and How to Get Away with Murder. The book is an account of how, despite her many successes, Rimes still felt unfulfilled and chose to actively change her world by changing the way she reacted to it.
Reason for Gifting: The lessons learned are equally moving for individual relationships for those who feel as though they may be in a career rut.
