How to take your corporate Christmas gifting to the next level

For many businesses, Christmas needs to be the most wonderful time of the year. It plays a key role in their survival from one year to the next. The most obvious example of this is the potential for sales. A less obvious example is the potential for building relationships that will last all year round. To provide further insight, Adele Thomas, Owner of Distinctive Confectionery shares her expertise for how your business can take corporate Christmas gifting to the next level.

The significance of corporate gifting

There are lots of reasons why corporate gifting matters a lot in the modern world. Most of these, however, revolve around the fact that people like to see companies giving back. This is likely to be especially true in the wake of COVID19.

Most companies should have four groups of people on their Christmas gifting list. These are (potential) customers, employees, suppliers and charities. In the case of the first three groups, Christmas gifting is about showing your appreciation for what they do for you directly. In the case of charities, it’s about showing your appreciation for what they do more generally.

From a financial perspective, appropriate Christmas gifts can be justified by the overall benefits they bring. Gifts to (potential) customers help to increase brand awareness and get the brand more exposure. All appropriate gifts help to promote feelings of loyalty and engagement. This means that corporate Christmas gifting tends to have a very high return on investment.

It is, however, vital that companies gift appropriately. This essentially means choosing a gift that is in proportion to the relationship as well as the company budget. If in doubt, err on the side of going small. Well-chosen small gifts are often much appreciated. Over-gifting can be embarrassing for the recipient and in some cases may look like an attempt at bribery.

Timing your gifting

Gifts to (potential) customers and suppliers are generally best timed for the start of the festive season. Basically, this makes sure that your gift has a chance to be properly noticed (and appreciated) before the festive season really gets into full swing and everybody gets ridiculously busy.

Gifts to charities are also best given early. Many charities are massively busy over the festive season, especially now. Getting your donation to them early will often help them to make the best use of it. Also, charities that tend to be quiet over the festive season will tend to close down the way many offices do.

Gifts to employees can, in principle, be given at any point during the festive season. With that said, there’s a lot to be said for being early here too, particularly if you’re using remote/hybrid workers. You’ll need to post gifts to remote workers so it’s advisable to get them on their way before the Christmas rush starts.

With hybrid and on-site workers, you need to allow for the fact that a lot of people are likely to want time off at Christmas and New Year. Parents are highly likely to want (or need) time off to look after their children over the school holidays. Again, therefore, it’s generally advisable to do your gifting in the early part of December.

Choosing the right gifts

Corporate gifting essentially follows the same principles as regular gifting. You want one or more gifts that the recipient will appreciate and which you feel comfortable giving. The big difference of course is that corporate gifting usually requires you to select gifts a lot of people would be happy to receive. You may also want them branded and/or personalized in some way.

On the face of it, that’s a pretty big ask. Fortunately, there are a lot of gifts that will tick all boxes very nicely. The best corporate gifts (like the best private gifts) either deliver a great experience or are highly practical (or both). They are also increasingly likely to be sustainable.

Delivering an experience

Treat food is a traditional Christmas gift both in the corporate world and in the private one. It’s maintained its popularity for several, excellent reasons. Treat food delivers a great experience. It’s almost guaranteed to be used. Once it’s finished, usually, the packaging can be recycled and/or reused.

Advent calendars are a classic at Christmas and there’s a lot to be said for them. From a marketing perspective, their headline attraction is that they get attention all month. From a practical perspective, they are easy to store, wrap and post. In fact, you may not even bother wrapping them. In a sense, advent calendars are their own packaging.

Chocolate is the most widely-used filling for advent calendars. These days there are now plenty of fair-trade and/or organic options available at budget-friendly prices. Many of these also come in sustainable packaging such as recycled and recyclable cardboard. Choosing these is a great way to highlight your corporate responsibility and sustainability credentials. These are increasingly important to people of all ages.

Choosing practical gifts

If you’re going for practical gifts then it’s often best to stick with ones that are intended to be used up. Food is probably still the most obvious choice here. Stationery is another. If you’re going for a gift you want the user to keep over the long term, then it’s advisable to think very carefully.

In reality, most people already have plenty of the standard corporate gifts like mugs, keyrings and stress balls. You could try looking at items people often need a lot of, for example, tote bags. Alternatively, you could look at items people often lose such as portable cutlery.

Highlighting sustainability

Customers are increasingly not just expecting but demanding that companies take sustainability seriously. Probably the most obvious example of this is the way companies are now actively rolling back their use of plastic packaging. In some instances, regulation is a factor in their decision. The regulation itself, however, is often driven by consumer/voter pressure.

It’s therefore highly preferable if your corporate Christmas gifts have some form of active sustainability credentials. These might include fair-trade accreditation, being organic and/or using recycled/recyclable material. At a minimum, be careful what gifts you choose and what packaging you use. For example, glossy Christmas paper tends to be non-recyclable due to the plastic content.