A study analyzing swag spend among over 185 B2B professionals revealed widespread frustration with swag programs, which are seen as costly and difficult to manage. Companies plan to increase swag spending, but many utilize multiple vendors and ineffective inventory management, leading to unnecessary expenses. There's a significant need for a shift in swag strategy, focusing on value over volume and adopting software tools to better track effectiveness.

1. State of Swag
How Swag spend and usage
is shifting in 2020

2. Alyce and Ignite Research recently teamed together to create a
study of over 185 B2B professionals in Marketing and Human
Resources in order to gauge the current state of swag spend and
programs. Response was tremendous but respondents were not
required to answer each question.
In a nutshell, what we found was overwhelming frustration with
the current state of affairs. Across the board B2B professionals
think swag programs are costly, difficult to manage and hard to let
go of. What follows is the State of Swag by the numbers.

3. S WAG S P E N D I S O N T H E R I S E
54% of companies say they
plan to increase their swag
spend this year

4. Leveraged wisely, branded
products can represent a real
differentiator for your brand
and a smart way to build
loyalty with your audience.
- Nina Butler, Director of Demand Gen, Alyce

5. A L L- I N - O N E S WAG S O L U T I O N S
A R E E L U S I V E
45% of companies use
3+ swag vendors

6. Swag is much more of a
high-level relationship play.
And I mean more meaningful
swag. Nobody needs any
more stress balls, or
business card holders.
- Robert Rose, Content Marketing Institute

7. M A N AG I N G S WAG I N V E N TO RY
I S A H A S S L E . . .
77% of respondents store
swag in their office
17% store in a third
party warehouse

8. The big problem is how marketers
waste money on ineffective swag
management because they haven’t
educated themselves on how to
use swag effectively.
- Jamie Bradley, Sophos

9. . . . A N D E X T R E M E LY C O ST LY
Companies spend an
average of $185k annually
on swag inventory alone
PLUS another $30k in average
services and fulfillment

10. Companies think volume,
not value. They should think
about more thoughtful gifts
that feel unique.
- Ann Handley, Head of Content at MarketingProfs

11. S O F T WA R E I S T H E
A N S W E R FO R S O M E
35% of companies
turn to software to
manage their swag
And pay an average
of $31k to do so

12. Software is great if you wanted to
attribute conversions specifically to
swag. Get a trackable link to redeem
swag and whenever someone visits
the site or redeems that code, you’ll
know exactly where they came from!
- Kerry O’Shea Gorgone, Director of Community
Engagement at MarketingProfs

13. B U T M A N AG I N G A VA R I E T Y
O F S WAG I S ST I L L A C H A L L E N G E
90% of respondents purchase apparel
Followed by drinkware (68%)
Backpacks (51%)
Gadgets (46%)
Electronics (44%)

14. Most swag is wasteful, but the
things I bring home tend to be
the high-value, unique items.
- Andrew Davis, keynote speaker & best-selling author

15. A N D M A N AG I N G S E V E R A L U N I Q U E
U S E C A S E S , O H B OY
72% of respondents use swag for
company events
71% for special events
70% to thank customers
70% for trade shows
69% for new employees
68% to engage prospects and
customers

16. Swag has three purposes from
my perspective: 1. Increasing brand
awareness, 2. Incentivizing people to
take action, 3. Rewarding people for
action they have taken. We use swag
for all three.
- Jamie Bradley, Sophos

17. # 1 S WAG E X P E N D I T U R E
I S O N E V E N T S
Events: $115k (51%)
Customers, Prospects,
Investors: $74k (33%)
Employees: $36k (16%)

18. With recent cancellations of major
industry conferences, we anticipate
a major shift in the way swag is
managed. Marketers spend a ton
of money every year on swag, and
recent news has highlighted how
that process is broken.
- Greg Segall, CEO of Alyce

19. W H E R E LO W E R VA L U E G I F T S
A R E T Y P I C A L , B EC AU S E
T H E Y ’ R E E A S I E R TO S C A L E
74% say low cost items
are preferred over high
cost items for events

20. People buy low value items because
you get more for your money.
But a nice piece of exec swag goes
a much longer way than a pen or
cheap chapstick does.
- Nick Bennett, Head of Field Marketing at Clari

21. My fellow Americans, from our survey, we’re here to
say the state of swag is not good. Companies are spending
too much money, on the wrong items, and too much time
managing the programs. Current events are also pointing
out the vulnerability of the traditional approach. If these
numbers are correct, and they are, it’s time we take a
different approach to swag going forward.