Top 10 Tips For Ordering Custom USB Flash Drives

One of the big success stories of the marketing industry over the past few years are promotional flash drives. Given how cost effective they are and the limitless customization possibilities, they are an excellent for promotional marketing purposes as well as for data storage. The ability to pre-load them with sales material, technical files, media files (web links etc.) and press releases for business purposes, or loading them with photos, personal documents, income tax backup and other personal uses makes them a multifunctional option for portable storage.

Significant savings can be made by dramatically reducing your print and transport costs and loading the information digitally on the memory sticks!

Our 10 tips for buying custom USB flash drives:

1. Choose a style and design of USB memory stick that reflects your company and will work for your brand. There are literally thousands of different styles of memory sticks to choose from. They are also available in plastic, metal, cardboard, wood, eco-friendly and recycled materials. The most popular types tend to be capless. Our Metal Swivel is one the most popular designs. If you want to go for something a little bit different, then consider leather USB flash drives (good for VIP and high net worth customers). Engraved metal flash drives are a little more rugged/robust so they make a good option for students. USB wristbands are great for the youth market.
2. Memory capacity is all about balance. There is little point in paying for memory that you do not need for your own data preload but you do need to give people something that is useful. A good size to aim for is 2GB to 4GB. That strikes a balance between affordability and making the USB sticks more attractive to the person you give them to. If you want people to use your flash drives, you need to make sure there is enough memory for their daily needs.
3. Choosing the right logo: If your logo includes graduated colors and/or tints that limits the number of USB sticks you can choose. Most USB sticks have a print area of around 2cm-3cm so unless you are willing to simplify your logo it's not going to look great on a smaller USB stick. For complicated logos choose something like a USB business card. These can take a full color print on both sides of the card.
4. Print options: Most USB memory sticks used for promotional purposes are spot printed but they can also be laser engraved or embossed. A less well known option is dome flash drives. Domes look fantastic and the print on the sticker is protected under a layer of resin.
5. Customized shapes and sizes: We can take any object, sketch, or auto-cad drawing and turn that into an exact replica custom USB. Many companies like to choose characters or objects that fit their brand or the campaign that is associated with the purpose for the USB drive.
6. Do you need any packaging? Most suppliers of promotional USB sticks will either supply them in trays or poly/bubble bags. These protect the sticks in transit but you will need to take them out of the bags before they are handed out. Just as there are lots of different style of flash drives there are lots of styles and types of gift boxes to put them in. Some are offered for free (if you ask for them) but premium products can be printed or engraved.
7. Think about accessories. Keyrings and lanyards are a popular option to add value to your promotional thumb drive. Lanyards can also be printed to increase your brand exposure and if ordered at the same time as your memory sticks they will be significantly cheaper.
8. Be very, very clear on your time frames. It is critical to allow enough time for your product to arrive. Make it clear to your supplier exactly when you must have the thumb drives delivered. Ideally, build in a day or so for contingency. The typical lead time for printed USB drives is 10 working days, so use this as a general rule of thumb. Rush services are available but you will typically pay more for this and reduce your design options.
9. Cheapest isn't always the best. If you get a quote for printed flash drives that seems cheap in comparison to others you may have had, then make sure make sure the prices you are being quoted are for new, Grade A chips and not re-cycled or Grade B chips. Recycled, Grade B chips tend to be slower and have a much great failure rate which will reflect badly on your brand.
10. Get references. Promotional USB memory stick suppliers seem to pop-up overnight and many disappear just as quickly. Before you place any order, get references from other customers or check out 3rd party review sites like Trustpilot or ShopperApproved.

Or, contact Logotech to learn more about custom flash drives for your business. We have years of experience, many styles to choose from, and can create the promotional flash drive you want.