Making Every Gift Feel Special: Personalization Tips for Bulk Orders

In the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, it can be easy to get caught up in the logistics of bulk-ordering gifts. But even when you’re buying hundreds of the same item, it's still possible to make each gift feel truly special. At Ideation, we believe that personalization can elevate any present, no matter how many you're giving. That's why we've compiled a collection of tips to help you add a personal touch to your bulk holiday gifts. From engraved bag tags to personalized water bottles, there are countless ways to make your recipients feel appreciated and unique. Let's dive in and discover how you can turn bulk-ordered gifts into memorable experiences.

Personalization is more than just adding a name; it's about creating a connection. When a gift feels tailored to the recipient, it shows that you've put thought and effort into selecting something that resonates with them. It's a way to make a generic item feel unique and meaningful. By taking the time to personalize your gifts, you're not just giving a present; you're giving a piece of personal gesture.

There are so many ways to personalize beyond just putting a person’s name. Although Ideation has thousands of products that can be personalized with a person’s first and or last name, we also have other ideas on ways to personalize gifts this holiday season.

• Color of item – allowing people to pick the color of an item allows the item to be more personal. In our office we have team members that love orange and others that prefer navy, both brand colors but even that simple choice can personalize the gift.

• Choice of gift – you can select the gift options based on budget and employees but then let the employee pick the item they would prefer. This can be very effective at allowing people to get these they will use. Example could be choosing from a cooler, duffel bag or backpack. Maybe they can choose a jacket, a Stanley cup or a MagSafe power bank.

• Gender specific gift – this can be tricky these days to do a gender specific gift but you know your employees and customers so if the opportunity presents itself this could be a great way to make something personalized in a way. I just encourage you to be mindful of your team and customers and if there is a chance of offending someone maybe skip the gender specific items.

• Let them personalize the item – A way to allow for personalization without having the logistics of personalization is through giving people an item that allows personalization. I have seen frames done where the photo location has a message telling them to add their favorite photo or even a magnetic photo frame that has something on the outside about their why goes inside so it could be a photo or tickets to an event or whatever it might be. I have even done items where the recipient can personalize the item through coloring in the outlines of images on the item (water bottles, bags etc.) or doing a beautiful Miir bottle with a white box that says something like this bottle belongs to:.

• Personalized by location – some companies have teams and customers around the country so you can always do a gift that is in the shape of the state or a scene of city they are in. These cutting boards are examples of ways to personalize the gift without doing a different imprint or message on the item.

• Personalize by interests – I have seen huge success with doing personalization based on interests like sports teams. I have done Seattle Seahawks gear for customers in Seattle I have also done Minnesota Vikings gear for customers in Twin Cities and so on. Our team can get creative on how we collect this information and get your brand associated with these teams without breaking any branding rules.
  

We do love to do items with peoples name on it but this list is intended to give you other ideas for ways to personalize gifts outside of their name. A name will always be a winner in our book though. 

Does this task feel overwhelming? Don’t fret, it is not overwhelming to us. At Ideation we have done this so many times that we have the tools to collect this information while still doing everything we can to keep the gift a surprise. If you want to brainstorm how you can personalize your upcoming Christmas or really any promotional item contact your rock star Account Manager or Contact Us and we will make some personalized magic happen!

We know it may be more work but think about how people feel seeing something unique to them in the form of a gift. You don’t see a recipient giving away a water bottle that has their name on it or a jacket with their nickname, right? So maybe it is worth the additional work, especially when you have us by your side doing as much of the heavy lifting as possible.