First impressions matter — but lasting impressions win the sale. The right marketing leave-behind can turn a handshake into a phone call, a meeting into a contract, and a one-time purchase into a loyal relationship. From clever ideas to practical items people actually keep, here are the top 10 leave-behinds that work long after you've left the room.
What are Marketing Leave Behinds?
Marketing leave-behinds are promotional, physical materials that are left or given to potential customers or existing ones. They are often given after a meeting, service interaction, a product was bought, a presentation, or at an event. Their purpose is to increase brand exposure, encourage follow-up engagement, and ultimately lead to a sale.
10 Effective Leave Behinds
Leave Behind Brochures
A classic, but still effective marketing leave behind, is the brochure. A well-designed brochure concisely provides your audience with an overview of what your business has to offer, such as products, services, menu options, testimonials, statistics, and more.
Plus, because they come in various sizes and folding options, and are extremely cost-effective, they provide you with a versatile way to get creative and promote your business. Leave them behind after a meeting, a house service quote, an event, on your front desk as a grab-and-go, and more.
Branded Notepads
Custom notepads are cost-effective items that offer consistent brand exposure, making them the perfect marketing leave-behinds.
Everyone uses some type of means to write down notes, reminders, or grocery lists, making them a practical piece.
When you add your branding and contact information, your audience is reminded of your brand every time they use their notepad, keeping your brand top-of-mind for months or even years to come.
Leave Behind Rack Cards
Handheld, short, and straight to the point, rack cards are eye-catching, thick cards, typically sized at 4" x 9" that are perfect for handing out at an event, leaving as a grab-and-go at an open house, or inserting into product packaging to encourage repeat sales.
Use these leave-behinds to highlight menu options, service listings, a product promotion, quick facts, or contact information.
The best part? They are large enough to make an impact but small enough to slip into a presentation folder, hang on a fridge, or insert into product packaging.
Business Cards
Don't forget the most basic leave behind of them all! The most common and personal marketing material to leave behind is business cards. They are simple but still very effective and perfect for sharing your contact information with prospects.
Make sure to include your contact information, company logo, website URL, and eye-catching colors. You can also include a QR code so recipients can quickly add your contact information to their phone.
In addition, don't forget to bundle your business card with all these other leave-behinds; that way, not only do recipients have quick access to your company information, but they also have a quick way to contact you directly.
Leave Behind Flyers & Sell Sheets
Single page, easy to read at a glance, and low cost? Sell sheets and flyers are the perfect marketing leave-behinds for quick pitches, product highlights and details, event promotions, pricing information, and case studies.
These eye-catching items are easy to leave out as a grab-and-go, hand out to people passing by, leave behind after meeting with a prospect, insert into a presentation folder, or tuck into packaging to encourage repeat sales.
Even better, because they are single-paged materials, you can also send your audience a follow-up email with the sheet attached as a digital leave-behind document to increase engagement.
Presentation Folders
If you're leaving behind items like proposals, case studies, or pricing lists, you need a branded folder. They are a professional, cost-effective, and polite way to package all your leave-behind documents.
Whether for a conference, client meeting, event, or open house, no matter what your marketing materials are used for, inserting them into a presentation folder shows your audience you care about their business.
Choose from a single or double pocket folder and make sure to include business card slits so you can easily showcase your contact information.
Door Hangers
If you're in the home services, restaurant, or hospitality industry, leave behind door hangers are a must. They are eye-catching, high-visibility marketing materials that lead to direct engagement with homeowners, residents, and guests.
For example, if you're in the lawn care business, hang a door hanger on your customer's neighbors' doors to increase sales and brand awareness in a local area. For hotels, hang a promotional door hanger to greet guests and provide intriguing upsells. Or if you own a restaurant, list your top menu options and a discount on door hangers. Make sure to always be aware of local ordinances and property restrictions before distributing your door hangers.
Custom Yard Signs
While door hangers increase engagement at the door, yard signs increase engagement by exposing your brand to everyone who drives or walks by.
A common and effective marketing tactic is for home services businesses to offer a small discount if they can put a yard sign in their customers' yards. This then invites neighbors to want to learn more and give you a call, increasing local relationships and saturating an area with your brand.
Leave behind yard signs are ideal for painters, home repair companies, lawn care businesses, loggers, pest control companies, and more.
Promotional Materials
One of the best marketing leave-behinds is promotional items, or branded merchandise. Why? Because they are reusable and kept for years, providing ongoing brand exposure.
For example, branded tote bags, mouse pads, drinkware, bottle openers, or even blankets are unlikely to be thrown out. A coffee mug with your logo will be viewed every morning, a bag with your company name will be seen every time it's used on a trip or at the grocery store, or a charging bank with your logo will be used countless times.
Whether leaving behind at an event, meeting, grand opening, or open house, leave behind promo items are a must.
Leave Behind Catalog
Need to show a broad service or product range? How about sharing your mission and achievements over the past year? A leave-behind catalog is the ideal marketing tool.
Custom catalogs are ideal leave-behinds for retailers to showcase products, realtors to showcase properties, nonprofits to share their good deeds and encourage donations, corporate businesses to share information on their progress and goals, and so much more.
You only get one chance at a first impression, and leaving behind effective marketing materials helps make the most of it. A leave-behind is a great way to create a lasting relationship with people long after the conference, meeting, or first interaction is over.
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