20 Virtual Event Loot Bag Ideas That Your Attendees Will Love

One of the best parts about going to a conference or any event is the loot bag you get just after you register. Or the giveaways you get when you walk through the exhibition hall and try out various things from sponsors’ booths. If you are an event planner, loot bags help you engage with your audience. If you are an event sponsor, loot bags help you build brand awareness.

These days, however, with events going virtual or digital, it can be challenging for event planners and exhibitors to think of fun ideas to draw in the attendees. Some events and sponsors have dropped loot bags entirely, but if you want to have a virtual event worth remembering, it would be nice to have a virtual event loot bag to go with it.

What Is a Virtual Event Loot Bag?

A virtual event loot bag is a collection of various things to give to the audience of your virtual event. They can be physical gifts that you ship to your audience or digital gifts that you can send to your audience through email. Like in-person event loot bags, virtual event loot bags are there to help you engage with your audience and create brand awareness.

Giving your attendees a virtual event loot bag is a great way to make them feel important. In a world where everything is online and people are experiencing ‘Zoom’ fatigue from being in meetings and events day in and day out, you want your virtual attendees to feel appreciated.

Before you create your virtual event loot bag, remember that it has to:

• Fit your event budget
• Relate to your event theme
• Amplify your brand’s message
• Encourage and reward attendee participation
• Be valuable to your attendees

Tips for the Best Kinds of Virtual Event Loot Bags

• Make it unique and insta-worthy. From the design to the presentation, you want it to be something that your attendees will talk about for a long time. You also want something that they will share on their social media platforms for a little post-event marketing boost.
• Don’t send something too expensive. There are a lot of things that your attendees can enjoy for a reasonable cost. Sending something that costs a lot might also make your attendees feel that they are accepting a bribe.
• Match it to your event’s theme. Your virtual event loot bag is part of your virtual event experience. Make your audience feel like they are really a part of the whole event even if they can participate virtually for now.
• Personalise what you can. Everyone loves seeing their name on a card or getting something significant to them.
• Don’t send basic items like pens or notepads. Make it something that they don’t usually get and something that they’ll definitely enjoy.
• Make sure you include lead time for shipping. Don’t wait till the very last moment to ship out your loot bags. Remember, there might be some errors so you’ll want to include a buffer time in your shipping schedule.
• Send something that your attendees can use during the event, such as a chart or checklist.
• Even if you send your attendees a physical loot bag, it’s a great idea to send them something virtually as well.

Virtual Event Loot Bag Ideas

1. Amazon Gift Cards

Your audience will always find something to order on Amazon. While it can’t be personalised, the good news is that you can easily send Amazon gift cards to them and they can easily avail of it.

2. Coffee Gift Cards

Who doesn’t love a cup of coffee? If you send it to your virtual event attendees before the event, you can have specific instructions to order a cup of coffee and take it while the event is going on. They can even take a selfie and post it on social media with the hashtags for your event.

3. Food Delivery Voucher

Food is a must-have during events, especially if your virtual event falls during mealtime. Like the coffee gift card, you can send your attendees a food delivery voucher in advance so they can order food and enjoy the event at the same time.

4. Virtual Fitness Class

Because everyone is stuck at home, people aren’t getting as much exercise as they used to which can be frustrating. You can gift your event attendees with a virtual fitness class so they can stay in shape and release those endorphins.

5. Meditation Subscription Voucher

There’s so much going on that it can be pretty overwhelming sometimes. Send your virtual event attendees a meditation subscription voucher so they can spend some moments in peace and quiet and learn how to destress.

6. Ebooks (or Physical Books)

Give your event attendees some reading material related to the event. It can be a book you and your team put together that adds value to the event or a book by industry leaders.

7. Streaming and Audio Subscriptions

Video streaming services are very much in right now especially since people are forced to remain at home. Give your attendees a month or two of free membership to various streaming platforms. Think Netflix, Disney+, Hulu, Spotify, Apple TV, Amazon’s Audible, and the like.

8. Box of Cookies

This is a no-brainer. Everyone loves cookies and receiving them in the mail will make your attendees so happy. If you have a particular event theme, you might want to have customised cookies made so that it fits your theme.

9. Healthy Snacks

From dried fruit slices to delicious salsas to crunchy nuts, you can get your attendees some healthy snacks to munch on while they attend your event. This serves as brain food so they can remain focused throughout the entire event. You can also send them guilty-pleasure items like chocolates, candies, chips, and more.

10. Event-branded Bag

Usually, in-person events come with a bag to hold all the loot. Even if your event is virtual, you can still give your attendees a bag that they will really appreciate and use even after the event has come and gone. 

11. Wellness Kit

You know how ‘Zoom’ fatigue seems to be a thing these days. People are tired of sitting in front of their laptops, attending one meeting after another. Sending them a wellness kit is a good touch and shows that you care. Some things to include could be tea, essential oils, scented candles, a nice fuzzy blanket, some moisturiser, and more.

12. Card Games

Card games can be a great addition to your virtual event loot bag, depending on the theme of your event. You can also encourage your attendees to play them with family and friends.

13. Power Bank

With people spending most of their time online, everyone needs a power bank these days in case they are away from home and their phones and tablets run out of juice. Your attendees will definitely appreciate this practical and thoughtful gift.

14. Headphones

Everyone uses headphones or earphones these days. Your attendees will definitely love it if you include earphones in your virtual event loot bag. They don’t even have to be the high-end, expensive kind. A compact travel set will do.

15. Everyday Items

From hand sanitisers to face masks to chapstick, breath mints, wipes, and more, this thoughtful mix of items that your attendees are likely to use every day is something that they will appreciate.

16. USB Sticks or Hard Drives

USB sticks and hard drives are some of the much-needed items. Even though cloud storage is becoming increasingly popular due to its efficiency, people still like backing up their files to an external hard drive. It makes them feel more secure knowing that they have a copy of their documents in a safe place.

17. Insulated Tumbler

Everyone needs a little sip of their choice beverage even while they are busy working. An insulated tumbler will let your attendees have their drinks while attending the event. You can even customise your tumblers and ask your attendees to take photos with them and share them on social media.

18. Custom Socks

Socks are cute, cosy, fun, and practical. You can opt to brand them (or not), but you can be sure that this will be an unexpected gift that your attendees will love. You don’t have to have one unique design for everyone. You can choose three different colours and designs and then send them randomly to your attendees.

19. Cosy Items

Think neck pillows or regular pillows or a blanket or throw. They can be a great and useful addition to your loot bag because you want to help your attendees feel comfortable, not just while attending your virtual event, but in their everyday lives as they work from home or at the end of the day when they are resting on the couch or their beds.

20. Something Event-Themed

This depends on the kind of event you will be having. If you’re having a food-tasting or wine-tasting experience, you definitely have to send all those samples beforehand. If you have an event with a happy hour, it would be good to send them some cocktail kits in advance where everyone can make their own cocktails, take some selfies, and then drink them together virtually.

Should I Give My Attendees a Physical or Virtual Event Loot Bag?

The choice is entirely up to you, but to help you decide, here are some pros and cons of both physical and virtual event loot bags:

Physical Loot Bags

Pros:

• You can send them actual stuff that they will receive in the mail. After all, who doesn’t love receiving packages?
• If you send something to your audience that they can use over time, it’s a long-term investment for a brand awareness opportunity.
• Your attendees will be more compelled to attend the event.
• It can serve as post-event marketing as your audience will most likely take a photo and share it on their social media profiles.
• You can be selective about the items you will put in the loot bags which is ideal if you want to set them to your event theme. This will also create a more fun and meaningful event experience.

Cons:

• You’ll need to ship all those bags to all those attendees (if you have a few hundreds, that’s just fine, but can you imagine an event with over a thousand attendees to send event loot bags to? Talk about a logistics nightmare!).
• You’ll need to collect addresses and if there are shipment errors, the package might arrive late, or worse, get lost.
• You need to set hard deadlines and a long lead time so that your attendees don’t receive their loot bags late no matter where you are in the world.
• It will cost more.

Virtual Loot Bags

Pros:

• It’s easy to personalise virtual event loot bags with the help of various software and it won’t take so long to customise the items since you don’t have to worry about printing and other details.
• You can easily track your attendees’ engagement with the virtual loot bag with the help of automation platforms.
• You can easily get the virtual event loot bag to the audience.

Cons:

• A virtual event loot bag doesn’t have that great an impact as compared to a physical loot bag.
• People might not claim their virtual event loot bag as it could end up getting lost in their inbox.

How Can I Send Out a Physical Loot Bag?

Fortunately, several vendors can do this for you so you don’t have to be the one to pack and ship all the items. Some of them come with automation that allows you to ship a loot bag to a person automatically once their registration is approved.

Some of the vendors you can check out are the following:

• Sendoso
• Reachdesk
• Thnks
• Alyce

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