Pretty much everyone knows what a USB flash drive is and most people will use one on a regular basis. USB flash drives are brilliant for storing and carrying large amounts of data around; they're small, portable, attractive and easy to use and it's for these reasons that they have become a particularly "hot" promotional item.
Companies love them because they know when they print their brand or logo on them that they will almost always get used not just once but time and time again. By pre-loading files onto them like sales brochures, presentations, media files, price lists etc. they are able to deliver significant amounts of useful information to their prospective customers in a highly cost effective manner - and of course the on-going usage of the flash drive gives them long term brand exposure.
Whilst the price of USB flash drives continues to fall with some now costing below ?2 per unit (printed and data loaded) this is still too expensive for some companies. A cheaper alternative, and a solution some companies are opting for is a USB Web Key.
USB web keys look just like a regular USB flash drive - they have a USB connector on the end and they come in the same range of body styles and shapes that USB flash drives are available in. The primary difference between them is a USB flash drive has internal flash memory that you can read/write data to and from whereas a USB web key has no memory so you cannot store files/data on it.
Although Web Keys have no accessible memory they can store a single website address. So, when you connect the Web Key to your PC or Mac it will automatically start the default browser used on the PC and load up the webpage that is stored on the web key. The web page it starts could be a company website home page, a competition page, a Facebook page or it could deep link to a particular product page on a web site.
As an example if a company was launching a new product then they could distribute USB web keys in the shape of the product or printed up with details of the product and embed a web link to a landing page on the product - this landing page could supply details of the product, links to media files, links to pricing and tech sheets, links to Twitter and Facebook to allow the customer to follow further updates on the product and so on.
Whilst a USB web key does not have a compelling reason to keep it and reuse it on a regular basis it is a great way to get prospective customers to visit your web site where you can then get them to register and sign-up for further (on-going) information on your company and its products and services.
They are also relatively inexpensive and if you choose a small, thin design then they can be posted out using standard "Letter Post" rates rather than much more expensive "Packet Post" rates.
If you've been given a web key curiosity is likely to mean you are going to use it and you are going to visit the web site pre-loaded onto it. With web tracking and analytics in place its also pretty easy to track the click-thru's and work out the effectiveness of any campaign that uses a USB web key.
Phil is part of the team at USB2U. USB2U is a specialist supplier of Branded and Promotional USB Memory Sticks. We offer fast turnaround times, excellent advice and support and free design and mock-ups. If you are considering Branded Memory Sticks or want custom USB memory sticks then please contact us - we 'd be delighted to hear from you.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Phil_Battison
source: http://EzineArticles.com/6286590
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