The top 9 tips when using USB drives to promote your business

USB Drives (also known as flash drives, thumb drives, USB Sticks or jump drives) come in a wide variety of physical forms, and memory capacities.

The use of USB drives are increasing everyday, as the majority of people have computers either in their home, at work or carried with them in person. USB Drives are used for items too large for email, or easy transfer between computers.

USB Drives have become increasingly popular for transporting and transferring information and software. Promoting and marketing your business with a branded USB Drive represents a great modern and economical method to display your contact details, and/or contain your marketing material on the drive itself.

Branded USB Drives allow you to place your business ahead of the competition by utilising your branding in a practical product for today's lifestyle.

The top 9 tips to consider when buying branded USB Drives:

1. Type of memory chip
Not all flash memory is the same. Choose flash memory chips from a reputable supplier like Intel or Samsung.
Choose Grade A Samsung or Hynix Memory Chips. Steer away from second Grade or recycled chips which are commonly used and result in high failure rates (20-50%).
Be wary of ?seemingly cheap' USB drives which are flooding the market, as most use second grade or recycled chips (classified as Grade C or D) and a number of users have been ?burnt' by the loss of valuable data with these chips.

2. Read/write speeds
USB 2.0 supports three speeds. Low speed, full speed and maximum speed. The speed will make a difference when larger files are being accessed.

3. Failure rate
This measures how long a USB drive will function before it fails. This can be as high as 100 000 read-write cycles, down to 25 000 for lower quality drives. The quality of the memory chip will determine the failure rate of the drive.

4. Data retention
Do the USB drives come with a data retention warranty?
Many suppliers have a 10 year data retention warranty for your added protection.

5. Packaging options
There are different packaging options available such as a polybag, zipbag, pouches (e.g PVC, velvet), gift boxes (Commonly in black, white or silver tin), gift boxes with see through lids

6. Accessory options
E.g Lanyards, keyring attachments to make it easier for users to transport, use and make their USB drive visible

7. Decoration Methods
Generally USB drives will be able to use pad printing, laser engraving or blackened laser engraving

8. Decoration options
Custom printing can be performed on the USB drive and/or the packaging.
Epoxy doming can be performed to provide a more resilient barrier and protection for the USB drive

9. Data options
Pre-loading of data can be performed for you by many suppliers to save you valuable time and energy. Data can also be locked so that the client cannot erase your important information. It is also possible to use an auto-run application, so that upon insertion the USB drive opens your desired file or application e.g a marketing video, your contact details etc