Which Bag Is Best? Your Feature Guide for Promotional Bags

Your business is unique, and your promotions should be too! That’s why we don’t just offer one bag as the best for every brand. Will your customers be carrying heavy produce in your custom totes, or will they be commuting with their laptops inside your branded backpacks? Bags with more popular features like zippers, gussets, and more are also more likely to be sought after, used, and held onto by customers, improving your brand visibility. To help you find and customize the perfect promotional bags for your brand, we’ve put together this guide to all the most sought-after features in 2023. 

Why Promote with Custom Logo Bags?

If you want your brand to go places, you can’t just leave it sitting on a sign in front of your business. Your logo should be parading the streets, carrying your products, promoting your services, and engaging daily with your customers. Promotional bags are perfect for all of this because they are: 

• Useful: Custom logo bags are more than just an accessory, they’re made to be used and used often. Customers will not just interact with your branded gift, but come to rely on it. This works to increase the visibility of your brand in your customers’ lives while also building a bond of trust with your business.

• Portable: Your bags will be seen everywhere because they were made to go anywhere. Picnics, day trips, camping, commuting, and more can have your logo along for the ride when you offer your own custom bags.
• Visible: Custom totes, coolers, and other bags come with lots of imprint space for your logo, making it impossible to miss where these stylish gifts came from. With one of your bags on their back or under their arm, customers become a walking endorsement for your brand.
• Desirable: Because promotional bags are so useful and stylish, you don’t necessarily have to give these as gifts. Branded merch is a great way to share your brand while making extra money, and we offer lots of styles that customers are happy to pay for.

Want some tips for how to make the most out of your bag’s branding visibility? Check out our other blog post all about creating full color custom printed bags for your next promotion. 

Desirable Bag Features and Benefits

Heavyweight Fabric

A little extra durability goes a long way, especially for totes made for regular heavy use. Perfect for toting groceries, picnic gear, and more, bags with a heavy fabric weight will offer that essential dependability your customers look for in branded merch. 

Want to learn more about the fabric weights and how to know what you’re buying? Check out our blog post that dives deep into the ins and outs of cotton bag weights. You can also check out our blog post about why we love custom canvas tote bags. 

Full Color Kaya 10 oz Recycled Cotton Tote Bag 

If you want to try out a heavyweight cotton fabric for your next custom logo bag, this tote is one of our favorites! It offers reliably sturdy fabric yet soft fabric with a natural cotton color that makes your full color imprint stand out. 

Wide Gusset

Don’t you love independence in a bag? A wide gusset allows your promotional bags to stand up on their own using an extra panel of fabric sewn on the bottom. This is great for groceries, bags for traveling, and any bag that customers may want to set down at some point.  

Britebrand™ Morris Tote Bag 

This tote is a favorite not just for its wide gusset bottom, but also for its stylish grey accent design and base color options. With reinforced seams and your full color logo on the front, these bags are built to give lasting brand visibility every time you share them.

Pockets

More pockets means more possibilities for your customers. Bags with pockets can carry your products, sure, but with separate pockets they can carry keys, phones, and other essentials your customers rely on. Offering a secure, separate space for your customers’ essentials makes your bag that much more competitive in the race of which bag becomes the daily favorite.  

Porter Collection Sport Drawstring Bag 

This drawstring bag is packed with pockets, featuring side pockets for drinks as well as a separate front pocket for all of those essentials your pants pockets just don’t have room for. Featuring soft polyester, grey accents, and your custom logo and message on the front, this is one of our favorite promotional bags for all occasions.

Recycled Fabric

Recycled materials are better for the planet, your customers, and your brand. Plus, with modern advances in recycling, you can have bags made from anything from soft recycled cotton to water-proof recycled plastic polyester. Brands that incorporate recycled materials into their branding Show customers that they’re dedicated to finding better ways to do business. 

Chaya RPET Tote with Pouch 

Ever find yourself needing a bag but you left them all at home? These RPET totes are specially designed to be lightweight and compact, easy to store in the car for emergencies without taking up tons of space. Waterproof, and with a pouch you can hang up, these convenient little bags can quickly become essentials for your customers. 

Zippered Compartments

Not every adventure can be handled with an open-top bag. Zippers are an essential bag feature for many customers who will be taking their bags to outdoor activities, juggling lots of small items, or keeping in the heat for cooler bags. While an open grab-and-go bag is a home essential, zippered bags are equally necessary to have at home and make excellent real estate for your logo. 

Multi-Pocket Mesh Orion Tote Bag 

This large zippered tote is perfect for picnics, camping, traveling, and more. With a secure zippered main compartment and lots of exterior pockets for quick-grab essentials, this versatile bag offers a stylish space for your logo and tons of utility for your customers.

Padded

Padding in a bag isn’t an essential for every situation, but if you’re going to be transporting delicate items or electronics, padding is a must. Padding keeps your customers’ belongings secure on long commutes, outdoor adventures, and more.  

But electronics aren’t the only things that need a little padding from time to time. Backpacks also can benefit from a padded back to keep gear from digging into your customers’ backs while they walk, especially for hikes, and padded shoulders maintain comfort while carrying heavy loads. 

Porter Collection Rucksack Backpack 

This rucksack is a versatile bag that’s perfect for everything from carrying college essentials to hiking mountain trails. Featuring an adjustable roll top for adjustable volume, all the pockets you could ask for, and adjustable straps, this bag is made to become a fast favorite for customers on the go.

Low/No Order Minimum

This isn’t actually a bag feature, but it’s an important thing to consider when looking at your promotional strategy. While bulk orders save you money, not everyone actually needs 100+ bags. When gifting internally, or just testing out a new product to add to your merch line, custom tote bags with no minimum order size can be a huge money saver. 

Porter Collection Large Cooler Tote Bag 

These cooler bags are a giveaway favorite for more than just massive imprint space. Customers will love being able to keep so many frozens and other perishables safe during long drives from their favorite stores thanks to the large carrying volume. These bags are also essentials for picnics, camping, and family gatherings where food is involved. 

While this clearly isn’t a comprehensive list of every bag feature and benefit available (we didn’t even get into backpacks vs totes!) we hope this guide will give you greater insight into what you want in your promotional bags. There’s a lot of options available on our site, so take the time you need to consider every feature that will bring value to your gifts and giveaways.