Promotional marketing is huge. Enormous. Highly successful when done correctly. Sadly, many small businesses don’t define a difference between “advertising” and “promotional marketing.”
Promotional marketing is incentive-based and event-based – it could be a competition, free samples or coupons. Advertising is taking out a Yellow Pages ad or distributing posters designed to facilitate brand recognition.
Do you engage in promotional marketing? If not, you should. It works. Regardless of your company’s products or services, the right promotional marketing campaign can increase business exponentially; especially if you heed my three tips for promotional marketing success.
1.Set clear goals. You have to define a purpose for your promotional marketing campaign, and set clear goals so you measure your success. Your purpose might be lead generation, with a goal of 100 new leads; or your purpose might be direct sales, with a goal of 20 sales. If you define a purpose and set a clear goal, you can accurately measure your success when your campaign ends.
2.Think like a customer. Sure, your entire department knows that your new widgety-whack might be the hottest thing to hit your industry in a decade. But does your customer know that? Put yourself in your customers ’shoes and think about what benefits your product or service offers that will make them happy to spend their hard-earned money with you. Build this reason into your offer to motivate action.
3.Follow up. If you capture names, generate leads, or make sales as a result of your promotional marketing campaign you must follow up. A bird in hand is worth two in the bush … and a customer who has given you their name or already made a purchase is more likely to buy. Try comparing your marketing return on investment between campaigns tailored to prospects versus those catering to current customers, and you’ll probably see a difference. Use this data to your advantage on future promotional marketing campaigns.
