Promotional Marketing

Advertising, packaging, pricing, and sales campaigns are all major elements of promotional marketing. Whether a business is big or small, marketing is an integral part of a company's growth and success. Even companies that are already household names must continue to market themselves, their products, and services regularly in order to stay ahead of the competition and in order to continue to attract new customers.

There are a wide variety of promotional marketing strategies that may be employed by companies around the world today, but there are only a handful of popular marketing strategies. These marketing strategies are frequently employed due to their cost-effectiveness and their ability to reach the largest audiences. The following are all common marketing strategies and if carefully planned, they can become very successful techniques for promoting your company, products, and services:

• Direct Marketing


• Internet Marketing


• Guerrilla Marketing


• Promotional Marketing.

What is Promotional Marketing?

Promotional marketing is a marketing strategy designed to stimulate a customer to buy. Promotional marketing may involve the use of incentives to stimulate interest and spending such as:

• Coupons


• Contests


• Sweepstakes


• Sampling.

Promotional Marketing: Coupons and Contests

Coupons are one of the oldest and most popular incentive types in existence today. It is estimated that more than 80% of the US population uses coupons. Coupons may be used in grocery stores, at retailers, in restaurants, airlines, car rental services, and even online, to name a few. If a company distributes coupons, chances are customers will use them and quite possibly purchase products solely based on savings or promotional prices. Contests are commonly used by small businesses to attract new clients and create awareness. Contests or sweepstakes typically involve a small prize such as free products geared towards the target audience, rebates, and in some cases, small cash prizes.

Promotional Marketing: Sampling

Sampling is a great way to allow potential customers to try a product for free. This is a particularly attractive incentive for customers as there is no risk involved. Sampling can be done via mail, small or elaborate demonstrations in stores, through magazines and newspapers, online, or through the use of “street teams.” Street teams are basically hand billers that are paid to hand out products and samples to pedestrians on busy streets.

Create a Promotional Marketing Campaign

In order to have a successful promotional marketing campaign, there are several important things to keep in mind. Know your target audience, determine the reason for the promotion, prepare a realistic budget, make sure the campaign is in compliance with Federal and State laws, and always set a clear goal. Once your promotional marketing campaign is complete, be sure to measure the results in order to determine the success of the promotion. Lastly, if a promotional campaign proves to be a bit much to handle, there are literally thousands of promotional marketing consultants on the market today to assist you.

By Michelle Burton