Not sure what promotional marketing is? You’re not alone. But the truth is we encounter promotional marketing in our everyday lives all the time. It’s best described as the advertising and marketing that companies use to promote their products or services.
Promotional marketing can take many forms, from online ads and social media posts to in-store displays and direct mailings. Even so, there are still lingering questions about what promotional marketing is and how it can be used.
But not to worry, we’re in the business of shining some light on the subject. In this post, we’ll define what promotional marketing is and show you how to use it to boost your business.
Ready to learn more? Let’s get started!
According to SendPulse, promotional marketing is a form of marketing that focuses on creating and delivering messages that promote a product, service, or brand. And its goal of promotional marketing is to increase sales and drive revenue growth.
To be effective, promotional marketing must be well-planned and carefully executed. It should align with your overall marketing strategy and business goals. Additionally, it should be carefully targeted to your audience and delivered through the channels they use most.
The objectives of promotional marketing are to raise awareness, create interest, generate leads, and increase sales. Additionally, promotional marketing can be used to build brand equity and loyalty, drive website traffic, and boost social media engagement. Let’s review each of these in a bit more detail.
With your objectives in mind, you can begin to plot a course forward with promotional marketing. The best approach for your business will depend on your products, services, target audience, and goals, of course.
Some common types of promotional marketing include:
No matter what type of promotional marketing you choose, it’s important to create messages that are targeted, relevant, and engaging. You should make sure that your promotional campaigns are aligned with your overall marketing strategy.
It’s good to note that you can do promotional marketing for a variety of different industries. And how that’s executed can look different depending on that industry. Here are a few examples:
Now that we’ve gone over some examples, let’s discuss some promotional marketing strategies you can try.
Advertising is a great way to reach a large audience with your messages. When launching an advertising campaign, it’s important to choose the right channels and create ads that are targeted, relevant, and engaging.
Publicity is a great way to generate buzz and build relationships with potential customers. When starting a publicity campaign, it’s important to choose the right channels and create messages that are newsworthy, interesting, and exciting.
Personal selling is a great way to generate leads and close sales. You’ll need to choose the right location, create a sales script, and train your employees on how to sell your products or services for such an event to be effective.
Sales promotions are a great way to increase sales in the short-term. When creating a sales promotion, it’s important to choose the right type of promotion, set a budget, and create an offer that is too good to refuse.
Public relations is a great way to build relationships with key stakeholders. When developing a public relations strategy, it’s important to choose the right channels, create messages that are positive and newsworthy, and build relationships with the media.
Direct marketing is a great way to reach potential customers directly. When launching a direct marketing campaign, it’s important to choose the right channels, create messages that are targeted and relevant, and track your results so you can optimize your campaign.
When working with influencers, it’s important to choose the right people to create messages that are targeted and relevant, and build relationships that are mutually beneficial.
When encouraging word-of-mouth marketing, you need to create messages that are compelling and interesting, and make it easy for customers to share your messages with their friends. Doing so can pay you back in dividends. According to research conducted by Wharton University of Pennsylvania, customers that have been referred to your company by a friend have a 16% higher lifetime value.
As of 2021, 4.6 billion people were using social media according to Statista. Which means building a campaign on social media is well worth the effort.
Your social campaign could involve creating compelling content, running ads, or working with influencers. But what’s most important is that your social media campaign is well-planned and targeted to your audience.
Here are some tips for launching a successful social media campaign, which are similar to the steps you need to take to launch a promotional campaign in general:
This could involve writing articles, creating videos, starting a podcast, or developing infographics. Creating any kind of content around your brand can help to promote your products, yes, but also build your voice in the industry as a trusted brand authority. Investing in content for promotional marketing is time-consuming but can be well worth it. In fact, according to Wyzowl, 87% of respondents said creating videos helped to increase their website traffic.
This could involve offering discounts, rewards, or special perks to customers who purchase from your store frequently. Take Starbucks, for instance. Their Starbucks Rewards program offers benefits to customers who make purchases from Starbucks with the Starbucks app. After downloading the app and signing up, you earn bonuses, perks, and prizes just for paying for coffee with the app, which is a nice deal for regular customers who wind up feeling more valued by the company.
There are endless possibilities when it comes to promotional marketing. The important thing is to choose the right strategy for your business and make sure your messages are targeted, relevant, and engaging. If you do this, you’ll be well on your way to generating leads and closing sales.
Now that you know what promotional marketing is and have some examples to keep in mind, it’s time to start planning your own promotional marketing campaign. Here’s how to get started:
What do you hope to achieve with your promotional marketing campaign? Do you want to generate leads, close sales, or build relationships? Once you’ve defined your goals, you can start to develop your strategy.
Who do you want to reach? What are their demographics? What are their interests? Knowing your target audience will help you develop messages that are relevant and engaging. You can use social media listening tools and conduct competitor analysis to hone in on your audience.
What channels will you use to reach your target audience? Social media, email, direct mail, events, or influencer marketing? Once you’ve chosen your channels, you can start to develop your content.
What type of content will you create? Blog posts, videos, infographics, or ebooks? Make sure your content is relevant, engaging, and aligned with your goals.
How much will you spend on your promotional marketing campaign? Will you invest in advertising? Make sure to set a realistic budget that you can stick to.
Once you’ve launched your campaign, it’s important to track your results. This will help you see what’s working and what’s not, and optimize your campaign for better results.
By following these steps, you’ll be well on your way to developing a promotional marketing campaign that is successful. So what are you waiting for? Get started today!