Top 10 promotional items for your business

Defining the top 10 promotional items for your business begins with a brainstorming exercise. The following list gives you 10 ideas with industry-specific examples that it has really worked for. When creating your own top 10 promotional items list, you will need to use your own experience and intuition, or simply call your competitors in another city and ask them what the top 3 promotional items are that have worked for them.

You will also find that some of these items are simply universal and will work for most industries with some adaptation. I’m not giving you a template to follow blindly, but a kick-start for your thought process. Some of those elements will pertain to direct response promotion, some of them more to public relations, and some will show advertising styles that produce real returns.

Promotional Item # 1 Writing and Infomercial

A “promotional item” that gives your prospects the history of your business, how many people your business has helped with your products or services. Explain the reasons why your company deserves their trust (remember that any purchase decision is based on trust). Your infomercial should have a compelling headline to convince people to read more. If the infomercial is followed by 3-5 weekly ads with an attractive “Killer Deal,” it is even more likely to get results. This works for all industries.

Promotional item no. 2 A testimonial sheet or video

Your prospects would rather have proof from someone who has already taken a risk to buy your product. When it comes to spending money, we are all at risk of a downpour. A written testimonial should have your client’s photo, plus their name and address if possible. Even better, use a video on your website to capture testimonials, which is more powerful again.

Promotional Item # 3 A Good Sales Letter

In the age of e-marketing, postal mail or faxing can be a surprisingly good sales tool, because it is different. Direct mail is definitely not dead, and as long as you follow a few basic rules, you can get a much better response rate than an email campaign. You don’t have to worry about SPAM laws, so create your list and just send the letter.

Best-selling websites are nothing more than a profit-driven sales letter, accompanied by testimonials and a copy of your infomercial. The more customer-oriented, the more informative the letter is, and the more ways to alleviate your customers’ objections, the more sales you will make. Again, this article can be adapted for most industries with excellent results.

Promotional Item # 4 FREE Press Releases

Online magazines, newspapers, and press release directories start with blank pages eager for something newsworthy. If your business doesn’t have anything new, create an event, a special introductory offer, celebrity endorsements, a community fundraiser, or anything that can help you make the cut.

Promotional Item # 5 Trade Shows

What better opportunity to be in front of specific prospects? By attending the show, your prospects have qualified as hot candidates to buy your products. You can use the program as a way to grow your customer database, sell on the spot, or book a suitable sales appointment with good prospects. Here’s a tip, in all these cases you will need a good “bribe” for them to take action that day. It can be a tie to win something of great value or a spectacular offer on one of your products. So it’s your job to get repeat sales from those prospects. The shows are excellent, from beauty therapy and household items to consulting firms.

Promotional item no. 5 3 items to try in any promotion

a) The list of objectives, who did you want to reach?

b) The title of the ad, the opening statement of your letter, or the first thing you say to the person you speak to on the phone.

c) The offer, how it packages what it sells

Promotional item no. 6 Be perceived as a donor

Many startups are off to a slow start because they are expensive and not ready to give anything away. Local fundraisers, visits to local businesses with free products or coupons will have public relations effects that cannot be purchased. Giving something free unexpectedly to a regular customer will be a sure way to have them on their side, better than any loyalty card. This works wonders for restaurants, beauty therapy, or any high-repeatability product or consumable, but it can make it work for real estate, insurance brokerage, etc.

Promotional Item # 7 Be a Consultant in Your Industry

By this I mean that you can earn the trust of customers by being the only one who gives them the information they are looking for when they buy our type of product. If you go the extra mile as a consultant, you’ll be on your own – what an easy difference! You can adapt this idea online by giving a FREE report for people to learn more about your industry or product. This works particularly for products that require careful thought like insurance, financial planning, investing, or even fashion.

Promotional Item # 8 Delegate Everything Except Marketing

This is a rule of thumb in every industry – you should spend at least 30% of your time working to get more customers through the door. If you are working very hard and not making a lot of money, are you waiting for someone else to do the promotion for you? Don’t wait for the newspaper to produce a miracle ad, the economy to improve, or word of mouth to spread the word. Be the promoter of your company

Promotional item no. 9 Call on the phone and sell

It always amazes me to see the “sales consultants” behind the counter twirling their thumbs – is business going a little slow? Do you have time on your hands? Calling your existing customers with an offer is the first way to drive sales. Try the phone / letter / phone method, reach out to all business owners, you will surely get some business! Works great for restaurants, beauty, retail, but also financial services, etc.

Promotional item no. # 10 Use Google Keyword Tool, Market Samurai or Wordtracker!

You need to find out what’s hot in your industry and what better way to find out than to learn what words people use when going online to search for your type of product or service. Then you can speak their language and be where they want you. Whichever promo item you want to add to this list, do yourself a favor and make sure you always have at least 7 ongoing, systematized promo items at any given time, and the business will prosper!