What is Product Promotion?
Product promotion is the process of opening up communication between your company and potential customers. Promotion strategies aim to attract each potential customer’s attention and build up interest with just enough information to get them curious about the product. A good promotion campaign tells customers why they need your product and why they should pay a specific price for it.
Promotions are usually the most visible part of a marketing strategy, which also includes aspects like advertising, sales promotions, public relations, and special offers. Each business should have its own product promotion ideas since there is no overarching strategy that every business can use.
Effective promotional marketing starts with the following considerations:
- The best place and time to reach your target audience
- The best promotion channels to reach your demographic
- What message will resonate with your intended audience
- Competitors’ promotional strategies and what you can learn
- Overall marketing campaign goals
- The marketing budget
Setting goals early on can help you focus your promotional campaign. By taking the time to research your target audience and identifying what your competitors are doing, you can avoid costly mistakes while promoting your products or services.
How to Effectively Promote Your New Product or Service
Understanding what you want from your product promotion campaign will ensure that you spend your money wisely and set up the most effective strategy possible. The best product promotion ideas are those that fit within your industry yet stand out from the crowd, as well as those most likely to reach your audience.
If you’re struggling for good ideas, we’ve compiled several different ways that you can promote a new product or service. You can adapt these strategies to work with your existing product or service line as well, particularly if the strategy proves effective the first time you use it.
1 – Exclusive Previews
If you already have an established customer base, consider offering exclusive previews of new products or services. Not only are these customers already primed to buy your products, but they will also help promote your product via word-of-mouth.
You can find many ways to offer exclusive previews, including in-person or virtual pre-launch events, an online tour, or a free demo. Best of all, these early previews can also help you iron out any potential issues with your product or service before you release it to the broader market.
2 – Special Introductory Offers
Special introductory offers are an excellent way to generate buzz and excitement around a new product launch. Plenty of ways exist to provide introductory deals, including:
- Discounted pricing
- Package deals with reduced rates
- Vouchers or coupons with the new product
- Better rewards for loyalty program members
Special introductory offers leverage the fear of missing out, adding a sense of urgency to the purchasing decision. People who are already excited about your product will appreciate receiving rewards for their commitment to your offerings. At the same time, new customers will feel a bit of extra pressure to buy your product early.
3 – Google My Business
Google’s My Business is an essential tool for any business, regardless of industry. Not only does it make your business more visible, but it’s a great place to generate buzz for a new or existing product. Thanks to the variety of options My Business has, you can tailor your page to your needs.
The simplest way to show off a new product or service is to create a post about it. You can use the ‘What’s New’ option to promote a new product or service. Be aware that these posts will expire after seven days, so time your post to go live just before or just after your new launch.
If you have a special offer on your new product or service, use the ‘Offers’ option instead. This option allows you to set the timeframe of the post to align it with your special offer.
No matter what post option you use, make sure to follow best practices to generate interest and convert leads into sales. Always include a photo with your post and follow Google’s guidelines for photo sizes. Include a clear call to action to entice customers to buy your product or take you up on your special offer.
Google My Business is an excellent marketing and promotion avenue for your business. To get the most out of it, be sure to use every section of your listing, including posts, photos, products, and the FAQ, to talk about your existing products.
You can do a lot to increase your Google My Business listing to get it higher in the rankings and more visible to more people. Be sure to provide all the requested information, including answered questions, reviews, and plenty of photos for better visibility.
4 – Social Media Contests
People tend to trust social media more than traditional marketing avenues. Most companies use social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to connect to their customers and put a more human face on their brand. If you already have an established presence on social media, running a contest is an excellent way of introducing new customers to your brand and generating excitement about your new product or service.
When you run a giveaway or contest, make sure to announce it through all of your marketing channels. The more people who know about the competition, the larger the eventual reach. You can leverage your other social media channels, emails, and even your website to spread the word about your exciting contest.
5 – Email Campaigns
It’s easy to forget about outbound marketing in today’s inbound marketing world, but the fact remains that email remains a powerful product promotion tool. You will find plenty of different ways to run a promotional campaign for your new product.
- Run a series: If you want to run a campaign just for the new product or service, make a big deal out of it. Start with a series of lead-up emails that build up for the day of launch. Not only will this strategy give you enough time to get loads of word-of-mouth buzz, but you’ll also get plenty of new email signups during the warm-up phase.
- Part of the newsletter: If you have many different products, having a massive lead-up to every product would be exhausting for your customers and your marketing team. In this case, consider having your new product or service be the focus of your regular newsletter. You may even combine it with a subscriber-only discount offer to get more conversions and interest.
No matter what strategy you choose, always keep the following email marketing tips in mind:
- Make the product the main focus of the email by putting it in your subject line.
- Focus on the benefits rather than the features. Instead of giving a list of what the product does, tell the customers how it will change their lives for the better.
- Use tools like preheader texts to increase open rates. The more people that open your email, the more new customers you’ll get.
6 – Blogging
In many instances, the new product or service you want to promote isn’t something completely new. It may be an upgrade on an existing service—or a small niche product that doesn’t need a lot of fanfare.
In this case, you may not care as much about attracting new customers as you are about informing and engaging with existing customers. Blog posts are an excellent way to provide informative, exciting content that will highlight product changes without the need for a dedicated landing page.
You can then link to your blog post on your dedicated landing page, on social media channels, and even in your email marketing to get in touch with as many existing customers as possible. In many cases, you’ll also find that you’ll still get new customers engaging with the content and upgrading to your new product or service.
7 – Live Events
Some industries are particularly suited to live events that showcase their business. Fitness centers, retail stores, yoga studios, and other service-oriented businesses can attract a lot of attention by hosting open days that showcase what they’re about. The best thing about these types of events is that you and your staff can interact with potential customers, fostering life-long relationships for free.
Live events can be as formal or informal as you like. Consider your target audience and what they expect from your business when deciding how far you want to go with your event.
The pandemic may have put a damper on live events, but you can still find ways to get around current restrictions. Instead of having a free-for-all open day, consider making it exclusive to existing customers or as part of a giveaway.
Virtual live events are also a great alternative to your product promotion strategy. You can use social media platforms to interact with customers and show off your product or service. Interact with your customers through a live Q&A session where you answer their questions about the new product. If you can, work with an influencer who will help you market your product and have a reveal at the end of the live session.
8 – Complimentary Upgrades or Trade-Ins
If you run a subscription-based business—like a window-cleaning service, fitness center, or consultancy—you can offer a time-limited upgrade that will allow customers to try the new service. Offer permanent complimentary upgrades to select customers, especially those who are loyal, and generate word of mouth for your business.
If you’re replacing an existing product with a newer, better version, consider allowing trade-ins for a limited time. This type of product promotion helps inform existing customers about the new product while also building up your reputation as a generous and caring brand. You can even use the older models as prizes for future giveaways or simply resell them at a lower price, in many cases.
9 – Paid and Unpaid Social Media Posts
A product promotion is only effective if people see it. You can have the best specials in the world, but if you’re not reaching your audience, you won’t generate the necessary interest to guarantee a successful launch.
Social media is the go-to method of communicating with customers. Social media allows you to fine-tune your target audience and reach the people who are most receptive to your messaging. Posting about your new product and the various promotions you have will reach your target audience, who will then spread it on their own profiles, giving you much greater reach than before.
Even better, potential customers can ask questions about the product or service, allowing you to discuss your products’ benefits further while heading off any negative responses.
In some instances, you may not have the necessary social media presence to run a successful e-commerce product promotion. Luckily, Facebook is an excellent advertising platform that reaches over a billion people daily. You can tailor your paid ad to target the exact demographic you want and even set the ad type and duration to fit within your budget. Running paid ads will get more eyes on your promotional strategy while also helping you build up a more organic community and cementing your brand strategy.
Examples of Winning Promotional Strategies
1 – Free Samples
Free samples are a great option for products that offer a complete experience, regardless of size. Beauty products are a typical example, with testers providing customers with a good idea of whether a product is right for them. Costco sample stations offer a range of culinary delights, and many restaurants will offer free samples of new menu items.
These samples aren’t limited to physical items. Book publishers will often put up the first chapter of a new book for free, while software companies will offer a demo version of their products. All of these methods provide an obligation-free way for a customer to get excited about a product and find out if it’s the right option for them.
2 – Free Gift with Purchase
Offering a free gift is an excellent way to entice customers to buy your promotional product while also exposing them to other products that you sell. You can adapt this strategy to any type of product promotion, including B2C product promotion, e-commerce product promotion, and retail product promotion.
A more advanced example of this promotion is the loyalty or rewards system that gives loyal customers rewards for shopping with you.
3 – Limited Time Offers/Flash Sales
Many people fear missing out on the latest trends, and smart businesses can take advantage of this feeling. McDonald’s regularly offers limited-time products that aren’t profitable enough to become part of the permanent menu. However, these products still generate much buzz and get a lot more people into the restaurant.
You can apply flash sales or limited offers to any type of product. You can set a deadline for older products, as many people will rush out to stock up on a retiring product they know they love. A flash sale for new products will encourage a strong launch, which will lead to positive word-of-mouth.
4 – Discount Pricing
Everyone loves getting a good deal. You can pair up discount pricing with a specific event or date to generate excitement about a new or existing product. You can also use a deeply discounted item as a loss leader to encourage people through the door and buy your more expensive items.
5 – Joint Offer Partnerships
In many instances, the best way to promote your product is to pair up with another business. Joint offers combine two products while generating interest for both. An example is a gift voucher for a stationery store when you buy ten or more coffees at the coffee shop—or discounts to the movie theatre when you wash your car.
The possibilities of joint partnerships are almost endless and can open up many avenues for promoting existing and new products. In some instances, like B2B businesses, you’ll probably want to stay within your industry when starting a joint B2B product promotion. In other sectors, like retail and hospitality, novel combinations can make for the best product promotion ideas.
Choosing the Right Strategy for Your Business
Plenty of excellent product promotions will work for your business. However, not all strategies are suitable for all business types. The best way to ensure that you’re spending your time on the right strategy is to know your audience and your business. By identifying the channels that will reach your customers, you can decide which product promotion strategy to use.
In many instances, you can combine several different promotion tools to maximize reach and impact. A common strategy is to combine a series of emails with product giveaways and exclusive discounts that will get plenty of buzz from existing customers, which will lead to organic interest, new customers, and even more sales.
An excellent way to figure out which method is best for your business is to look at what your competition does and how effective it is. Doing so allows you to do what works without going through the expensive experimentation phase first, saving you both time and money.
Conclusion
Communication between companies and customers is vital for business success. Knowing how to market your product to the right audience is the key to retaining existing customers while also maintaining a supply of new customers to drive sales and increase revenue.
If you’re feeling lost with your new product promotion, don’t hesitate to get in touch with Gold Promotion. We’ve worked with large and small businesses, helping them grow to new heights. Call us at 800-476-3094 and find out why we’re the best in the industry today.
We built a performance marketing system for small business owners. Cutting-edge technology and tactics power revenue-focused digital marketing
programs for local, b2b, and e-commerce.
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