10 unusual but effective ways to promote a product

It is impossible to reach the pinnacle of success without advertising. Without a high-quality presentation of the product, it will not be possible to announce it to the consumer and make a profit in the desired amount. The main task of an entrepreneur is to identify his target audience and find a way to convey information to it. How to advertise your product to get a quick return on your actions?

Advertising

Planning for success

Competent product promotion involves the use of several basic technologies in a launched advertising campaign to influence consciousness, the emotional sphere and mood. To select the most appropriate influencing factors, it is necessary to:

• determination of the advantageous positions of the product that can be highlighted and its additional parameters that are not important, but pretend to make an impression;
• comparison of several promotion methods;
• identifying the strengths and weaknesses of advertising campaign methods;
• analysis of unsuccessful episodes, which can be real or simulated;
• refinement of strategies;
• preparation of specific proposals in the form of a document;
• regular repetition of activities on all the points described above in order to analyze the effectiveness of the advertising campaign and improve it.

Where to advertise a product

Goods or products are any product of the industrial or agricultural sector that participates in the exchange of goods for the purpose of making a profit. A product can be either a product or a service. The first has two properties: satisfaction of needs and exchange for money or other goods.

In modern conditions of production of goods, types of information, labor, land, capital become publicly available and turn into products. Therefore, advertising it correctly means, despite everything, attracting the attention of the target audience to the product being manufactured and generating purchasing desires. It is important to understand where it is better to advertise a product.

main idea

One of the most effective and low-cost ways to promote your project is to use the functionality of the Internet. At the same time, it is necessary not to focus on the products offered. It is important to emphasize the benefits that a person will receive after purchasing it.

The buyer needs to be given a feel for his lifestyle, which will change with the appearance of a new thing in the house or with the service received. In order to achieve this impact on the consumer's mind, it is necessary to use visual, olfactory and auditory images through attractive sounds, music, colors, unforgettable and evocative smells, images of attractive characters and content.

Use of famous characters in advertising

Sometimes television advertising can literally rivet viewers to their screens. And all because cunning advertisers use long-known and beloved characters. For example, this is exactly what traditional television advertising of dairy products produced under the Prostokvashino brand looks like. The famous cartoon character Matroskin the cat appears in it. He, according to .

Another favorite children's character, Winnie the Pooh, often becomes the face of condensed milk, ice cream, jam and even honey.

Basic approaches to advertising

To understand how to advertise a product correctly, it is necessary to form a purchasing motive. Initially, you need to come up with some actions that could attract involuntary attention. The next step is to transform it into a desire to obtain more information about the declared object. To achieve such an effect, it is necessary to bring the advertised products to the fore, and additional elements that were previously focused on influencing on a subconscious level must be relegated to the background.

Information advertising

Having achieved stable interest from a potential client, it is necessary to provide him with expanded information about the product, revealing its advantageous positions. The most difficult thing is to influence a person in order to transform his newly formed desire to learn more about the offer into a desire to take advantage of it. To do this, you need to come up with elements of motivation for purchasing, which is possible by increasing the sensory impact. With the correct selection of effects, at this stage the potential client should imagine himself as the owner.

For example, a person should be allowed to try on a thing and provided with a mirror so that he can admire himself. At this moment, the seller needs to give compliments and emphasize the positive aspects that can be noted in the new image. When selling a car, a car dealership visitor should be invited to get behind the wheel, sit in the cabin to feel its comfort, understand what opportunities open up when owning such a miracle of technology and try it on for yourself. At the next stage, it is necessary to politely push the person to purchase by starting active pre-sale preparation, offering to wrap, pack, draw up documents or begin providing related pre-sale services.

Offline ways to attract customers

Newspapers are one of the popular ways to attract customers. It should be used in advertising, but skillfully. I won’t say that advertising in newspapers is highly effective, but nevertheless you can attract an additional flow of customers for little money or even for free. By the way, I wrote a separate article about advertising in newspapers. You can re-read it again.

Billboards and banners - with the right approach, this method of advertising is highly effective. Just like about advertising in newspapers, I wrote an article about advertising on banners and billboards, so I recommend that you re-read it again if you are considering this method as business promotion.

Advertising on a car - if you have a car, then place advertising of your business on it. Wherever you are, advertising your business will always work. Essentially, this is a mobile type of advertising. The costs are not large, but they last for a very long time. You can order film with advertising information from any printing company.

Signage – Be sure to use signage wherever possible: on office doors and windows, on the office building (if permitted). The main task is for everyone passing by to see that you are in this particular place. Use something noticeable, such as a prominent sign, or bright colors to immediately grab attention.

“Cold calls” - no one canceled calls, so either you or your manager take and call your potential clients. Always attach the sending of commercial proposals to your calls - in this case, the efficiency will be higher. By the way, there is a separate article on how to conduct cold calls and there are also cold calling scripts there.

Partnership is one of the effective ways to attract customers. The task is to find a company that is engaged in a related area and offer it a reward for recommendations. For example, if you sell auto parts, then you can partner with several car services and offer them 10-20% for each client. Believe me, the flow of customers will increase immediately. It is advisable if the point of sale is located as close as possible to those with whom you have agreed on such a partnership.

Business cards and leaflets are a great way to leave not only your contact information, but also to place your sales offer. Almost always, a business card is filled out on only one side. I recommend that you place your contacts on the first side, and briefly your proposal on the back. In this case, the question “What is this?” will not arise. This will make the business card more effective. Also, when presenting a business card or leaflet, there must be a discount or bonus so that it is not thrown away immediately after delivery.

Friends, relatives - ask your family, friends, comrades to recommend your products or services. As an additional motivation, you can, as in the case of a partnership, pay them some part/percentage of orders.

Advertising on asphalt – I’ve seen this type of advertising several times: take a stencil and use spray paint to create an advertisement on the asphalt. The trick is that it lasts for a very long time. The main thing is mass participation and in non-prohibited places.

Posting advertisements - you can post advertisements in your area and beyond. To do this, use bright paper colors and catchy headings. Low prices, discounts and much more attract attention. But this advertising tool needs mass appeal!

Exhibitions - various exhibitions are held in many cities - this is a great way to find not only a sales market, but also suppliers and partners. But for some reason, many businessmen ignore such events. I recommend that you attend such events as often as possible, especially if they are free. More often, of course, a fee is charged for a place at the exhibition, but this pays off doubly if the exhibition is 100% themed to your business.

Word of mouth - build your business so that people start talking about you. It is difficult to achieve such an effect on a regional or national scale. But at the local level they can start talking about you quite quickly.

A general recommendation for all advertising materials in paper format: if you want to increase their effectiveness, then place the inscription “On presentation, N% discount” - this way, people will not decide to immediately throw away your advertising.

Spread of information

A clear example of advertising through the dissemination of information is the design of catalogs with beautiful images or product cards in an online store. Another way of promotion is distributing leaflets and flyers, as well as publishing advertisements in virtual and real publications. Using this scheme, you can advertise a product on Instagram.

Such an approach to promoting a project does not have an emotional impact on the person reviewing the proposal. Therefore, the result can be expected from it only in case of communication with an audience that understands what is being discussed, which is due to a certain level of qualifications and professionalism. According to this scheme, men will make a purchase faster, which is explained by their practicality, therefore, when compiling content, it is necessary to focus on this quality, since it is difficult to awaken emotions from viewing the catalogue.

Media for advertising products and services

You can inform potential buyers about your product in various ways:

• In the media (newspapers, magazines, radio, television) . It is characterized by high cost and instability. As soon as you stop paying, the created effect of advertising disappears. Implemented by contacting the advertising services of the relevant media. Read - Advertising on television: advantages and disadvantages.
• On the streets (billboards, distribution of leaflets, flyers and discount coupons) . A small share of such advertising reaches the target audience. Carried out through advertising agencies that perform printing and distribution.
• On the Internet (social networks, search engines, blogs) . Requires minimal investment and allows you to accumulate potential. Can be implemented on your own or through specialists.

To present your product, even if you trade offline, you must create your own website or virtual page. It will become a source of information for potential buyers, arousing interest in the product. You can use an online business card, and even more so a full-fledged website, to advertise products or services on popular third-party resources.

Online advertising can be implemented using the following methods:

• Through communities on social networks;
• Contextual, banner and teaser advertising;
• Electronic mailing.

Persuasion and Argumentation

In some situations, it is not enough to announce your product, since the information received by the consumer may be immediately forgotten due to the layering of everyday tasks in the mind.

To prevent such a development scenario, it is recommended to transform the advertising presentation of information into the life principles and attitudes of representatives of the target audience. To do this, you should carefully study your product from a scientific point of view and highlight specific facts that have evidence that could affect the emotional perception of the information provided by a person. One good idea is to create a sense of experience. The argument given can be basic and reflect important properties of the product, or additional.

Practicality-oriented advertising

If the consumer is in fact not very interested in purchasing the proposed object, then it is necessary to first talk about its main properties that might be of interest to the person, and then casually mention the presence of bonuses. The information delivery to an interested audience is radically different.

If the task of an entrepreneur is to influence the emotional sphere of a person, then it is important to cover his desires and dreams that could be realized after making a purchase. When targeting a lifestyle, it is necessary to make the potential client understand how his future life can be adjusted with a focus on comfort, convenience and pleasure. For example, in advertising a face cream, it is necessary to emphasize that a person gains not only the cream, but also youth and beauty. When offering a car, you should focus a person’s attention on the opportunity to raise prestige and add drive to their life.

Let's start by looking at online methods.

If you have a website, then advertising on the Internet must be used! Firstly, it is cheaper, and secondly, its effectiveness can be measured. Below I will give examples of effective online advertising if you have a website and if you don’t. But we strongly recommend that you get a good website, because it is an effective tool for promotion and sales.

Free message boards - use not only large message boards, such as Avito, but also local sites. Surely there are such people in your city. To do this, an article on how to write ad text will help you. This advertising is free, but it gives a very good effect!

Local sites and forums - sites can be both thematic and general in nature. The main thing is that the information is placed where most of your audience lives. An article about hidden advertising on forums, blogs, etc. will help you with this. This advertising is also free if you write posts on the forums yourself.

Direct and Adwords - contextual advertising should definitely be in your arsenal of attracting traffic. Moreover, if you are not advertising in Moscow and St. Petersburg, then advertising will not be expensive for you. Related articles: how to set up Yandex Direct, how to set up Google Adwords and additional articles in the “Business Promotion” section.

Social networks - be sure to start a group for yourself if you see that you can attract clients from social media. networks. I will say right away that not every business will be interested in this (for example, it makes no sense for a metallurgical plant to look for clients on VKontakte, but it would be advisable for a beauty salon to be present there). To get started, it’s enough to cover 1-2 social networks. Expand further. You can advertise in several directions: targeted advertising and advertising in communities. Just like in contextual advertising, prices will not be high if you are not in Moscow or St. Petersburg.

E- mail mailing – mailing provides an opportunity to create warm relationships with your customers, thereby increasing repeat sales. After all, it is easier to sell something to an existing client than to a new one. Collect a customer base and work with your mailing list. To do this, collect the email boxes of your potential clients on the website. But this is not suitable for everyone (why would a grocery store or kiosk collect mailboxes).

Coupon sites (like Biglion) are a very good way to get a lot of customers. To work with coupon sites, you must have an individual entrepreneur or LLC. There are also many nuances when interacting with coupon sites. Therefore, if you decide to use this direction to attract clients, then study this topic first. The essence of this method is that you give a discount of 50% or more on a specific product or service and this promotion is posted on the coupon service website. The promotion is seen by tens of thousands of service subscribers, those who are interested buy a coupon and become your customers. This may not be suitable for everyone either, because not everyone can give a 50% discount!

2GIS – this resource can be used as an advertising platform, or you can simply place information about your company with them. Posting information is free, so this will only be a plus for you. Also try to cover other business directories in your city.

All methods of online advertising will bring you a large flow of customers. Your main task is to set everything up correctly so that there are no losses from one or another source of online traffic. Ask questions in the comments so that we can see what you don’t understand and write articles on given topics.

PS: You may also find this article about free advertising on the Internet useful!

Reminder

Advertising focused on regular reminders fixes the image of the offered products in a person’s memory. At the same time, it is necessary to emphasize the availability of opportunities to satisfy your needs.

To achieve the goal that is sales, it is necessary to be persistent in providing information, while not forgetting the element of surprise that has the desired effect on the consumer. A clear example of annoying advertising is its scrolling in video format on television and in audio format on radio. Despite the fact that interruption of watching a movie or listening to the news can irritate a person, at the subconscious level he retains information about how to solve a number of issues when relevant problems arise.

Reminder advertising may be more effective when used in a softer style. With this approach, videos are provided to the viewer for viewing and for the listener to listen to at certain time intervals. It is possible to alternate the full version of the content with its individual elements, which can be an emblem, trademark or brand color. In some situations, a fragment is enough to restore the full version of the advertisement in the mind.

If you want to advance yourself, remind you of useful and ordinary things

When promoting a new brand or trademark, they often use traditional approaches that do not bring results. For example, taxi companies choose tactics that have been proven for years, but are partially ineffective. Most often, they publish advertisements in the press, less often they make videos on TV, and even use asphalt to create a stenciled inscription indicating the name of the service and telephone number.

However, product advertising does not always have to be the same type and standard. Sometimes creative ideas are perceived much better by people. Moreover, skillfully presented and partially veiled advertising, which also brings a certain benefit to the buyer, will be an excellent tool.

This is exactly the approach taken by a Canadian taxi service called Mike. They not only printed advertising brochures with the address, telephone number and a brief description of the service, but also made a kind of map of local cafes and restaurants. A potential client opens such a booklet and sees which places serve the most delicious Viennese waffles. And then he reads the phone number and the name of the taxi service that can take him there. Original, isn't it?

Integrated promotion of companies

Promotion on the Internet is impossible with the efforts of one tool. It is important to understand this and use all possible resources. First of all, it is necessary to start from the target audience and subsequently build the entire promotion strategy based on its preferences.

All of the above is just a basis from which to build upon when forming a promotion strategy. There is no single approach or rule that will make promotion one hundred percent effective. Only the use of diverse techniques and tools (or their competent combination) will achieve the required result.

It is also worth noting that using the Internet does not provide a complete picture of the effectiveness of a company’s promotion strategy. It is also necessary to use offline sources of promotion, which include outdoor advertising, radio advertising, point-of-sale advertising, POS materials, fairs and exhibitions.

Effective promotion of services

Services are promoted through classic advertising, as well as various events, exhibitions, and presentations. The final strategy depends on the target audience and market value.

For example, it is advisable to promote household services, furniture repair and dry cleaning at home using targeted and outdoor advertising. And legal services can be presented to a narrower audience using contextual advertising.

Exhibitions and presentations here imply the involvement of a potential client in the process of providing a service, which allows him to make a purchasing decision.

1. Take advantage of the fact that no one knows you

Being unknown is beneficial. No one is looking at your actions under a microscope, so you can safely make mistakes. Test strange ideas, implement new approaches, make adjustments. If something goes wrong, no one will notice.

Big businesses understand this approach, so they test new ideas in “test” markets.

For example, when the American coffee chain Dunkin' Donuts was considering whether to sell pizza, hot dogs and sandwiches in its stores, it launched test sales at several locations.

A striking example of hypothesis testing is the Broadway theater. First they test a new show in a small town, and then perform it on stage in New York. This way they test their skills before showing them to more people.

Basic tools for promotion in the B2B market

Definition 2

The B2B sector is a commercial relationship between a manufacturing company and an enterprise that purchases goods for subsequent resale or use in its own production.

The main difference between B2B and B2C is working with legal entities, not individuals, obtaining long-term rather than short-term profits.

Features of marketing in the B2B market:

• brand value is formed through the quality of goods, service, additional guarantees, fulfillment of contract terms, and the formation of long-term favorable relationships with clients;
• creating personalized relationships with those responsible for making purchasing decisions;
• narrow and small target audience;
• development of beneficial forms of business cooperation;
• insignificant advertising budget compared to the B2C sector;
• the use of less aggressive methods of promotion (unobtrusive advertising, the main emphasis on establishing favorable relations with the public, PR events).

Note 2

The techniques leading to successful sales in the B2B market are almost the same, the only thing that distinguishes them is the methods of achieving goals. Compared to the business-to-consumer segment, companies take longer to make purchasing decisions, are interested in large volumes of purchased goods, and calculate all possible risks.

Attracting potential clients is based on the company's reputation, namely on reviews and recommendations. If individuals lose little when purchasing a low-quality product, for companies this is a significant loss. Dissatisfied customers have the right to sue the manufacturing company.

To attract the maximum number of clients in the b2b market, the following promotion tools are used:

1. creating your own sales department;
2. creation of a website (the presence of an Internet resource is a condition for the company to operate effectively; most clients come to the company after learning about it on the Internet);
3. event marketing or event-marketing (conducting seminars, conferences, webinars);
4. availability of partners (development of relationships with key partners, creation of a database of reliable suppliers, intermediaries and buyers);
5. telemarketing (creation of a call center to work with clients);
6. creation of tender platforms;
7. advertising in the media;
8. promotion using social networks;
9. e-mail marketing.

For success in the market, it is important not just to use an arsenal of tools for promotion in a complex, but to think through the content, determine the target audience at which the company’s activities are aimed.

What is the best way to advertise a product or service?

This or that product should be advertised through a direct impact on consumer motives.

For advertising communications to be effective, it is necessary to use not only the attractive side of the product, but also leverage:

• acting on the emotional component;
• influencing the creation of a certain mood;
• creating a belief in the advantages and features of a particular product.

As a rule, this is used:

• photos depicting attention-grabbing characters;
• a set of specific colors;
• musical accompaniment;
• flashy headlines and copywriting.

All these points also provide an opportunity for manufacturing companies and marketing departments to study consumer demand, customer needs and preferences.