Check out these articles as you get ready for your company's presentation.

Walk around any trade show and you will be able to collect a bag full of trade show giveaway items all designed to promote business. Everyone enjoys receiving a gift. Gift giving creates a favorable impression. It can build goodwill, be an incentive, communicate a message, and create awareness. However, how many promotional giveaways do an effective job? Before jumping into the trade show giveaway game consider the following ways to mastery:

Define Your Audience: Having a focused objective for your trade show giveaway will also help you decide who should receive it. Consider having different gifts for various visitors. You might have different quality gifts for your key customers, prospects, and general passers by.

Set Your Goal: What do you want to achieve by giving away a premium item? Trade show giveaway items should be designed to increase your recognition, communicate a message, motivate an action, or promote your small business. It's important not only that the message have an impact, but also the premium itself.

Find the Right Item: There is a multitude of different items you could consider as a premium giveaway. However, which one will best suit your purpose? To select the right item, decide on your objective. Do you want it to enhance a theme, convey a specific message, or educate your target audience? Set a purpose to make your selection process easier. A promotional specialist can also help you make an effective selection. Remember your company image is reflected in whatever you choose to give away.

Add Your Message: Is there an item that naturally complements your marketing message? Have the message imprinted on the item with your company name, logo, and phone number. An important aspect of any gift is to remember who it was from long after the fact.

Set a Price: The price range for trade show giveaway items is enormous. Quality, quantity, and special orders, all impact the price. Establish a budget as part of your exhibit marketing plan. Consider ordering the same item for several different shows. The greater the quantity of your order, the lower the individual unit price.

Establish Qualifiers: What must visitors do to qualify for a giveaway item? There are several ways to use your trade show giveaway effectively: as a reward for visitors participating in a demonstration, presentation, or contest as a token of your appreciation when visitors have given you qualifying information about their specific needs as a thank you for stopping at the booth

Use the Pre-qualifying Secret: Trade show giveaways can be used to pre-qualify your prospects. One company uses playing cards. Prior to the show, they send "kings" to their key customers, "queens" to suppliers, "jacks" to new or hot prospects. They request that the cards are brought to the booth in exchange for a special gift. When the cards are presented, the booth staff already know certain information about the visitor. They can then act on their previous knowledge and use time with the visitor more productively.

By Susan Friedmann,

Creating Powerful Promotional Marketing

Coupons, Contests & Samples Drive Sales for Business

The Promotion Trends Report by Promo Magazine, revealed that promotional marketing was part of an overall marketing strategy for over two-thirds of all firms. The line is blurring between advertising and promotions budgets. This signals a strong trend of businesses adding promotional marketing to their overall advertising budget.

What is Promotional Marketing?

Promotional marketing is a business marketing strategy designed to stimulate a customer to take action towards a buying decision. Promotional marketing is a technique that includes various incentives to buy such as:

Contests: We all enjoy winning something for free. Contests offer an attractive marketing vehicle for small business to acquire new clients and create awareness. You don't need to run a billion dollar giveaway like Pepsi, just a valuable prize to your target market.

Coupons: According to CMS, a leading coupon processing agent, marketers issued 302 billion coupons in 2007, a 6% increase over the previous year. Over 76% of the population use coupons, according to the Promotion Marketing Association (PMA) Coupon Council. Coupons still work and provide an affordable marketing strategy for small business.

Sampling: Do free samples work? Giving your product away for free may seem profit limiting but consider the case of Seth Godin. Godin released a book called "The Idea Virus" in 2000. Unlike other authors, he did not charge for the book instead gave it away for free as an e-book. In less than 30 days over 400,000 copies were downloaded. This created a buzz about the book and even through free, people bought the hard cover; making the book #5 on the Amazon best seller list.

Creating Powerful Promotional Marketing

Before starting a promotional marketing campaign for your small business take the time to carefully plan the incentives and objectives. Ask yourself the following questions:

Are you planning to collect names as leads or discount an item as a loss leader to gain a larger customer base? Determine the reason for the promotion. Who is the target of your promotional campaign? Is it your competitors customers or existing clients who have not made a purchase in the last 12 months? What incentive works best for your customer group? Coupons, sweepstakes or sampling? What is your available budget? Choose an advertising vehicle like direct mail, email, or in-store that will not exceed your promotional budget. Will you run the promotion in-house or hire an outside promotional agency? Choose in-house if you have a limited budget and time to learn more about promotional marketing. How will your business decide if promotional marketing is a success? Select a clear goal and do not forget to measure the results. Is your promotion in compliance with State and Federal laws. Promotional marketing incentives must comply with the law. For instance, the Federal Trade Commission states "when a "free" offer is tied to the purchase of another product, the price of the purchased product should not be increased from its regular price."

Any contests or sweepstakes offered by a company that require a purchase to enter are illegal in the United States. Check your country or state government agency to make sure you comply with regulations and laws.

The continued spending by small and large companies on promotional marketing is a clear indication that promos work. Apply promotional marketing to your small business and experience a sales boost.

By Darrell Zahorsky,