If your company is rolling out a new product you will undoubtedly have a large portion of your marketing budget devoted to promoting that product. One of the avenues of product promotion that are seldom overlooked is the use of promotional items that are related to the product. When using free items to promote a new product you might be surprised at how little your promotional item needs to actually relate to your product in order to sell it effectively. Here are some useful tips for finding items that can really boost interest in and sales of your new product.

Find a Mini-Version

This is not always possible, but if you can find a miniature yet functional version of the item you are marketing you can create a huge demand for your product before it even hits the shelves! For food products this is extremely simply. Cereal companies have been using this tactic for years. The Kellogg Company has been distributing mini-packs of their cereals to kindergarten children and elementary schools for years. This creates in the minds of the children the impression that Kellogg cereals are the only cereals that their parents should buy.

If you are launching a new soft drink, have small 200 ml cans made and hand them out at the beach, sporting events and at traffic intersections. People are always interested in seeing a new design on a can of soda, and if they like your drink they will be sure to buy it when it first appears in stores. If you use promotional items like this properly you should see a lot of demand for your product build in the weeks leading up to the launch. It is a good idea to have a launch party at a club or bar, and distribute promotional literature about this event with your free samples.

Go in the Opposite Direction

If you are selling an investment policy, you can't find a ?mini investment policy? to hand out as a free sample. For this kind of product, go for something associated with it, but not too closely associated. For the investment policy example, maybe use models of an exotic car or a luxury yacht with the name of the investment instrument printed on the side. This will form an association with the luxury item and your product. While most consumers like to think they are above forming this type of association, the truth is that this strategy works just as well as using a girl in a bikini to sell, well, just about anything.

Whatever you decide to use as promotional items to promote your new product, remember that your items need to send out a clear message: ?this product will make you wealthier, younger, stronger, more intelligent and more attractive to the opposite sex?. If you can convince people of this by using promotional items before the launch of your product you will easily have it flying off the shelves in the first few weeks.