As you celebrate your patent for your new business product, you may experience an overwhelming thought. Don’t worry…that should be happening.  Holding the patent isn’t enough.  The standard plan is to promote it to retailers, consumers and distributors for both direct sale and licensing agreements. It’s a daunting task, but there are several routes you can take involving social media, PR and memberships with trade organizations.

Social Media Promotions

LinkedIn is a powerful Business to Business (B2B) social media site that allows business product sellers to connect with businesses that would be interested in their products as direct sales reps or distributors. We suggest this tactic with caution though; cold-contacting LinkedIn users isn’t recommended. You must first build a relationship or start a conversation before jumping into the nuts and bolts of sales representation.

By creating a business profile on LinkedIn and joining groups within your niche as well as those that would include the businesses you plan to market to, you have the ability to directly promote your product to the key members of your target market.

For example, if you are selling a drink-related product, researching groups targeted to the beverage industry and retailers or distributors within that niche is a great way to start. Once you have joined these groups, take the time to introduce your product directly to your target market.

Public Relations: It Still Works!

Public Relations is not going anywhere.  The vast influx of social media and search engine optimization isn’t replacing the PR industry, it’s merely adding more tools to the field.  Press Releases are still a viable form of promotions to keep your industry and market aware of goings on with your business and news about your business product. Using both online and print media as a vehicle for information about your business is an effective way to build brand awareness and attract potential buyers.

ASI – Advertising Specialty Institute

As a business product supplier, the easiest way to get your product in front of thousands of potential buyers and distributors is by joining the Advertising Specialty Institute or ASI. Boasting connections with more than 130,000 distribution sales people, this organization is the largest marketing organization in the specialty product industry. Membership opens up contact potential to all their members and is the easiest way to open up the floodgates for your products distribution.

Little Steps, Big Gain

Whatever technique or strategy you choose to implement, know that getting the word out is vital to the success fo your patented product.  Anytime you make a connection with a peer or sales representative, think of it as a step in the right direction. Each tiny step is part of one big leap.