The two most important business promotional items in terms of market impact and cost are personal selling and advertising. Personal selling is an important ingredient in most of the promotional programs, and advertising commonly supports it.

Personal selling consists of the interpretation of product and service features in terms of benefits and advantages to the buyer, and of persuading the buyer to buy the right kind and quantity of the product. Personal selling is both the most efficient and the most costly promotional item. Since there is a one-to-one approach and the message is delivered to a single prospect, it can be tailored to fit that prospects needs. There is also a maximum opportunity for feedback, but it is a very costly method.

According to experts, personal selling is more useful when the company is small or has insufficient funds with which to carry on an advertising program, when the market is concentrated and when the personality of a salesman is required to create confidence.

Advertising, on the other hand, is an impersonal method of communicating messages to prospective buyers, through printed or outdoor media. It may be printed, such as newspapers and magazines, or make use of audio media such as radio, and visual media such as television. The purpose of advertising is to acquaint prospects with the product and its strengths so that they will be more favorably disposed toward the product in buying situations. Because of the low cost per message, it is highly useful for developing initial product awareness or acceptance, which makes the final selling job easier. When a large number of prospects are to be contacted or announcement of a new credit policy is to be done, advertising works best. However, all products cannot be advertised with the same zeal and intensity.