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 prospect