Promotion

Overview

Promotion is an essential aspect of the marketing mix, focusing on how businesses communicate with potential and existing customers about their products or services.
It involves using various strategies and channels to raise product awareness, stimulate interest and desire, and encourage customers to take action – typically, to make a purchase.

Advertising: This is a non-personal means of promotion that’s usually paid for. Companies use print media, online advertising, TV and radio broadcasting, leaflets, banners, and billboards to reach a large audience.
Sales Promotion: These are short-term incentives to boost sales, such as offers, discounts, buy one get one free, free samples, and competitions.
Public Relations (PR): PR activities aim to create a favourable public image not only for a product or service but also for the business as a whole. PR can take the form of press releases, sponsorships, and events.
Direct Marketing: This involves businesses communicating directly with customers through methods such as telemarketing, email marketing, and direct mail campaigns.
Digital Marketing: With the rise of internet usage, businesses use SEO, social media marketing, content marketing, email marketing and more to reach customers who are online.
Personal Selling: This one-to-one communication often involves a face-to-face conversation, though it can also occur over the phone or via a web conference.

The choice of promotional mix can depend on various factors such as target audience, budget, type of product, stage in product life cycle, and competitive environment.
For instance, a business marketing to young people might prioritise digital marketing channels, while a high-value product could benefit from personal selling to provide detailed information and handle objections.

It’s essential for businesses to evaluate the effectiveness of promotional activities to ensure they’re getting a good return on their investment.
Businesses can use tools and metrics like web analytics (for online promotions), sales figures, customer feedback, and market share data to measure promotion effectiveness.
If a promotional activity is not working as expected, the business may need to adjust or change their promotional strategy.

Promotional activities should be ethical, meaning they should be truthful, non-deceptive, and fair.
While businesses aim to persuade customers to buy their products or services, they should not use misleading or false information in their promotional activities.
Moreover, they should also be mindful of cultural sensitivities and regulations when promoting their offerings in different regions or countries.