Promotion in Marketing / different methods of promotion
Promotion in Marketing
Promotions is the part of marketing that specifically involves communicating company or product information to targeted customers. This is a key component of the broader marketing system, because it is what usually makes customers aware of you, attracted to your brand, interested in buying and ultimately, loyal customers. Advertising, public relations and personal selling are three staple methods of promotion, though some new techniques have emerged in the early 21st century.
Promotion is a type of communication between the buyer and the seller. The seller tries to persuade the buyer to purchase their goods or services through promotions. It helps in making the people aware of a product, service or a company. It also helps to improve the public image of a company. This method of marketing may also create interest in the minds of buyers and can also generate loyal customers.
Advertising: Advertising takes up a significant portion of a company’s budget allocated toward marketing and promotion. It includes the development and paid delivery of brand or product messages through media. Companies usually have internal advertising departments that design and develop ads, or they work with advertising firms who specialize in the advertising process. Since you pay for ad placement in media such as television, radio, newspapers and magazines, you generally have more control over the message than you do through some other promotional methods.
Public Relations: Maintaining goodwill with the public is an important long-term strategy for both small and large companies. A variety of public relations tactics are used to reach out to customers through unpaid-for media messages. Press releases are one of the most common and routine PR tactics. This is when a company sends an overview of a major change or event, product launch or other news to various media outlets. Press conferences, features news reports and newsletters are other common PR tools. A general objective of PR is to keep your brand in front of people even beyond paid ads. The challenge is you can’t always control the way your PR messages are delivered or received.
Selling: While business typically engage in some level of advertising and public relations, the use of personal selling tactics varies considerably. Some small businesses don’t employ active sales associates based on the small-scale products or services they sell. Companies with big-ticket items, such as electronics or appliances, more often use sales associates to stress the benefits of products to customers and to overcome their concerns. Selling is one of the most interactive forms of promotion.
Digital/Interactive: The evolution of the Internet and related technologies has given rise to digital and interactive promotional methods. Email marketing, online advertising and mobile advertising have all become common components of promotional campaigns. These methods are often relatively affordable for small businesses and offer direct connections to tech-savvy consumers who spend significant time online. Social media portals such as Twitter, Facebook and YouTube also provide inexpensive ways to interact with customers in real time.
In marketing, promotion refers to any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product. service, brand or issue. The aim of promotion is to increase awareness, create interest, generate sales or create brand loyalty. It is one of the basic elements of the market mix, which includes the four Ps, i.e., product, price, place, and promotion.
Promotion is also one of the elements in the promotional mix or promotional plan. These are personal selling, advertising, sales promotion, direct marketing publicity and may also include event marketing, exhibitions and trade shows. A promotional plan specifies how much attention to pay to each of the elements in the promotional mix, and what proportion budget should be allocated to each element. the Promotion covers the methods of communication that a marketer uses to provide information about its product. Information can be both verbal and visual.
