Question

Sales promotion is increasingly becoming an important part of the promotional mix of most companies. Discuss.

THIS IS A MARKETING QUESTION

Answer 1

What is the Promotion Mix advertising?

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Willie Wagner, Crypto Miner and Small-time Trader

Answered February 27, 2019

The best marketing meetings are usually those in which a suggestion prompts someone to finish the thought with an unexpected spin. And then someone else builds on this idea with another addendum. Before you know it, words like “advertising,” “marketing,” “promotion” and “publicity” are bouncing off each other so fast you may feel as though you're inside a huge marketing pinball machine, trying to keep track of the ideas ricocheting off each other.

As a small-business owner, the last thing you want to do is “tilt” all this positive energy, especially when you hope it will ultimately benefit your small business. But you deserve to ask for clarity, particularly when you're trying to grasp the role of advertising in your promotional mix. Advertising may be more than one of your biggest expenses; it's also the powerhouse component of the promotional mix.

The Promotional Mix Differs From the Marketing Mix

The promotional mix is often confused with the marketing mix, probably because the word “mix” appears in both terms. It would be nice if there were a fail-safe way to delineate the two terms, especially because they're both related to marketing.

Perhaps it would help to remember that marketing is an expansive discipline that includes many activities (including advertising). The marketing mix reflects this busy state by probing “The Four Ps” of product marketing. The four Ps are product, place, price, and promotion.

What is the Promotion Mix advertising?

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Follow

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More

Ad by Great Learning

PGP in strategic digital marketing by Great Lakes.

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2 Answers

Willie Wagner, Crypto Miner and Small-time Trader

Answered February 27, 2019

The best marketing meetings are usually those in which a suggestion prompts someone to finish the thought with an unexpected spin. And then someone else builds on this idea with another addendum. Before you know it, words like “advertising,” “marketing,” “promotion” and “publicity” are bouncing off each other so fast you may feel as though you're inside a huge marketing pinball machine, trying to keep track of the ideas ricocheting off each other.

As a small-business owner, the last thing you want to do is “tilt” all this positive energy, especially when you hope it will ultimately benefit your small business. But you deserve to ask for clarity, particularly when you're trying to grasp the role of advertising in your promotional mix. Advertising may be more than one of your biggest expenses; it's also the powerhouse component of the promotional mix.

The Promotional Mix Differs From the Marketing Mix

The promotional mix is often confused with the marketing mix, probably because the word “mix” appears in both terms. It would be nice if there were a fail-safe way to delineate the two terms, especially because they're both related to marketing.

Perhaps it would help to remember that marketing is an expansive discipline that includes many activities (including advertising). The marketing mix reflects this busy state by probing “The Four Ps” of product marketing. The four Ps are product, place, price, and promotion.

You Know It When You See the Promotional Mix

If someone were to ask you, “What do you do to promote your business?” Your answer would probably fall under one of five categories. These categories make up what is known as the promotional mix. “Advertising” might come first alphabetically, but its omnipresence packs an additional punch when it is considered last among:

• Direct marketing - Few small-business owners can live without it. This type of marketing is usually sent out en masse, but it stands out when it includes a personalized message – even including a first and last name. Postcards, coupons, letters, and catalogs are forms of direct marketing that probably are part of your marketing arsenal.
• Personal selling - Few small businesses can survive without this effort, as well. Even if your personal selling efforts are restricted to your place of business, cultivating relationships is what elevates sales to salesmanship. Traveling salespeople – even those who have a small, limited territory – should think of themselves as walking advertisements for the business they represent. People tend to judge the way that others speak, the way others conduct themselves, and even the way others dress, as an extension of the business.
• Public relations can be one of the best investments a small-business owner can make, as well as being one of the best ways to advertise his presence in town. Say the words “public relations” and many people automatically think of press releases pitched to the media.
• Sales promotions are the perennial favorite of new business owners, who know there is nothing like a promotion to generate interest with traffic tool such as Babylon in a new enterprise. But what happens after the foot traffic fades? The truth is, many small-business owners feel nervous about the role of promotion in marketing at this juncture, fearing that once a customer benefits from a promotion, he is less likely to pay full price.
• An assertive marketing professional would say that this is, for lack of a better term, “stinkin' thinkin',” especially if you consider that there are enough types of sales promotions that a small-business owner can offer a different one every month. Consider discounts, coupons, product giveaways, gift giveaways, two-for-one, buy-more-save more offers, loyalty points, price-match guarantees, invitation-only events, refer-a-friend deals, free shipping and _promotions tied to holiday_s. With a treasure trove like this, customers should register the idea that sales promotions come and sales promotions go