5 Promotional Mix and Product Mix

Strategy

CONTENTS
1.1 Promotional Mix
1.2 Product Mix

OUTCOMES
LO1. Identify and analyze strategic
business analysis

OBJECTIVES

romotion is a very important decision

to make in communicating with the
consumer. Obviously, defining
consumer, the nest way to reach
them, and what the message should
be are the basic components of this
marketing mix.
Big companies might choose to
do a national promotional campaign,
especially if the brand is already well-
known to the consumer. Smaller
businesses, with fewer resources,
might use direct selling until they
have larger budget for advertising.

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 ABSTRACTION

Promotion
Promotion is any communication used to inform and persuade target
audiences about the merits of a product, service, brand, or issue, aiming to
create a distinctive place in customer’s minds. It is the way a company
communicates what it does and what it can offer customers.
Promotion must gain intention, be appealing, send a consistent -
message and – above all – give the customer a reason to choose your product
rather than someone else’s.

Objectives of Promotion
1. To provide information about the availability of features and uses of the
product to the prospective buyers.
2. To stimulate demand for a product by creating awareness and interest
among the customers.
3. To differentiate the product from the competitor’s product by creating the
brand loyalty.
4. To stabilize sales by highlighting the importance and features of the
product.

Promotion Mix
The Promotion Mix refers to the blend of several promotional tools used
by the business to create, maintain and increase the demand for goods and
services. A promotional mix is a combination of marketing methods including
advertising, sales, public relations and direct marketing to achieve a specific
marketing goal. The promotional mix is typically only part of a larger
marketing mix. You may choose to use a few methods or decide that a
combination of all of them might be most effective for your campaign.
The Promotion Mix is the integration of Advertising, Personal Selling,
Sales Promotion, Public Relations and Direct Marketing. The marketers need
to view the following questions in order to have a balanced blend of these
promotional tools.

 What is the most effective way to inform the customers?

 Which marketing methods to be used?
 To whom the promotion efforts be directed?
 What is the marketing budget? How is it to be allocated to the
promotional tools?

Elements of Promotion Mix

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1. Advertising: The advertising is any paid form of non-personal
presentation and promotion of goods and services by the identified
sponsor in the exchange of a fee. Through advertising, the marketer
tries to build a pull strategy; wherein the customer is instigated to try
the product at least once. The complete information along with the
attractive graphics of the product or service can be shown to the
customers that grab their attention and influences the purchase
decision.
The primary objectives of advertising are to inform, persuade,
and remind consumers about brands, products, services, and ideas.
The types of advertising include;
a. Print Advertising. Includes advertisements in newspapers,
magazines, and other printed materials.
b. Broadcast Advertising. Encompasses advertisements on
television and radio.
c. Digital Advertising. Includes online advertising, social media
advertising, and email marketing.
d. Out-of-home Advertising. Refers to advertisements seen
outside the home, such as billboards and signs.
e. Mobile Advertising. Consists of advertisements delivered to
mobile devices.
f. Direct Mail Advertising. Involves sending advertisements
directly to consumer’s homes.
g. Social Media Advertising. Utilizing social media platforms to
promote products or services.
h. Paid Search Advertising. Advertising through search engines
like Google.

2. Personal Selling: This is one of the traditional forms of promotional

tool wherein the salesman interacts with the customer directly by
visiting them. It is a face-to-face interaction between the company
representative and the customer with the objective to influence the
customer to purchase the product or services.
Personal selling offers the following benefits:
a. Personalized approach. Allows for tailoring the sales message
to individual customer needs and preferences.
b. Direct Feedback. Enables the salesperson to receive
immediate feedback from the customer and adjust their
approach accordingly.

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 c. Higher Sales Conversion Rates. The personal touch and
relationship-building can lead to increased sales and customer
satisfaction.
d. Minimizes Wasted Effort. Personal selling allows for focusing
on high-potential customers, minimizing wasted effort.
e. Boost Word-of-Mouth Marketing. Satisfied customers are
more likely to recommend the product or service to others.

3. Sales Promotion: The sales promotion is the short-term incentives

given to the customers to have an increased sale for a given period.
Generally, the sales promotion schemes are floated in the market at
the time of festivals or the end of the season. Discounts, Coupons,
Payback offers, Freebies, etc. are some of the sales promotion
schemes. With the sales promotion, the company focuses on the
increased short-term profits, by attracting both the existing and the
new customers.
Examples of a sales promotion includes;
a. Discounts and Coupons
b. Bundling
c. Free Samples or Trials
d. Contests and Giveaways
e. Limited-Time offers
f. Loyalty Programs

4. Public Relations: The marketers try to build a favorable image in the

market by creating relations with the general public. The companies
carry out several public relations campaigns with the objective to have
a support of all the people associated with it either directly or
indirectly. The public comprises of the customers, employees,
suppliers, distributors, shareholders, government and the society as a
whole. The publicity is one of the forms of public relations that the
company may use with the intention to bring newsworthy information
to the public. Public relations involves building and maintaining a
positive brand image and reputation through earned media,
communication strategies, and engagement with various audiences,
ultimately boosting sales and revenues. Some PR tactics includes:
a. Media relations
b. Press Releases
c. Social Media Engagement
d. Community Relations
e. Internal Communications
f. Crisis Communication
g. Thought Leadership

5. Direct Marketing: With the intent of technology, companies reach

customers directly without any intermediaries or any paid medium. The
e-mails, text messages, Fax, are some of the tools of direct marketing.
The companies can send emails and messages to the customers if they
need to be informed about the new offerings or the sales promotion

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schemes. It is called direct marketing because it generally eliminates
the middleman, such as advertising media.

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Factors Affecting Promotional Mix
The management must consider the following factors in determining
the promotion mix, these are:

1. Nature of Product: The different type of product requires different

promotional tools. Such as, for the industrial products Viz. Machinery,
equipment or land personal selling is more appropriate as a great deal
of pre-sale and after-sale services is required to sell and install such
products. On the other hand, advertising and publicity are more
suitable for the consumer goods, especially the convenience goods.

2. Nature of Market: The number and location of customers greatly

influence the promotion mix. In case the group of potential customers
is small and are concentrated in a particular locality, then personal
selling is more likely to be effective. Whereas, if the customer base is
large and widespread, then the blend of advertising, personal selling,
and the sales promotion is required to sell the product. Also, the type
of customers influences the managerial decisions of the promotion
mix. The type of promotion for the urban, educated and institutional
customers would be different as compared to the rural, illiterate and
household customers.

3. Stage of Product’s Life: The promotion mix changes as the product

moves along its life cycle. During the introduction stage, the principal
objective of the promotion is to create the primary demand by
emphasizing the product’s features, utility, etc. therefore, the blend of
advertising and publicity is required. As the product reaches its
maturity stage the advertising and personal selling is required to
maintain the demand of the customers. And finally, during the decline
stage the expenses on other promotional activities are cut, and more
emphasis is laid on sales promotion with the intent to push up the
declining sales.

4. Availability of Funds: The marketing budget also decides the

promotion mix. If the funds available for the promotion are large, then

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 the blend of promotional tools can be used, whereas in the case the
funds are limited then the management must choose the promotional
tool wisely.

5. Nature of Technique: Each element of the promotional mix has

unique features that significantly influences the purpose of promotion.
Such as, the advertising is an impersonal mode of communication that
reaches a large group of customers. Its expression can be amplified
with the use of colors and sound that helps in developing the long-
lasting brand image in the minds of the customer. The personal selling
involves face to face interaction that helps in developing cordial and
personal relations with the customers. Likewise, the sales promotion is
short-term incentives given to the customers with the intent to boost
sales for a shorter period of time.

6. Promotional Strategy: The promotion mix largely depends on the

company’s promotional strategy, i.e. whether it accepts the Push
Strategy or a Pull Strategy. In a Push strategy, the manufacturer forces
the dealers to carry the product and promote it to the customer, i.e.
convince the potential buyers to buy it. Here, personal selling and
trade promotion are likely to be more effective. In the case of a Pull
Strategy, the consumers ask the dealers to carry the product, i.e.
customers themselves purchase the product. Here, advertising and
consumer promotion are more appropriate.

7. Readiness of Buyer: Different promotional tools are required

at different stages of buyer readiness. Such as, at the comprehension
stage, the blend of advertising and personal selling plays a vital role.
Whereas at the conviction stage, personal selling is more effective. At
the time of sales closure, the blend of sales promotion and personal
selling is likely to be more effective.

Hence, the advertising and publicity are more effective at the early
stages of buying decision process while the sales promotion and personal
selling are more effective during the later stages.

Promotion Mix best Practices

1. Identify the target audience. Determine your target audience
and take advantage of the promotion mix tactics. Create your
customer profile to find out how to provide people with the products
they need.

2. Follow a five P’s rule. Five factors form promotional marketing

success: what you sell (Product), how much you want for it (Price), how
you offer it (Promotion), where you sell it (Place), and whom you sell it
to (People). Work on these five P’s of marketing and give your
customers what they need at the most convenient time.

3. Provide people with useful information. Demonstrate the products

and services you sell. Explain what makes them so unique and why

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 customers should choose yours and no one else’s products. Create
reviews comparing your product with competitors’ products.

4. Use appropriate marketing channels. Find out which channel of

communication is the most convenient for your audience. Try
delivering the same message through different channels and examine
which performs best with your customers.

5. Rely on the right promotion mix elements. Personal selling is

usually useful for only small businesses due to its high cost and low
outreach. Every business can afford to display advertising and email
marketing, though. Develop a balanced system of communication with
your audience that fits your business well.

6. Implement segmentation. This tool targets the audience by dividing

it into smaller groups based on similarities. With
SendPulse, segmentation works with emails, SMS, and web push
notifications.

7. Monitor marketing trends. As internet marketing evolves, new

channels for communication with customers appear. Follow marketing
trends to be able to reach your customers the way they like it.

How to use a promotional mix

1. Establish your target audience. You should consider determining
your target audience before you begin any promotion. There are
several factors to consider such as age, sex and income. Effective
campaigns take into consideration your most likely consumers. For
example, consider whether your product caters more towards women
or men. You can also estimate how far people might travel to get your
service so you can advertise within that radius. These steps can help
you create a more defined target audience to make your promotional
mix more effective.

2. Create advertisements. Advertising is any type of promotion or

presentation of services, ideas and goods by a particular sponsor. This
is a great way to communicate with a large number of people at once
and is one of the most common ways to promote a product. Your
company may dedicate a large part of its budget to advertising alone,
including radio, magazines, television and newspapers. You can work
together with your team to figure out what type of advertising is best
for you. If you are selling something locals would buy, the local
newspaper can be a good option for ad placement. When selling a
product anyone in the country can buy, you should consider placing
ads in a few national magazines or on television to reach more people.
Your team can create a variety of drafts for the ads until everyone
agrees on the final one.

3. Use public relations. A company may use a public relations company

to help their promotional mix and attempt to influence a certain

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 group’s attitude toward their business. Public relations efforts often
create and keep a positive image for a company while promoting it.
Public relations targets specific groups of people including
stockholders, employees, environmentalists, customers, residents or
unions. You might work with them to inform them of any important
details they should promote and who your target audience is. There
are a variety of activities that to consider, such as inviting consumers
to view your product at a special showing. It is helpful to have
someone in public relations, as they are in charge of creating lists of
people to email, communicating with potential buyers and answering
questions the public might have about your service. These steps can
help create a successful event where they promote your product and
may get people to purchase it.

4. Utilize sales promotion. Sales promotion prompts consumers to

quickly decide on your service. It involves non-routine and short-term
incentives like price reduction sales, coupons, rebates or special deals
like buy-one-get-one-free to motivate consumers and dealers to
purchase what you are selling. An example of a sales promotion is
offering a certain percentage off the total price if someone buys your
product within a set period of time. You can communicate these deals
to consumers with online or print advertisements. The promotion could
be a coupon code that offers 15% off the product when a customer
purchases it between certain dates.

5. Consider direct marketing. Another part of a promotional mix is

direct marketing, which is used to deliver a service or message. This
method has grown in popularity over the years since it saves time and
money for companies. Several ways you may use direct marketing
include mailing advertisements to potential customers, going door-to-
door to sell your service or having a kiosk in a shopping center to
promote your product. This type of marketing can make the experience
more pleasant and personal for consumers.

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