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All businesses must be able to promote their products to attract the attention of potential buyers. Without a promotion strategy, a company may not be able to make sales as people will be unaware of the products and services that it offers. The main aims of a business when promoting goods is to:
- Tell potential customers about the product
- Remind people that a product is still available
- Reach a wide, yet relevant, audience
- Reassure customers about products
- Prove that products are better than the competition
- Improve the image of the business and build the brand
In order to draw attention to products there are two different methods that can be used: above-the-line promotion and below-the-line promotion.
Above-the-line promotion strategies
This type of business promotion strategy involves advertising products using media outlets. Businesses may pay for advertising space on television, in newspapers or to have their goods shown in other areas. Each type of promotion has distinct advantages and disadvantages that a business must understand and weigh up before advertising space is purchased.
Below-the-line promotion strategies
A below-the-line promotion strategy is usually developed within a business and will not incorporate external marketing. This means that a customer will already be known to the company and then targeted by employees. There are many different ways that this can be done and the options available for a company are seemingly endless. Some of the main methods of promotion include:
- Sales promotions – these will be incentives that encourage people to make purchases. Using free gifts, coupons, special offers or competitions will all help a business to achieve higher sales. When people think they will get something for free or are saving money they will be much more likely to make a purchase.
- Public relations – by improving the image of a business, more sales will be encouraged. Many approaches can be used for this such as press conferences or releases, sponsorships and giving donations to charitable causes. This is a fairly cheap way of getting attention and allows a business to affiliate itself with others in order to build a strong brand.
- Merchandising and packaging – by making products look and feel more desirable, a business will be able to improve sales. The layout used in shops will help a product to sell and putting items in particular places will improve the sales made. Ensuring that shelves are well stocked and product displays are to the best possible quality will inspire confidence in a product in the place where a sale is made.
- Direct sales – sending messages to potential customers directly will help to encourage sales. This can feel quite personal for customers and can be annoying at times but allows a more personal approach to be taken. Examples of this involve the use of call centres and door-to-door salespeople.
- Trade fairs – many businesses use trade fairs and exhibitions in order to promote products. This is a great way to attract custom from individuals that are interested in the industry and are likely to make purchases. Trade fairs are used in business-to-business sales very often.
- Free trials – allowing customers to use products for a short period of time will encourage more custom. People will like this due to the fact they are getting something for free and will not be going into the dark when making a purchase – they will be able to test the product and see if it is right for them.
Choosing the right promotion
Since there are many options to choose from when promoting a product, businesses must be able to pick the right one for the situation. This will require a company to weigh up the advantages and disadvantages of each method of promotion to choose the best combination in order to maximise the impact it has on customers. By co-ordinating the method of promotion with the product being advertised and the business’s reputation, the highest number of sales can be made. This will require a company to consider:
- The cost of marketing – the cost of promotion is very important. Often a business will have a strict marketing budget, so adverts should be used that are within this.
- The type of product – by understanding the type of product that is being sold, a business will be able to align the promotion methods with the type of person it wishes to sell to. Doing this will make advertising more targeted and save money from being wasted on methods that are not appropriate. It can also help a business to avoid potentially embarrassing situations where advertising gives the wrong image of a company.
- The market segment – a product should be promoted to people within the market segment that sales are to be generated in. This means that a local business should be advertising to those in the community locally and will benefit very little from large national campaigns. Similarly, a big business needs to have a wide coverage to attract people from everywhere in the market segment rather than only specific areas.
- The stage in the product life cycle – marketing will be altered depending on the stage in the product life cycle. Initially, marketing budgets will need to be very large and press relations will be very important for a company to boost the impact on the market. However, over time, the business may start to rely more on below-the-line promotion to get more sales.
Using appropriate advertising
When choosing advertising methods, a business will have to ensure that these are appropriate for the type of people that its product will appeal to. If the marketing and the product do not match, then the consequence will be reduced sales and a smaller market share.
Adverts will need to be aligned for the demographics that are being targeted such as the age of potential customers, their tastes and the amount of money they are likely to spend. Doing this will ensure that marketing gets the best possible return on the money and time that is invested.
Technology in promotion
Since modern technology and software are now used in almost every aspect of a business, it should come as no surprise that technology is widely used in promoting products as well. Although methods such as posters and billboards are still used, many companies will now heavily invest in online advertising. This can come in the form of banners on websites or adverts on search engines like Google. Using these methods will ensure that ad campaigns are very specific (for example, adverts can be targeted to people who have searched for certain words on Google) and that the right audience is attracted.
Social media is now a huge method of advertising as well. Companies will use product placements with influential bloggers or try to get certain terms to trend on websites like Twitter. Doing this is very cheap (and often free) but can take a lot of time and energy. However, when it works, this type of promotion will result in huge numbers of potential customers seeing adverts for a very small investment.
