Promotion (marketing)

Last updated

In marketing, promotion refers to any type of marketing communication used to inform target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or issue, persuasively. It helps marketers to create a distinctive place in customers' mind, it can be either a cognitive or emotional route. The aim of promotion is to increase brand 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. [1]

Contents

Promotion is also one of the elements in the promotional mix or promotional plan. These are personal selling, advertising, sales promotion, direct marketing, publicity, word of mouth and may also include event marketing, exhibitions and trade shows. [2] A promotional plan specifies how much attention to pay to each of the elements in the promotional mix, and what proportion of the budget should be allocated to each element.

Promotion covers the methods of communication that a marketer uses to provide information about its product. Information can be both verbal and visual.

Etymology and usage

The term promotion derives from the Old French, promocion meaning to "move forward", "push onward" or to "advance in rank or position" which in turn, comes from the Latin, promotionem meaning "a moving forward". The word entered the English language in the 14th century. [3]

The use of the term promotion to refer to "advertising or publicity" is very modern and was first recorded in 1925. [4] It may be a contraction of a related term, sales promotion, which is one element in the larger set of tools used in marketing communications. The terms, promotion and marketing communications can be used synonymously, but in practice, the latter is more widely used. [5]

Purpose

There are three objectives of promotion. These are: [6]

  1. To present information to consumers and others.
  2. To increase demand. [7]
  3. To differentiate a product.

The purpose of a promotion and thus its promotional plan can have a wide range, including: sales increases, new product acceptance, creation of brand equity, positioning, competitive retaliations or creation of a corporate image. [2]

The term 'promotion' tends to be used internally by the marketing function. To the public or the market, phrases like "special offer" are more common. Examples of fully integrated, long-term, and large-scale promotions are My Coke Rewards in the USA or Coke Zone in the UK and Pepsi Stuff.

Types

There have been different ways to promote a product in person or with different media. Both person and media can be either physically real or virtual/electronic.

In a physical environment

Promotions can be held in physical environments at special events such as concerts, festivals, trade shows, and in the field, such as in grocery or department stores. Interactions in the field allow immediate purchases. The purchase of a product can be incentive with discounts (i.e., coupons), free items, or a sweepstakes prize draw. This method is used to increase the sales of a given product.

Interactions between the brand and the customer are performed by a brand ambassador or promotional model who represents the product in physical environments. Brand ambassadors or promotional models are hired by a marketing company, which in turn is booked by the brand to represent the product or service. Person-to-person interaction, as opposed to media-to-person involvement, establishes connections that add another dimension to promotion. Building a community through promoting goods and services can lead to brand loyalty.

Traditional media

Examples of traditional media include print media such as newspapers and magazines, electronic media such as radio and television, and outdoor media such as banner or billboard advertisements. Each of these platforms provides ways for brands to reach consumers with advertisements.

Digital media

Digital media, which includes Internet, social networking and social media sites, is a modern way for brands to interact with consumers as it releases news, information and advertising from the technological limits of print and broadcast infrastructures. [8] Digital media is currently the most effective way for brands to reach their consumers on a daily basis. Over 2.7 billion people are online globally, which is about 40% of the world's population. [9] 67% of all Internet users globally use social media. [10]

Mass communication has led to modern marketing strategies to continue focusing on brand awareness, large distributions and heavy promotions. [8] The fast-paced environment of digital media presents new methods for promotion to utilize new tools now available through technology. With the rise of technological advances, promotions can be done outside of local contexts and across geographic borders to reach a greater number of potential consumers. The goal of a promotion is then to reach the most people possible in a time efficient and a cost efficient manner.

Social media, as a modern marketing tool, offers opportunities to reach larger audiences in an interactive way. These interactions allow for conversation rather than simply educating the customer. Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, Tumblr, as well as alternate audio and media sites like SoundCloud and Mixcloud allow users to interact and promote music online with little to no cost. You can purchase and buy ad space on social media platforms. Additionally, you can buy artificial Likes, Followers, and Clicks on your pages and posts with the use of third parties. As a participatory media culture, social media platforms or social networking sites are forms of mass communication that, through media technologies, allow large amounts of product and distribution of content to reach the largest audience possible.[2] However, there are downsides to virtual promotions as servers, systems, and websites may crash, fail, or become overloaded with information. You also can stand risk of losing uploaded information and storage and at a use can also be effected by a number of outside variables.

Brands can explore different strategies to keep consumers engaged. One popular tool is branded entertainment, or creating some sort of social game for the user. The benefits of such a platform include submersing the user in the brand's content. Users will be more likely to absorb and not grow tired of advertisements if they are, for example, embedded in the game as opposed to a bothersome pop-up ad. [11]

Personalizing advertisements is another strategy that can work well for brands, as it can increase the likelihood that the brand will be personified by the consumer. Personalization increases click-through intentions when data has been collected about the consumer. [12]

Brands must navigate the line between effectively promoting their content to consumers on social media and becoming too invasive in consumers' lives. Vivid Internet ads that include devices such as animation might increase a user's initial attention to the ad. However, this may be seen as a distraction to the user if they are trying to absorb a different part of the site such as reading text. [13] Additionally, when brands make the effort of overtly collecting data about their consumers and then personalizing their ads to them, the consumer's relationship with the advertisements, following this data collection, is frequently positive. However, when data is covertly collected, consumers can quickly feel like the company betrayed their trust. [12] It is important for brands to utilize personalization in their ads, without making the consumer feel vulnerable or that their privacy has been betrayed.

Sponsorship

Sponsorship generally involves supplying resources (such as money) to a group or an event in exchange for advertising or publicity. Company will often help fund athletes, teams, or events in exchange for having their logo prominently visible. This is done through the use of product placement or by placing logos on team uniforms/equipment. [14]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marketing</span> Study and process of exploring, creating, and delivering value to customers

Marketing is the act of satisfying and retaining customers. It is one of the primary components of business management and commerce.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Guerrilla marketing</span> Unconventional advertising strategy

Guerrilla marketing is an advertisement strategy in which a company uses surprise and/or unconventional interactions in order to promote a product or service. It is a type of publicity. The term was popularized by Jay Conrad Levinson's 1984 book Guerrilla Marketing.

Sales promotion is one of the elements of the promotional mix. The primary elements in the promotional mix are advertising, personal selling, direct marketing and publicity/public relations. Sales promotion uses both media and non-media marketing communications for a predetermined, limited time to increase consumer demand, stimulate market demand or improve product availability. Examples include contests, coupons, freebies, loss leaders, point of purchase displays, premiums, prizes, product samples, and rebates.

Multichannel marketing is the blending of different distribution and promotional channels for the purpose of marketing. Distribution channels include a retail storefront, a website, or a mail-order catalogue.

Marketing communications refers to the use of different marketing channels and tools in combination. Marketing communication channels focus on how businesses communicate a message to their desired market, or the market in general. It is also in charge of the internal communications of the organization. Marketing communication tools include advertising, personal selling, direct marketing, sponsorship, communication, public relations, social media, customer journey and promotion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Advertising management</span> Part of the advertising industry

Advertising management is how a company carefully plans and controls its advertising to reach its ideal customers and convince them to buy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Advertising campaign</span> Advertisements based on a theme

An advertising campaign is a series of advertisement messages that share a single idea and theme which make up an integrated marketing communication (IMC). An IMC is a platform in which a group of people can group their ideas, beliefs, and concepts into one large media base. Advertising campaigns utilize diverse media channels over a particular time frame and target identified audiences.

The target audience is the intended audience or readership of a publication, advertisement, or other message catered specifically to the previously intended audience. In marketing and advertising, the target audience is a particular group of consumer within the predetermined target market, identified as the targets or recipients for a particular advertisement or message.

Social media optimization (SMO) is the use of a number of outlets and communities to generate publicity to increase the awareness of a product, service brand or event. Types of social media involved include RSS feeds, social news, bookmarking sites, and social networking sites such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, video sharing websites, and blogging sites. SMO is similar to search engine optimization (SEO) in that the goal is to generate web traffic and increase awareness for a website. SMO's focal point is on gaining organic links to social media content. In contrast, SEO's core is about reaching the top of the search engine hierarchy. In general, social media optimization refers to optimizing a website and its content to encourage more users to use and share links to the website across social media and networking sites.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cross-media marketing</span> Form of marketing promotion

Cross-media marketing is a form of cross-promotion in which promotional companies commit to surpassing traditional advertisement techniques and decide to include extra appeals to the products they offer. The material can be communicated by any mass media such as e-mails, letters, web pages, social media or other recruiting sources. This method can be extremely successful for publishers because the marketing increases the ad's profit from a single advertiser, as well as generates a good liaison between the advertiser and the publisher, which also boosts the profits. The integration of social media marketing into the marketing mix empowers firms to promote goods and services. It facilitates real-time interaction, fostering engagement and swift feedback. This approach enhances customer satisfaction by offering personalized experiences and addressing inquiries promptly. Effective social media utilization enables companies to build, sustain, and bolster their competitive edge in the digital realm.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Digital marketing</span> Marketing of products or services using digital technologies or digital tools

Digital marketing is the component of marketing that uses the Internet and online-based digital technologies such as desktop computers, mobile phones, and other digital media and platforms to promote products and services. It has significantly transformed the way brands and businesses utilize technology for marketing since the 1990s and 2000s. As digital platforms became increasingly incorporated into marketing plans and everyday life, and as people increasingly used digital devices instead of visiting physical shops, digital marketing campaigns have become prevalent, employing combinations of search engine optimization (SEO), search engine marketing (SEM), content marketing, influencer marketing, content automation, campaign marketing, data-driven marketing, e-commerce marketing, social media marketing, social media optimization, e-mail direct marketing, display advertising, e-books, and optical disks and games have become commonplace. Digital marketing extends to non-Internet channels that provide digital media, such as television, mobile phones, callbacks, and on-hold mobile ringtones. The extension to non-Internet channels differentiates digital marketing from online marketing.

A touchpoint can be defined as any way consumers can interact with a business organization, whether person-to-person, through a website, an app or any form of communication. When consumers connect with these touchpoints they can consider their perceptions of the business and form an opinion.

Customer engagement is an interaction between an external consumer/customer and an organization through various online or offline channels. According to Hollebeek, Srivastava and Chen, customer engagement is "a customer’s motivationally driven, volitional investment of operant resources, and operand resources into brand interactions," which applies to online and offline engagement.

Brand awareness is the extent to which customers are able to recall or recognize a brand under different conditions. Brand awareness is one of two dimensions from brand knowledge, an associative network memory model. It is a key consideration in consumer behavior, advertising management, and brand management. The consumer's ability to recognize or recall a brand is central to purchasing decision-making because purchasing cannot proceed unless a consumer is first aware of a product category and a brand within that category. Awareness does not necessarily mean that the consumer must be able to recall a specific brand name, but they must be able to recall enough distinguishing features for purchasing to proceed. Creating brand awareness is the main step in advertising a new product or bringing back the older brand in light.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Targeted advertising</span> Form of advertising

Targeted advertising is a form of advertising, including online advertising, that is directed towards an audience with certain traits, based on the product or person the advertiser is promoting.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Social media marketing</span> Promotion of products or services on social media

Social media marketing is the use of social media platforms and websites to promote a product or service. Although the terms e-marketing and digital marketing are still dominant in academia, social media marketing is becoming more popular for both practitioners and researchers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Purchase funnel</span> Model of theoretical customer journey toward purchase of a good or service

The purchase funnel, or purchasing funnel, is a consumer-focused marketing model that illustrates the theoretical customer journey toward the purchase of a good or service.

Virtual engagement is a metric to determine the level of affinity between a company and its customers.

Omnichannel is a neologism describing a business strategy. According to Frost & Sullivan, omnichannel is defined as "seamless and effortless, high-quality customer experiences that occur within and between contact channels".

Social advertising is advertising that relies on social information or networks in generating, targeting, and delivering marketing communications. Many current examples of social advertising use a particular Internet service to collect social information, establish and maintain relationships with consumers, and for delivering communications. For example, the advertising platforms provided by Google, Twitter, and Facebook involve targeting and presenting ads based on relationships articulated on those same services. Social advertising can be part of a broader social media marketing strategy designed to connect with consumers.

References

  1. ↑ McCarthy, Jerome E. (1964). Basic Marketing. A Managerial Approach . Homewood, Illinois: Irwin. pp.  769. ISBN   0256025339.
  2. 1 2 Rajagopal (2007). Marketing dynamics theory and practice. New Delhi: New Age International. ISBN   978-81-224-2712-7.
  3. ↑ Online Etymology Encyclopedia, <Online: "Promotion | Etymology, origin and meaning of promotion by etymonline". Archived from the original on 2018-01-08. Retrieved 2018-01-07.>
  4. ↑ Online Etymology Encyclopedia, <Online: "Promotion | Etymology, origin and meaning of promotion by etymonline". Archived from the original on 2018-01-08. Retrieved 2018-01-07.>
  5. ↑ Pickton, D. and Broderick, A. Integrated Marketing Communications, Harlow, Essex, Pearson, 2005, pp 4–5
  6. ↑ Boone, Louis; Kurtz, David (1974). Contemporary marketing. Hinsdale, Illinois: Dryden Press. ISBN   978-0-03-088518-1.
  7. ↑ instead of spending on free samples, giving a larger amount to a paying customer to whom an expiration date matching that of the small size promotes self-medicating Christina Thompson (December 13, 2015). "Philadelphia Lawyer Finds His True Passion In Technology". CBS. Why is the 100-count Advil only 25% more than the 50-count?
  8. 1 2 Mulhern, Frank (2009). "Integrated marketing communications: From media channels to digital connectivity". Journal of Marketing Communications15 (2–3): 87.
  9. ↑ Hudson, Simon; Huang, Li; Roth, Martin S.; Madden, Thomas J. "The influence of social media interactions on consumer–brand relationships: A three-country study of brand perceptions and marketing
  10. ↑ Hudson, Simon; Roth, Martin S.; Madden, Thomas J.; Hudson, Rupert (2015-04-01). "The effects of social media on emotions, brand relationship quality, and word of mouth: An empirical study of music festival attendees". Tourism Management47: 68–76. doi : 10.1016/j.tourman.2014.09.001.
  11. ↑ Ashley, C., & Tuten, T. (2015). Creative Strategies in Social Media Marketing: An Exploratory Study of Branded Social Content and Consumer Engagement. Psychology & Marketing, 32(1), 15–27.
  12. 1 2 Aguirre, Elizabeth; Mahr, Dominik; Grewal, Dhruv; de Ruyter, Ko; Wetzels, Martin (2015-03-01). "Unraveling the Personalization Paradox: The Effect of Information Collection and Trust-Building Strategies on Online Advertisement Effectiveness". Journal of Retailing91 (1): 34–49. doi:10.1016/j.jretai.2014.09.005.
  13. ↑ Celebi, Serra Inci. "How do motives affect attitudes and behaviors toward internet advertising and Facebook advertising?". Computers in Human Behavior 51: 312–324. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2015.05.011.
  14. ↑ Mariela, Steeve; Portesi, Mariela; Portesi, Mariela (July 2008). "Some entropic extensions of the uncertainty principle". 2008 IEEE International Symposium on Information Theory. IEEE. pp. 1676–1680. doi:10.1109/isit.2008.4595273. ISBN   978-1-4244-2256-2. S2CID   14967814.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.