Posted by I have already described the product, price and distribution. That is, first, second, third. And what is the fourth? Promotion.
There are two beliefs that you need to get away from. One is to associate promotion with price reductions in stores and sales of goods, and the other is to understand the word advertising as all the company’s activities to familiarize the customer with the product. Both are untrue. Promotion is one of the marketing tools you will use to appear in the minds of potential buyers. It consists of advertising, public relations, sales promotion and personal selling.
Every entrepreneur knows that advertising is the lever of commerce. Before choosing an advertising slogan, a positive association with the product, the place of broadcast (radio stations, Internet portals, billboards on a busy street), it is worth determining exactly what the purpose of the advertising message is. Advertising can:
- inform customers that you have opened a new, reliable computer store with a wide range of products and low prices,
- convince potential buyers of the benefits of buying from this store and using your computers instead of Kowalski’s equipment,
- and, if you have already gained your loyal customers, remind them that his company is still the leading seller in the area.
A good advertising message should be simple and focus on the primary benefit to the customer of buying your product. The information, even if it contains figuratives and associations, must be unambiguous, easy to remember and distinguish from competitors’ ads. Advertising should appeal to positive feelings and emotions of customers. The ways, time and costs of advertising the business are worth planning fairly carefully in the company’s business plan. This will allow you to look realistically at least for the next year of business.
Other elements of promotion are:
- public relations, i.e. building a positive reputation for the company by attending cultural events, conferences and other events,
- sales promotion, i.e. adding new benefits to the product being sold, sometimes unrelated to the industry; Nowak might think of accessories included “for free” with computer sets, or even a partial giveaway of a weekend in the mountains to regular customers,
- direct sales, i.e. delivering products directly to the customer’s door, bypassing unnecessary middlemen.
The type of company promotion used, and especially its effectiveness, are closely related to the life cycle of the product and the moment the company is in. At the beginning of the business, it is advisable to decide mainly on advertising and direct sales, later on public relations, and when the interest in the product begins to diminish – you can think about sales promotion.
All these classic mechanisms for promoting products have now moved to social media, of course. How to do it on social media, I will describe in a few weeks.