Promotion

Promotion the attempt to draw attention to a product or business in order to gain new customers or to retain existing ones.

There are two different types of promotion: above-the-line and below-the-line promotion.

Above-the-line promotion

Promotion through independent media such as TV and newspapers. These allow a business to reach a wide audience easily. It is also called advertising, which is a form of communicating between a business and its consumers where the business uses images or sounds in the media to encourage the purchase of the products.

Types of advertising media:

Television: appropriate for big businesses that sell consumer goods to mass markets.

Newspaper: appropriate for mass markets and for targeting a particular audience or market segment.

Radio: can be used for both, targeting a wide audience or a local audience (through a local radio station).

Posters and billboards: appear on variety of locations and carry small messages. The billboard grabs attention better if it is large and uses vivid imagery.

Internet: the cheapest form of advertising that helps target very large groups of people due to increased number of internet users nowadays.

Below-the-line promotion

Any promotion that is not advertising. It is carried out by methods over which the business has direct control, which allows the business to aim the message at consumers who are either known to them or who have been chosen in advance.

Types of below-the-line promotion:

PR (Public relations): an attempt by a business to communicate with groups that form its public, such as government, shareholders, employees and customers. The aim is to increase sales by improving the image of the business and its products (through, e.g., press conferences, press releases, donations, sponsorships etc.)

Merchandising: an attempt to influence consumers at the point of sale. The aim is to encourage sales of a product and speed up the rate of stock turnover.

Sales promotion: the incentives offered to consumers to encourage them to buy goods and services. They are intended to give short-term boost to the sales of a product (through, e.g., coupons and loyalty cards, product endorsements, product placing, free offers etc.)

Direct selling: also called personal selling, occurs when a company’s sales team promotes a product through personal contact (e.g., over the telephone, meetings etc.)

Direct mailing: Sending information about a product or product range through the post

Exhibitions and trades.

The promotional mix

Advertising: developing awareness, perception, knowledge at attitudes.
Personal Selling: Relying on sales representatives to directly persuade customers to buy.
Public Relations: activities aimed at establishing and protecting the desired image of a company.
Sales Promotion: short-term incentives created to stimulate demand for the product.
Internet presence: social media, online advertisements etc.