Promotional mix (marketing)

The various tools used within a marketing campaign are known collectively as the promotional mix. A promotional mix is used to aid companies in communicating a message to their audiences. Communication is a key component in effective marketing. Businesses can promote themselves by communicating with their customers in different ways. Each of these means, or types, of communication is considered a promotional tool, and the way in which a marketing professional combines those tools becomes known as the promotional mix. Marketers choose the right promotional mix for a business or situation based on the message being sent and the audience receiving that message.

Background

Marketing is a form of communication between a business and customers in which the business tries to get customers to buy a product or service. The concept of marketing has been around since early human civilization, though it may not have always been called that.

The study and practice of marketing mostly began after World War II. Much of Europe and Asia were devastated by the war, but the United States was largely untouched. During the war, the United States built state-of-the-art communications systems, distribution systems, and modern military factories that were retooled after the war to make and sell consumer goods. This set the country up with the resources to advance consumerism and become a world leader in marketing.

In 1960, E. Jerome McCarthy, an American professor at Michigan State University, published his book Basic Marketing: A Managerial Approach. In this book, he described the concept of the four Ps: product, price, promotion, and place. Those four Ps were known collectively as the marketing mix, and they helped to define marketing as a whole. A marketing mix is the combination of elements used to market a product or service. Each element in a marketing mix is analyzed for the business to achieve success in the marketplace. Although a marketing mix differs from a promotional mix, they are similar in that they are utilized together to achieve a goal. Essentially, the marketing mix is a planned mix of ideas, and the promotional mix is the coordination and execution of those ideas.

Overview

Marketing is the art of communicating in such a way that a business's product or service seems irresistible to consumers. Different promotional tools are better at achieving certain results and objectives than others. The way those tools come together is known as the promotional mix. There are four major tools, or components, that can make up a promotional mix—personal selling, advertising, sales promotion, and publicity.

Personal selling involves direct, one-on-one contact between a seller and a consumer, usually in person or over the phone. With personal selling, sales professionals apply effective techniques to get their target audience to purchase a product or service.

Advertising is a paid form of communication about a business, product, or service. Typically, advertising involves mass media, such as television, radio, newspapers, and magazines. In the twenty-first century, however, advertising has also grown to include Internet and social media sites, such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Sales promotion is often viewed as a catchall category of selling. It can include both personal and impersonal communication tactics such as samples, rebates, or free giveaways. A new business giving away T-shirts to the first one hundred customers or a car dealership offering rebates or special financing on certain vehicles are examples of sales promotion.

Publicity, which can sometimes be referred to as public relations, involves companies working with news outlets to promote their product or service to the masses. Often, a company will send a news release to various media outlets in the hope that one of the outlets uses the material for print or broadcast. For example, a new business can send a news release about a grand-opening celebration to a local television news station to try to get a news crew to cover the event.

The promotional mix that is right for one business may not be right for another. One way for marketers to ensure they have chosen a successful mix is to first identify their target audience (who they are trying to sell to). Another key step is identifying the target message. What is the business trying to say with the campaign? Marketers also need to identify the promotion budget. Several factors can influence a promotion budget and the promotional mix as a whole, including product-related factors, customer-related factors, organization-related factors, and environment-related factors.

Product-related factors include any specific information about the product or service in general. The amount of information that needs to be communicated about the product should be considered along with the product's price. A high-end electric vehicle needs to be promoted differently than a more affordable standard car would.

Customer-related factors can include the characteristics of the target market and the type of buying decision. If your target audience is a group of young children who generally make quick decisions about which products they want or like, that will influence the type of promotional mix used.

Organization-related factors involve the company or brand as a whole. What are the company's strategies for its brand, pricing, and promotion? Does the company have a large or small budget? These factors need to be considered before promotion begins and decisions about where to advertise can be made. For example, a high-end vehicle company is unlikely to advertise in a magazine geared toward teens who cannot afford their product. Knowing the various factors and specifics of a company or product help a marketer choose the right promotional mix.

Environmental-related factors are those going on outside the business, specifically in terms of competition. If the business has direct competition, the actions and marketing strategies of that business need to be carefully considered when choosing a promotional mix. For example, if a business launches an advertising campaign that is similar to one of its competitors, customers may think the business is just copying the other company and that it lacks originality.

There are many factors to consider when choosing the right components for a successful promotional mix. If a marketing professional keeps these specifics and factors in mind, he or she can choose the promotional mix tools that will work best for that particular business or campaign.

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