Definition: Promotional mix is the use of different promotional tools to raise awareness and demand for the goods and services of an organization. The promotional mix is also referred to as the promotion mix.
It is the fourth P of the marketing mix.
In order to use the promotion tools effectively, business requires the following:
- A target audience
- The best marketing method
- The most efficient medium to contact the audience
Importance of Promotional Mix
These days, businesses are not limited to any single form of promotion. They use a variety of channels to reach their audience and educate them about their offerings. A mix of promotional tools increases the effectiveness of the product promotion.
With the promotional mix, businesses can segment the audience and send them personalized communication through the right channel for maximum audience conversion.
The promotion mix improves communication and helps build a relationship with the audience, leading to them becoming repeat customers.
Elements of Promotional Mix
The following are the elements of a promotion mix:
- Direct Marketing
- Sales Promotion
- Advertising
- Personal Selling
- Public Relations
Direct Marketing: In a direct marketing promotion mix, the business directly reaches out to the audience. For example, the most common direct communication message is email marketing. The other methods are SMS, social media marketing, etc. Through these mediums, businesses educate the audience about their products and services.
Sales Promotion: These are short-term tactics designed to increase sales and promote the brand. For example, businesses may offer short-term discounts on products. These promotions are run occasionally. They can either lower the prices for a specific product, offer discounts on related products at the time of a specific product’s purchase, or provide discount codes or coupons.
Advertising: Advertising is a paid promotion. Here, businesses pay media channels, social media platforms, and/or influencers to promote the business to their audience. Advertising can promote a specific good or service or act to increase overall brand awareness.
Personal Selling: This is the traditional form of promotion, and these days it is not commonly used by big organizations. In this method, the salesperson visits the audience to educate them about the product. It is a time-consuming, but effective, form of marketing.
Public Relations: Here, businesses build a relationship with audiences through social work to promote their brands. This is an indirect form of promotion. Organizations carry out social work such as blood donation sites, charitable events, donation campaigns, etc. These campaigns help businesses promote a favorable public.
Example of Promotional Mix
Let’s look at a real-life example in Pepsi.
Executives use a mix of promotions to market Pepsi.
Pepsi uses television, social media, and influencers to promote its products.
Additionally, sometimes they offer discounts to the audience to increase the sale and brand awareness. They are also involved with public relations through charities and public events.
Promotional Mix Strategy
The strategy for a promotion mix can be as follows:
- Determine the Target Audience
- Determine the Objective
- Develop the Message
- Set the Funding
- Select the Promotion Mix
- Analyze the Result and Adjust Strategy
#1 – Determine the Target Audience
Determining the target audience is the crucial step in a promotion. Targeting uninterested audiences is a waste of money. For example, a gaming company may target young adults interested in games.
#2 – Determine the Objectives
The business must have a clear objective for promotion. It should know if the objective is collecting leads, creating awareness, or selling the product(s) or service(s).
Each objective has a separate strategy and requires different tactics.
#3 – Developing the Message
Here, businesses develop the message content and decide the format. The format can be pure video, audio, text, or a mix of all three.
Businesses can use video and/or text with images when promoting on social media. For Telemedia, they can create short videos. They can use popular actors or influencers to promote their products for video commercials.
#4 – Set the Funding
Funding is a vital criterion that decides the promotion mix. If the organization has a good promotion budget, it can go for high-octane advertisements, such as using television commercials and hiring influencers and actors to promote its products.
With low funding, businesses can use social media and print media promotion.
#5 – Set the Promotion Mix
This depends on the funding and the promotion requirements.
A business can select any combination of the following promotion:
- Direct Marketing
- Sales Promotion
- Advertising
- Personal Selling
- Public Relations
#5 – Analyze the Result and Adjust the Strategy
Here, businesses identify the strategy or channel that will provide the best result. A higher budget/more attention can then be put behind better performing avenues, and the budget for poor performers can be reduced.
Summary
Developing a product is not enough; businesses must promote their products to reach their audience. A promotion mix helps businesses use a combination of strategies to reach, educate and convince their audience to buy the product.