Article Promotion

 What is Promotion ?

It is no longer enough for a business to have great products.  Lots of businesses have those too.  Customers need to know about a great product and be persuaded to buy.  That is the role of promotion.

Promotion is all about communication.  Why because promotion is the way in a business makes its products known to the customers, both current and potential.

The main aim of promotion is to ensure that customers are aware of the existence and positioning of products. Promotion is also used to persuade customers that the product is better than competing products and to remind customers about why they may want to buy.

It is a common mistake to believe that promotion by business is all about advertising.  It isn’t. There are a variety of approaches that a business can take to get their message across to customers, although advertising is certainly an important one.

It is important to understand that a business will use more than one method of promotion. The variety of promotional methods used is referred to as the promotional mix.

Which promotional methods are used depends on several factors:

Stage in the life cycle - e.g. advertising is important at the launch stage 

Nature of the product - how much information is required by customers before they buy

Competition - what are rivals doing?

Marketing budget - how much can the firm afford?

Marketing strategy - other elements of the mix (price, product, place etc)

Target market - appropriate ways to reach the target market

The main methods of promotion are:

• Advertising

• Public relations & sponsorship

• Personal selling

• Direct marketing

• Sales promotion

Sales Promotion is the process of persuading a potential customer to buy the product.  Sales promotion is designed to be used as a short-term tactic to boost sales – it is not really designed to build long-term customer loyalty.

Some sales promotions are aimed at consumers.  Others are targeted at intermediaries (such as agents and wholesalers) or at the firm’s sales force.

When undertaking a sales promotion, there are several factors that a business must take into account:

• What does the promotion cost – will the resulting sales boost justify the investment?
• Is the sales promotion consistent with the brand image?  A promotion that heavily discounts a product with a premium price might do some long-term damage to a brand
• Will the sales promotion attract customers who will continue to buy the product once the promotion ends, or will it simply attract those customers who are always on the look-out for a bargain?

There are many methods of sales promotion, including:

• Money off coupons – customers receive coupons, or cut coupons out of newspapers or a products packaging that enables them to buy the product next time at a reduced price
• Competitions – buying the product will allow the customer to take part in a chance to win a prize
• Discount vouchers – a voucher (like a money off coupon)
• Free gifts – a free product when buy another product
• Point of sale materials – e.g. posters, display stands – ways of presenting the product in its best way or show the customer that the product is there.
• Loyalty cards – e.g. Nectar and Air Miles; where customers earn points for buying certain goods or shopping at certain retailers – that can later be exchanged for money, goods or other offers

Loyalty cards have recently become an important form of sales promotion.  They encourage the customer to return to the retailer by giving them discounts base on the spending from a previous visit. Loyalty cards can offset the discounts they offer by making more sales and persuading the customer to come back.  They also provide information about the shopping habits of customers – where do they shop, when and what do they buy?  This is very valuable marketing research and can be used in the planning process for new and existing products.

The main advantages and disadvantages of sales promotion are:

Advantages	Disadvantages
Effective at achieving a quick boost to sales Encourages customers to trial a product or switch brands	Sales effect may only be short-term Customers may come to expect or anticipate further promotions  May damage brand image

10 kalimat present tense dan past tenses

>> Present tense

• ·        There are a variety of approaches
• ·        business makes its products known to the customers, both current and potential.
• ·        The main aim of promotion is to ensure that customers are aware
• ·        Loyalty cards have recently become an important form of sales promotion
• ·        Some sales promotions are aimed at consumers
• ·        Lots of businesses have those too.
• ·        A promotion that heavily discounts a product 
• ·        Sales Promotion is the process of persuading a potential customer
• ·        Effective at achieving a quick boost to sales
• ·        Encourages customers
• where customers earn points for buying certain goods or shopping at certain 

>> Past Tense 

• the product next time at a reduced price
•  Others are targeted at intermediaries (such as agents and wholesalers) or at the firm’s sales force.
• Some sales promotions are aimed at consumers
• Sales promotion is designed to be used as a short-term tactic to boost