In a world as globalized as the one that exists today, companies are increasingly in constant dispute to win the markets, all of them have an endless number of tools that they can use to achieve the objectives set.
One of the tools that companies have to achieve their stated goals is promotion. Today, promotion is present in all corners of the world, which has become a determining factor in the performance of organizations today. day.
In such a competitive world and with such an aggressive type of rivalry between companies, it is necessary to make a difference. You must constantly change and innovate to set these important guidelines in differentiation with others.
However, having a mix of tools in the promotion is not an easy task, since there must be a good relationship between all the strategies, so that when using them together there is a joint effort that allows precisely achieving the objectives.
One of the most important elements of any organization is the relationships with its customers, these relationships must be profitable, that is; the parties should obtain the maximum benefit when making a transaction. The promotion will be a fundamental piece in ensuring that there is a clear communication between company-client and above all it will have very specific objectives within the organization, some of which are to inform, remember and persuade, which will be detailed in this work.
Promotion overview
Nature and scope
Before defining the nature and scope of the promotion, it is essential to know the meaning of it, since nowadays promotion is increasingly present in the everyday world and is a key element in organizations to achieve the objectives long term.
According to Jerome McCarthy and William Perreault, "Promotion is about passing on information between the seller and potential buyers or other channel members to influence their attitudes and behaviors." "The chief function of the chief marketing officer is to communicate to target consumers that the right product is available in the right place at the right price."
Now, based on the previous definition, we can identify the nature of the promotion. It is said that it comes from its importance in the marketing mix, promotion plays a very important role in customer-product-company interaction. Therefore the promotion has a communicative nature, that is; that occurs in a communication process, which will take place between an issuer, a brand or organization and a receiver.
But why is promotion so important? What is its true scope? Being a communication process between "company-product-customer" presupposes direct interaction with end consumers, interaction through which it is intended to inform, influence the ideas and beliefs of consumers of interest, in order to can direct their behavior towards a desired behavior.
Now, it can be determined that the final scope of the promotion is to achieve communication with consumers, however the most important thing is not simply to reach them, the most important thing is the message that can be transmitted through said communication, the The final message should be adequate so that all the planned objectives are achieved.
Thus, to ensure that the communication process is achieved in the proper and effective way, the person in charge of the promotion area will rely on different tools available to them, which will help them take into account the full range and versatility of options available to influence the minds of consumers, without forgetting that this form of influence must be as creative as possible so that consumer behavior is expressed in the most natural way possible.
goals
It is important to emphasize that each company is an independent entity, therefore it is not possible to generalize the objectives that each one pursues, since each one has its own goals and the same thing happens in the promotion, since it depends largely on the purposes that the organization in question wants to reach, for example, some entities will use promotion to position a new product, others to increase their sales, some more to induce the use of the product, third to highlight the benefits of a product, some other objectives are loyalty to customers, enhance the brand, and thus endless uses.
Digital Marketing and Marketing Promotion Objectives
However, there are 3 main types of objectives that must be taken into account when carrying out the promotion program.
First of all it is important to determine a general objective of the promotion, this objective will be to influence the behavior of consumers, that is to say; that their conduct take the path desired by the organization.
For this it is necessary that the company through communication announces the idea or concept that it wants consumers to perceive and record in their minds, this in turn will achieve that people achieve a positive change in the appreciation of the brand or organization, the same change that must be constant and characteristic in them, in order to achieve that this desired behavior is exterminated by consumers naturally, or in other words that it is adopted and is present in their life and identity like human beings.
Being clear about this main objective will help you understand the great importance of this tool and how it can be planned and implemented appropriately for the organization's success.
Some
- Report: According to Stanton, Etzel and Walker, the most useful product fails if no one knows of its existence. This means that it is vitally important that buyers know if not all but most of the information about the product of interest, so that they can know its characteristics, its use, its importance and the benefits that acquiring it would bring. Persuading: Strictly speaking It refers to achieving with reasons and explanations that a person acts or thinks in a certain way. Then applied to economic entities, the company will use promotion to ensure that a certain set of people acquire their product and / or service and that they continue repeating said conduct over time. Remember: This means reinforcing the purchasing behavior on the part of of the consumer,At this point, what is sought is to ensure that the customer always has the brand or product in mind and when thinking of a need, immediately associate the use of the product with that need. For example, when thinking of a bank, the first thing you think of is Banamex, or when you think of a cola, the first thing that comes to mind is Coca-cola, etc.
Product Life Cycle Scheme
Factors that increase its importance
As previously mentioned, promotion plays a very important role in all organizations, no matter the size, line of business, sector or activity or age of the same. The promotion is present even in all parts of the product life cycle, obviously, at each stage of it the promotion is used in a different way.
Therefore, promotion is not a simple activity, nor should its value and importance in achieving objectives be underestimated, much less should it be carried out in isolation, promotion is a combination of different instruments, although there is no ideal form of such combination.
There are many factors that determine the promotion and that significantly influence the use of it. The following can be highlighted:
- Available resources: Unfortunately, all companies have limited resources and unlimited needs, therefore, they must maximize their resources according to administrative theory; in the case of promotion, they must use the available resources appropriately to achieve the greatest benefits, this supposes a correct planning and election of the tools that will be used to carry out this promotion. Type of product to sell: All products are different, therefore, each one will be directed to a certain sector or market segment, This makes us suppose then that each one will need a specific marketing mix that will allow them to reach the desired consumers, so you cannot generalize a type of promotion for a universe of products,Each promotion strategy will attend to the specific needs of the products. Then there will be products in which a promotion strategy will be appropriate, but for others it will not be.
- Market characteristics: The characteristics of the markets such as demography, geography, psychography, lifestyle, income level, among others, determine to a large extent the behavior of consumers and therefore determines the way of reaching them.
- Purchase process: It is important that when the purchase process is new, it is made known so that people adapt better to it. Stage of the product life cycle: When products are in the introduction and growth stages Promotion plays a very important role since it becomes greater since there is a need for knowledge and familiarization with the product and / or service.
As we can see, each factor will be determined by the particular company, and in all cases, it will be different from one company to another.
The promotional mix
As mentioned above, the promotional mix will largely depend on the conditions you have and the objectives you plan to achieve.
The promotional mix, also known as a promotion mix, communication mix, promotion mix, or communication mix, refers to the set of elements or tools that allow the promotion of a company or product.
However, choosing the best mix of tools is not an easy task because they must be chosen in the right way if you want to achieve synergy by using them continuously, otherwise you will be far from meeting the objectives..
Within the promotional mix we can find the following elements:
- Advertising: All the actions and decisions taken by companies to present and externally promote an idea, a product, using the various existing means of communication.
When deciding on the means to use, it is very important to define the scope, frequency and impact objectives; choose the best types, select the vehicles and program them. Finally, it will be necessary to assess the effects on communication and sales before, during and after the advertising campaign.
- Sales promotion: All those incentives that companies use to make a purchase more attractive and that in a certain way consumers are encouraged to acquire it at a good cost-benefit ratio from their perception.
In this type of action we can find many strategies, some of the most common will be mentioned below.
- SamplesCouponsPromotion PackagesAwards Contests
- Public relations: Here it has to do with how the company manages its public image, this greatly impacts the performance of the organization and largely determines the idea and perception that people have about the entity in general. Personal sales: Oral presentation in a conversation with one or more possible buyers in order to make a sale
conclusion
As it could be seen throughout the document, promotion is an important communication channel that exists between the company and clients or final consumers about the good and / or service of interest.
The promotion will take place in a communication process, it is said to be communication since it seeks to inform the customer about a particular product or service and to make the customer change his perception of something of interest and ultimately develop and repeat a desired behavior.
It was also possible to determine that the promotion has different objectives and uses, and that these will depend on the organization that is going to apply them, since it cannot be generalized since each organization is a world with different characteristics.
Based on the above, then we can assume that the appropriate promotional mix for a particular organization will depend on some factors such as the economic resources available to the company, the type of product that is intended to offer consumers, the characteristics of customers of interest, the product life cycle stage, to name but a few.
Finally, it will end with the idea that promotion, more than just technique, also requires art on the part of whoever executes it, since they must implement different tools if they want to achieve the desired result.
Bibliography
: From the book: «Marketing», Eleventh Edition, by McCarthy Jerome and Perreault William, McGraw-Hill Interamericana, 1997, p. 446.
: "Marketing Fundamentals," 13th Edition, by Stanton William, Etzel Michael, and Walker Bruce, Mc Graw Hill, 2004, pp. 567 to 569.
Bigné, E. (2003). Commercial Promotion. Madrid: ESIC.
Negocios, C. (June 1, 2012). Business grows. Obtained from
Taveras, O. (sf). Obtained from
Thompson, I. (June 2010). Intensive Marketing. Obtained from
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