Marketing communication

Chapter 1

Marketing Communication

Marketing communications is a systematic methodology aimed at creating a niche for a particular product or service in the market through various modes of communication to reach the end user.

Marketing communication (MarCom) is a fundamental and complex part of a company’s marketing efforts. Loosely defined, MarCom can be described as all the messages and media you deploy to communicate with the market. Marketing communication includes advertising, direct marketing, branding, packaging, your online presence, printed materials, PR activities, sales presentations, sponsorships, trade show appearances and more.

The Importance of Communication in Business

Imagine trying to run a business where no one of your staff communicates with each other. Departments would be out of sync, no one would be quite certain what was going on, and it would be impossible to work together on group projects. In other words, a lack of communication would cause serious efficiency problems, and at the end of the day that’s money out of the company’s pockets.

1.       Unity

A company that works to develop strong communication with each other is a united company. Each team member shares the same goals in this case, and everyone knows what their co-workers have on their plate. By simply keeping in touch on a regular basis, everyone remains united and working together. This instills a cooperative atmosphere rather than encouraging the idea of having a bunch of individual people only looking out for themselves. All companies have a vision for their success, and through communication, that vision spreads to everyone. The result is a happier, healthier workplace where things get done more efficiently and a bigger likelihood of retaining the top talent.

2.       Improves Customer Relationships

No business would succeed without customers, and every company exists to serve them. Communicating with customers is every bit as important as communication within the workplace.

Communication is perhaps even more essential when it comes to providing excellent customer service, something that any successful company must do. For any number of reasons, customers are not always happy with your company even if you did everything you could, but as long as you are able to communicate your concern for their satisfaction, you can turn any situation into a positive experience. Customers that are displeased with a company do not hesitate to share their bad experience with others. By communicating clearly with them, you and ensuring your business always delivers the finest customer service possible, and that’s another critical component of building customer relationships.

3.       Improves Employee Relationships

No friendship is ever formed without a good level of communication. The more a company’s employees communicate with each other, the closer they will become naturally over time. Bear in mind that much of communication takes place without the need for words, so it’s important to master both verbal and non-verbal communication, both in the written form as well as body language.

4.       Enforcing Rules

Every business must have a code of policies and procedures that must be followed in order for everyone to succeed. Maybe there is a specific process for a task, for example, or maybe there are certain consequences for underperforming. You want to make all this very clear to your employees, and it isn’t possible to do this without strong communication skills.

5.       Enhanced Innovation

No matter how skilled and talented the people at the top of your company are, you can never have too many ideas. By encouraging everyone at your business, whether big or small, to openly share their thoughts without fear of being shut down, you will quickly notice the employees that have the most to add. Your best employees have ideas on how you can make your business run even better, and it’s wise to give them a chance to speak. A business can become more innovative overnight just by working together to be good communicators, and that’s bad news for your competition and good news for your revenue.

Integrated Marketing Communications

The careful coordination of all promotional messages to assure the consistency of messages at every contact point where a company meets the consumer.

Integrated Marketing Communications is a simple concept. It ensures that all forms of communications and messages are carefully linked together.

At its most basic level, Integrated Marketing Communications, or IMC, as we’ll call it, means integrating all the promotional tools, so that they work together in harmony.

Promotion is one of the Ps in the marketing mix. Promotions has its own mix of communications tools.

All of these communications tools work better if they work together in harmony rather than in isolation. Their sum is greater than their parts – providing they speak consistently with one voice all the time, every time.

This is enhanced when integration goes beyond just the basic communications tools. There are other levels of integration such as Horizontal, Vertical, Internal, External and Data integration.  Here is how they help to strengthen Integrated Communications.

• Horizontal Integration occurs across the marketing mix and across business functions – for example, production, finance, distribution and communications should work together and be conscious that their decisions and actions send messages to customers.
• While different departments such as sales, direct mail and advertising can help each other through Data Integration. This requires a marketing information system which collects and shares relevant data across different departments.
• Vertical Integration means marketing and communications objectives must support the higher level corporate objectives and corporate missions.
• Meanwhile Internal Integration requires internal marketing – keeping all staff informed and motivated about any new developments from new advertisements, to new corporate identities, new service standards, new strategic partners and so on.
• External Integration, on the other hand, requires external partners such as advertising and PR agencies to work closely together to deliver a single seamless solution – a cohesive message – an integrated message.

IMC Requirements

       Awareness of audience’s media habits and preferences

       Understanding of audience’s knowledge and beliefs about the product

       Use of coordinated media blendlinked to a specific objective

       Key is a single, coordinated messageand image thrust

Benefits of Integrated Marketing Communications

Although Integrated Marketing Communications requires a lot of effort it delivers many benefits. It can create competitive advantage, boost sales and profits, while saving money, time and stress.

       IMC wraps communications around customers and helps them move through the various stages of the buying process. The organisation simultaneously consolidates its image, develops a dialogue and nurtures its relationship with customers.

       This ‘Relationship Marketing’ cements a bond of loyalty with customers which can protect them from the inevitable onslaught of competition. The ability to keep a customer for life is a powerful competitive advantage.

       IMC also increases profits through increased effectiveness. At its most basic level, a unified message has more impact than a disjointed myriad of messages. In a busy world, a consistent, consolidated and crystal clear message has a better chance of cutting through the ‘noise’ of over five hundred commercial messages which bombard customers each and every day.

       At another level, initial research suggests that images shared in advertising and direct mail boost both advertising awareness and mail shot responses. So IMC can boost sales by stretching messages across several communications tools to create more avenues for customers to become aware, aroused, and ultimately, to make a purchase

       Carefully linked messages also help buyers by giving timely reminders, updated information and special offers which, when presented in a planned sequence, help them move comfortably through the stages of their buying process… and this reduces their ‘misery of choice’ in a complex and busy world.

       IMC also makes messages more consistent and therefore more credible. This reduces risk in the mind of the buyer which, in turn, shortens the search process and helps to dictate the outcome of brand comparisons.

       Un-integrated communications send disjointed messages which dilute the impact of the message. This may also confuse, frustrate and arouse anxiety in customers. On the other hand, integrated communications present a reassuring sense of order.

       Consistent images and relevant, useful, messages help nurture long term relationships with customers. Here, customer databases can identify precisely which customers need what information when… and throughout their whole buying life.

       Finally, IMC saves money as it eliminates duplication in areas such as graphics and photography since they can be shared and used in say, advertising, exhibitions and sales literature. Agency fees are reduced by using a single agency for all communications and even if there are several agencies, time is saved when meetings bring all the agencies together – for briefings, creative sessions, tactical or strategic planning. This reduces workload and subsequent stress levels – one of the many benefits of IMC.

HIERARCHY OF EFFECTS MODEL

  Awareness

The customer becomes aware of the product through advertising. This is a challenging step, there is no guarantee that the customer will be aware of the product brand after they view the advert. Customers see many adverts each day but will only remember the brand of a tiny fraction of products.

Knowledge

The customer begins to gain knowledge about the product for example through the internet, retail advisors and product packaging. In today's digital world this step has become more important as consumers expect to gather product knowledge at the click of a button. Consumers will quickly move to competitor brands if they do not get the information they want. The advertiser's job is to ensure product information is easily available.

Liking

As the title states, this step is about ensuring that the customer likes your product. As an advertiser what features can you promote to encourage the customer to like your product?

Preference

Consumers may like more than one product brand and could end up buying any one of them. At this stage advertisers will want the consumer to disconnect from rival products and focus on their particular product. Advertisers will want to highlight their brand's benefits and unique selling points so that the consumer can differentiate it from competitor brands.

Conviction

This stage is about creating the customer's desire to purchase the product. Advertisers may encourage conviction by allowing consumers to test or sample the product. Examples of this are inviting consumers to take a car for a test drive or offering consumers a free sample of a food product. This reassures consumers that the purchase will be a safe one.

Purchase

Having proceeded through the above stages, the advertiser wants the customer to purchase their product. This stage needs to be simple and easy, otherwise the customer will get fed up and walk away without a purchase. For example a variety of payment options encourages purchase whilst a complicated and slow website discourages purchases.

Six Steps and Behaviour

Lavidge and Steiner suggested that the six steps can be split into three stages of consumer behaviour: cognitive, affective and conative. The job of the advertiser is to promote the three behaviours.

• Cognitive (thinking) so that the consumer becomes product aware and gathers product knowledge
• Affective (feeling) so that the consumer likes the product brand and has conviction in it
• Conative (behaviour) so that the consumer buys the product brand
  

Chapter 2

Hidden Costs of Miscommunication

Hidden Costs For communication to be effective, it must be free of needless miscommunication. When individual or team communication is fragmented, ambiguous, contradictory or short-circuited in other ways, businesses lose money.

The cost can be in the form of:

-          Time lost due to inefficiency and needless repetitions of a task (re-work).

-          Missed opportunity.

-          Time and energy to repair ineffective communication.

-          Deadlines that slip.

-          Lost or damaged customer relationships due to unclear or unmet expectations.

-          Loss of productivity and employee retention due to emotional distress and ineffective reactions, such as gossip, complaining and backbiting.

-          Loss of repeat business and loss of long and short term strategic alliances due to impaired relationships.

-          Waste of resources due to treating a technical problem as though it were a communication misunderstanding and vice versa.

Preventing Miscommunication

To decrease the possibility of miscommunication, follow these four simple steps:

1. Seriously consider to whom you need to send a message. Make sure that the key people who receive the written or oral message are included. Omit the people who lack veto authority, who do not need to be informed, who have no responsibility for the message or its results, who will not act on the message or who should not have access to the information. One way to ensure you've involved the right people is to think about who should have a say in the message. Make your decisions accordingly.

2. Think about how to send the message: verbal or written. Verbal messages can easily be misinterpreted, especially when there are noises or distractions in the immediate surroundings; if the sender or receiver is anxious, uncertain or fearful; if the words used are unclear; or if the message is of high importance, complicated, detailed, and unclear and so on. Nonetheless, messages often do need to be verbal, such as those delivered on the phone, in a meeting or while passing someone in a hallway. In those and other cases, as a leader, you must do what it takes to ensure the receiver correctly heard what you want him or her to hear. How do you do that?

• Do not ask the person if he or she heard you or understood you. The answer to both questions is almost always yes. Why? Because no one wants the boss to think she is ignorant or wasn't paying attention, or that she misinterpreted the message.
• Ask the receiver to repeat, in his own words, what it is that he heard you saying, just to ensure that both of you understood the same message. Or, for example, ask the receiver what the most difficult, easiest or complicated steps will be to carry out the task.

3. Follow up your verbal message with a written statement. In a meeting, if you make a planned statement that's important, distribute a copy of that message. If it was important but not planned or not written down, ask someone to repeat the statement. After a phone call, a brief encounter with someone or even at a scheduled meeting, follow up the statements with a written communication of understanding or confirmation.

4. Finally, decide who can communicate with whom. As a leader, your goal is to combine simplicity with effectiveness. You want messages to come in and out; you want the right people to receive them in an efficient and effective manner. That means deciding who speaks and writes to whom. Do all communications have to go through your office before being sent, approved or censored to others? Who speaks to the world outside of your organization? The public or government relations people? Managers? Individual employees? Who communicates with or approves communication with other managers, departments or sites?

If all communications need to pass through your office, you will have direct and complete control of formal information. This is a very time-consuming, bureaucratic and control-oriented approach with clear drawbacks. The disadvantage, however, of allowing everyone to speak with everyone is that the company message probably won't be uniform. So consider the risks before deciding how to handle company information.

Chapter 3

Meaning, Definition, Objective and Functions of Advertising

Advertising is nothing but a paid form of non-personal presentation or promotion of ideas, goods or services by an identified sponsor with a view to disseminate information concerning an idea, product or service. The message which is presented or disseminated is called advertisement. In the present day marketing activities hardly is there any business in the modern world which does not advertise. However, the form of advertisement differs from business to business.

Advertisement has been defined differently by different persons. A few definitions are being reproduced below:

According to Bovee/Arens, 1992, “Advertising is the non-personal communication of information usually paid for and usually persuasive in nature about products, services or ideas by identified sponsors through the various media.”

According to Wood, “Advertising is causing to know to remember, to do.”

According to Wheeler, “Advertising is any form of paid non-personal presentation of ideas, goods or services for the purpose of inducting people to buy.”

According to Richard Buskirk, “Advertising is a paid form of non-personal presentation of ideas, goods or services by an identified sponsor.”

According to William J. Stanton, “Advertising consists of all the activities involves in presenting to a group, a non-personal, oral or visual, openly sponsored message regarding disseminated through one or more media and is paid for by an identified sponsor.”

The above definitions clearly reveal the nature of advertisement. This is a powerful element of the promotion mix. Essentially advertising means spreading of information about the characteristics of the product to the prospective customers with a view to sell the product or increase the sale volume.

Defining Modern Advertising

A complex form of communication using objectives and strategies to impact consumer thoughts, feelings, and actions. 

A form of marketing communication (all the techniques marketers use to reach their customers and deliver their messages).

Five Basic Factors of Advertising

-          Paid communication

-          Sponsor is identified

-          Tries to inform or persuade

-          Reaches a large audience

-          Message conveyed through many different kinds of largely non-personal mass media

Objective of advertising

1.       To inform

-          Fact driven, has an interested reader, can be attractive, colourful, etc

2.       To bring in inquiries/ orders

-          Usually from new customers

-          To induce trial orders

3.       To get into the Buyer’s Resource File

-          Most industrial companies maintain a record of all the firms selling the articles that they need

4.       To reduce selling expense

-          Salesmen visit can be more expensive and at times, prohibitive

5.       To establish recognition and reputation

-          Especially for relatively new players

6.       To motivate distributors

-          To create preference, loyalty, support in the value chain

7.       To influence the end consumer

-          For products where the brand name matters to the end consumer. E.g. Intel processor

Functions of advertising

The purpose of advertising is nothing but to sell something -a product, a service or an idea. The real objective of advertising is effective communication between producers and consumers. The following are the main objectives of advertising:

a)       Preparing Ground for New Product

New product needs introduction because potential customers have never used such product earlier and the advertisement prepare a ground for that new product.

b)       Creation of Demand

The main objective of the advertisement is to create a favorable climate for maintaining of improving sales. Customers are to be reminded about the product and the brand. It may induce new customers to buy the product by informing them its qualities since it is possible that some of the customers may change their brands.

c)        Facing the Competition

Another important objective of the advertisement is to face to competition. Under competitive conditions, advertisement helps to build up brand image and brand loyalty and when customers have developed brand loyalty, becomes difficult for the middlemen to change it.

d)       Creating or Enhancing Goodwill: 

Large scale advertising is often undertaken with the objective of creating or enhancing the goodwill of the advertising company. This, in turn, increases the market receptiveness of the company’s product and helps the salesmen to win customers easily.

e)       Informing the Changes to the Customers

Whenever changes are made in the prices, channels of distribution or in the product by way of any improvement in quality, size, weight, brand, packing, etc., they must be informed to the public by the producer through advertisement.

f)        Neutralizing Competitor’s advertising

Advertising is unavoidable to complete with or neutralize competitor’s advertising. When competitors are adopting intensive advertising as their promotional strategy, it is reasonable to follow similar practices to neutralize their effects. In such cases, it is essential for the manufacturer to create a different image of his product.

g)       Barring New Entrants

From the advertiser’s point of view, a strongly built image through long advertising helps to keep new entrants away. The advertisement builds up a certain monopoly are for the product in which new entrants find it difficult to enter.

In short, advertising aims at benefiting the producer, educating the consumer and supplementing the salesmen. Above all it is a link between the producer and the consumer.

Four Roles of Advertising

1.       The Marketing Role

Marketing is satisfying customer wants and needs by providing products (goods, services, and ideas). The marketing department is responsible for selling the product using the 4 Ps (product, price, place/distribution, and promotion) and brand development.

2.       The Communication Role

Advertising is a message to a consumer about a product, designed to create a response. It is also a form of marketing communication. Advertising uses mass communication to transmit product information to connect buyers and sellers in them marketplace.

3.       The Economic Role

Because it reaches large groups of people, advertising makes marketing more cost-efficient and lowers prices for consumers. Advertising creates a demand for a brand using hard sell (persuading) and soft sell (image building) techniques.

4.       The Societal Role

-          Informs consumers about innovations and issues

-          Helps us compare products and features

-          Mirrors fashion and design trends

-          Teaches consumers about new products and how to use them

-          Helps shape consumer self-image

-          Facilitates self-expression through purchases

-          Presents images about diversity in our world

Benefits or Importance of Advertisement

Advertising broadens the knowledge of the consumers. With the aid of advertising, consumers find and buy necessary products without much waste of time. This speeds up the sales of commodities, increases the efficiency of labor in distribution, and diminishes the costs of selling. It is an accepted fact that without market stimulus of heavy advertising, consumers might have waited another sixty years for the product evaluation that took place in less than ten years – it took after all over sixty years from the invention of the safety razor before the first acceptable stainless steel blades appeared in the market. These words are more than enough to testify the potentialities of advertising in the field of modern marketing system. The main benefits of advertising may be narrated as follows:

Benefits to Manufacturers

• It increases sales volume by creating attraction towards the product.
• It helps easy introduction of new products into the markets by the same manufacturer.
• It helps to create an image and reputation not only of the products but also of the producer or advertiser. In this way, it creates goodwill for the manufacturer.
• Retail price, maintenance is also possible by advertising where price appeal is the promotional strategy.
• It helps to establish a direct contact between manufacturers and consumers.
• It leads to smoothen the demand of the product. It saves the product from seasonal fluctuations by discovering new and new usage of the product.
• It creates a highly responsive market and thereby quickens the turnover that results in lower inventory.
• Selling cost per unit is reduced because of increased sale volume. Consequently, product overheads are also reduced due to mass production and sale.
• Advertising gives the employees a feeling of pride in their jobs and to be in the service of such a concern of repute. It, thus inspires the executives and worker to improve their efficiency.
• Advertising is necessary to meet the competition in the market and to survive.

Benefits to Wholesalers and Retailers

• Easy sale of the products is possible since consumers are aware of the product and its quality.
• It increases the rate of the turn-over of the stock because demand is already created by advertisement.
• It supplements the selling activities.
• The reputation created is shared by the wholesalers and retailers alike because they need not spend anything for the advertising of already a well advertised product.
• It ensures more economical selling because selling overheads are reduced.
• It enables them to have product information.

Benefits to Consumers

• Advertising stresses quality and very often prices. This forms an indirect guarantee to the consumers of the quality and price. Further large scale production assumed by advertising enables the seller to seller product at a lower cost.
• Advertising helps in eliminating the middlemen by establishing direct contacts between producers and consumers. It results in cheaper goods.
• It helps them to know where and when the products are available. This reduces their shopping time.
• It provides an opportunity to the customers to compare the merits and demerits of various substitute products.
• This is perhaps the only medium through which consumers could know the varied and new uses of the product.
• Modern advertisements are highly informative.

Benefits to Salesmen

Salesmanship is incomplete without advertising. Advertising serves as the forerunner of a salesman in the distribution of goods. Sales is benefited the advertisement in following ways:

• Introducing the product becomes quite easy and convenient because manufacturer has already advertised the goods informing the consumers about the product and its quality.
• Advertising prepares necessary ground for a salesman to begin his work effectively. Hence sales efforts are reduced.
• The contact established with the customer by a salesman is made permanent through effective advertising because a customer is assumed of the quality and price of the product.
• The salesman can weigh the effectiveness of advertising when he makes direct contact with the consumers.

Benefits to Community or Society

• Advertising, in general, is educative in nature. In the words of the late President Roosevelt of the U.S.A., “Advertising brings to the greatest number of people actual knowledge concerning useful things: it is essentially a form of education and the progress of civilization depends on education.”
• Advertising leads to a large-scale production creating more employment opportunities to the public in various jobs directly or indirectly.
• It initiates a process of creating more wants and their satisfaction higher standard of living. For example, advertising has made more popular and universal the uses of such inventions as the automobiles, radios, and various household appliances.
• Newspapers would not have become so popular and so cheap if there had been no advertisements. The cheap production of newspapers is possible only through the publication of advertisements in them. It sustains the press.
• It assures employment opportunities for the professional men and artist.
• Advertising does provide a glimpse of a country’s way of life. It is, in fact, a running commentary on the way of living and the behavior of the people and is also an indicator of some of the future in this regard.

Advertising issues: How to work with a creative agency

• Understand the monetary system used by agencies. Every industry has a special system of using a budget. Advertising firms can do loads of research to understand your business and the competition, or simply take what you give them and bring a campaign to life with creativity. Naturally, it's better to know your industry specifics before you get to work with a creative agency. You'll save your money for the part you can't do: produce winning ads with colorful language and striking visuals.
• Bring a fully developed brand to ad makers. Small business owners can pay marketing teams to help develop a brand, but this work should be done before you contact an agency. If you don't know your unique position in the market, go back to the drawing board and hammer down your company's mission statement and goals. You'll be wasting money if you hire an ad agency to do this work for you.
• Find a team you understand, and vice versa. You need a strong rapport with your creative team in order to produce great ads. They'll have to understand where your business is headed and have the tools to help you get there. Don't be discouraged if you don't click with a crew on the first try. Move on to another team within the agency or contact a different company altogether. There is never one solution for your needs, but you need productive communication at every step to get it done.
• Allow a creative agency the freedom to deliver a vision. Once you've done the prep work with a creative agency, give them the freedom to work their magic. Micromanaging their efforts is pointless. Set a deadline for ideas or preliminary ads and refocus on running your business. When they come to you with proposals, take a few days before offering feedback. You outsourced the job to them for an outsider's perspective, so don't write it off unless you've carefully weighed the potential for their ads to break through.
• Get a breakdown of where your money's going. You always have to follow the money when you hire an agency. If you've freed them from the responsibility of branding and industry research, it will come down to ad production and placement. Do you think radio or TV spots are the solution? Placing ads in these media comes at a premium. Analyze what online ads can do for you, but don't be afraid to go all in when it comes to broadcast media. Just know where your money is going and be realistic about what you can buy on your budget.
• Handle the prints separately. If you ask an agency to produce brochures, posters, and other collateral materials, you'll waste your money. It's much wiser to find a print service specializing in affordable materials for small businesses. Though you're outsourcing an ad campaign, you'll get much more value by outsourcing this element to a print shop.

Working with an advertising agency allows you to bring in expert help that can increase your company's reach in unparalleled ways. With the right amount of finesse, you'll be able to afford success on a small business budget.

Various media for Advertising

Advertising media are the means to transmit the message of the advertiser to the desired class of people. Channels or vehicle by which an advertising message is brought to the notice of the prospective buyer:

Print media advertising

Print media advertising is a form of advertising that uses physically printed media, such as magazines and newspapers, to reach consumers, business customers and prospects. Advertisers also use digital media, such as banner ads, mobile advertising, and advertising in social media, to reach the same target audiences. The proliferation of digital media has led to a decline in advertising expenditure in traditional print media. Advertising revenue for national newspapers, for example, fell from $7,653 million in 2000 to $3,777 million in 2011, according to the Newspaper Association of America.

   i.            Newspapers

Advertisers can choose from a wide range of different types of newspapers, including local, regional or national titles published in daily, evening, weekly or Sunday editions. Newspapers target different readerships with a mix of content, often including sports, entertainment, business, fashion and politics in addition to local, national or world news. Advertisers can buy different sizes of advertising space, from small classified ads with text only, to display ads featuring text, photographs, illustrations and graphics in sizes up to a full page or even a double-page spread.

 ii.            Magazines

Magazines offer advertisers extensive choices of readership and frequency. Consumer magazines cover a wide range of interests, including sport, hobbies, fashion, health, current affairs and local topics. Many business and trade magazines provide coverage of specific industries, such as finance or electronics. Others cover cross-industry topics, such as communications or human resources, while still others focus on job-specific areas, such as publications for executives, marketing professionals or engineers. Publishing frequency is typically weekly, monthly or quarterly. As with newspapers, advertisers can take advertising spaces from classified ads to full page ads in black and white or color.

iii.            Billboards and Posters

Advertising on billboards and posters gives advertisers the opportunity to reach consumers on the move. Putting posters in retail malls, for example, helps advertisers reach consumers close to the point of purchase. Posters or billboards in train stations, airports or busy town centers have the potential to reach large groups of consumers. Advertisers can change the messages on billboards and posters at a frequency of their choice.

iv.            Direct Mail

Advertisers use direct mail to reach smaller target audiences or selected prospects. Direct mail often take the form of a letter, brochure or flyer sent via the postal service. Advertisers can compile their own list of prospects and customers for the mailing, or rent a mailing list from a specialist firm.

Advantages of print media advertising:

1.       Specific Target Audience:

In print media, the advantage of catering to specific target audience opens up countless opportunities to enhance sales figures. A fashion magazine would highlight cosmetic products and fashion accessories. At the same time, a sports magazine would display sports related ads to cater to its readers. There is no wastage of resources as ads get to reach the target audience.

2.       Loyal Readerships:

In the print media industry, readership is mostly longstanding and loyal.

3.       Special Ad Positioning:

A major advantage in magazine advertising is that an advertiser can request special ad positioning. This means you can ask that your ad is placed in a specific page or within a column article. This will bring greater visibility to the brand. This is also commercially more effective as potential buyers would notice it. It is a different matter if you don’t want to specify where your ad should appear.

4.       Credibility:

Over a period of years, magazines create a vast pool of loyal readers who feel safe in its very credible environment. The interactive element may be less when you compare it with the aggressive online advertising. But the key factor is credibility that print media continues to reign over. It explains why magazines are known as potential promotional vehicles. It adds improved quality branding that adds great value to your range of products.

5.       Long Life Span:

Compared to websites or national newspapers, magazines enjoy the longest life span. There are some magazines that are treasured across decades like valuable references. The National Geographic is such an example as its content is never redundant.

6.       High Reach Prospective:

Another advantage is that magazines have a high reach prospective. This is because magazines get passed from family to friends to customers to colleagues and so on.

7.       Glossy Ads: 

Unlike newspaper advertising, magazine advertising gives great scope to glossy ads. These are usually trend setting and eye catching. The best thing is that every body loves to look again and again at glossy ads. So maximum visibility is again reiterated through magazine advertising.

Disadvantages of Print Media Advertising

• The cost incurred can sometimes be expensive considering the medium you choose.
• The shelf-life of any particular print medium is limited. Newspapers, for example, are among the public eye only for a day.
• This medium may not always give you a wide reach. Internet, on the other hand, can target a global audience.
• There is a limitation in terms of the kind of people who may actually read your message. The particular newspaper may not actually be accessible every time to your target group, which means, your message may be missed! The Internet on the other hand, can be accessed from anywhere.
• You may have to plan months in advance to advertise in print media. It does not offer you flexibility when you are faced with a tight deadline.
• Advertisements may get lost in all the clutter of editorial and ads by competitors.

The 8 Steps of an Advertising Campaign

In the past, I worked with a business that made its decisions on where to advertise based entirely on which publications and stations actually called up and solicited an ad. While plenty of publications are cold-calling potential advertisers in hopes of getting a little ad revenue these days, I wouldn’t really recommend taking a similar route. Instead, approaching advertising like any other business project can guarantee that your advertising budget actually has the affect you want in the long-term. An advertising project isn’t so different from buying a new office or designing a new product: with the right process, you can complete your project efficiently and with great results.

Here are eight steps you can follow to keep your advertising campaign on track and successful:

1. Market research: Before you even start thinking about where you might want to place an ad or even what it could look like, it’s important to do at least some basic research. Even if you aren’t in a position to bring in an expensive research firm, you can ask your current customers questions about why they come back to you, as well as taking a close look at your target demographic’s needs and interests.
2. Budgeting: Your business probably has a set advertising budget for the year — but how do you divvy it up between your various advertising projects? For each project you’re planning, you need to be clear on just how much money you’re willing to spend. You’ll almost certainly change exactly how you divide it between costs like copy writing and design, but you can treat the overall amount as set in stone. Write it down and put it in your project folder.
3. Setting goals: The aims you have in mind for a particular advertising project need to be written down ahead of time. While it’s good to be ambitious, it’s also important to decide what constitutes a successful advertising campaign for your business. Sales can be the simplest metric: if you’re advertising a particular product, how many units will you need to sell to pay for that campaign?
4. Advertising venue: The website, tv station, newspaper, radio station, magazine or other advertising venue you place your ad with is a crucial decision. You’ll need to look at not only the cost of your preferred venues but also whether they reach your target demographic. Ad buys can make up a significant portion of your budget. Deciding on where you will place your ads first tells you how much money you’ll have left over for actually creating your ad.
5. Choosing creatives: Unless you’re planning to write, shoot and design every part of your ad, you’ll probaably need to bring in some help. Finding the right freelancers for each aspect requires checking through portfolios and rates — if you can find a business or freelancer who can handle all aspects of creating your ad, even if that means subcontracting, it can save you a lot of time. You’ll also want to make sure that you find any talent you’ll need for your ad (voice actors for radio, models for photography and so on).
6. Design and wording: While you may not have a lot of actual writing and designing to do for your ad, during the creation process you will need to review and sign off on different stages of the project. When starting with a new designer or other creative, make sure that you both know any expectations for timelines and progress checks.
7. Placing the ad: Once you have a finished ad in hand, it’s time to actually place it with your preferred advertising venue. You may have a few contracts to sign and a check to hand over. You’ll also want to make sure you actually see your ad once it’s run — from a newspaper, for instance, you’ll want to see the tear sheets of pages containing your ad.
8. Evaluation: Depending on your ad, how you evaluate it can vary. If it included a coupon, for instance, you can simply count how many customers brought in the coupon. For other ads, you may be simply comparing sales before, during and after your advertising campaign. Spend as much time on analyzing how your advertising campaign worked as you can. That information can point you to more effective uses of advertising in the future.

While following such a set process may seem like it would stifle the creativity necessary to put together a new ad, following these steps can actually make it easier. You can minimize confusion and make sure that everyone is meeting the necessary deadlines — and you can ensure that you’ll be able to measure your ad’s actual cost and responses during each step. You’ll be better equipped to tweak your ad or move it to another publication in the future.

Chapter 4

Introduction to Public Relations

What is Public Relations (PR)?

Public relations (PR) is the way organisations, companies and individuals communicate with the public and media. A PR specialist communicates with the target audience directly or indirectly through media with an aim to create and maintain a positive image and create a strong relationship with the audience. Examples include press releases, newsletters, public appearances, etc. as well as utilization of the World Wide Web.

The act of communicating with the public. Although not inherent in the definition, public relations, or "PR" for short, is often thought of as "spin," with the goal being to present the person, company or event in the best light possible. Most major companies have a PR department or utilize the services of an outside firm.

Public relations are often a crucial part of a company's success - or failure. In addition to handling media requests, information queries and shareholder concerns, PR personnel are frequently responsible for crafting and maintaining the corporation's image.

Public Relations are the management function that identifies, establishes and maintains mutually beneficial relationships between an organization and the various publics on whom its success or failure depend.

According to British Council of the Institution of Public Relations, “PR is the deliberate, planned and sustained effort to establish and maintain mutual understanding between an organisation and its public.”  

 According to Public Relations Society of America , “Public Relations is a philosophy and function of management expressed in policies and practices which serve the public to secure its understanding and goodwill.”

PR Tools and Techniques

Creation and maintenance of a good public reputation is a complex and ongoing process. Without an effective PR, it is very difficult to reach the attention of the target audience and much less to influence their opinion and decisions. But when the relationship with the target group is finally established, it needs to be maintained in order to keep it on a high level. The process works similar to the interpersonal relationships. When two people lose contact, they pretty much disappear from each other lives no matter how close they used to be. And the same happens with the target audience if the established relationship is not maintained.

Common PR Tools and Techniques

In order to build a relationship with the target audience and maintain it on a high level, PR specialists use a variety of tools and techniques. Some of the most common ones include:

• Attendance at public events. In order to attract public attention and keep it engaged with a particular organisation or an individual, PR specialists take an advantage of every public event and the opportunity to speak publicly. This enables them to directly reach the public attending the event and indirectly, a much larger audience.
• Press releases. Information that is communicated as a part of the regular TV or/and radio programme, newspapers, magazines and other types of mainstream media achieves a much bigger impact than advertisements. This is due to the fact that most people consider such information more trustworthy and meaningful than paid adds. Press release is therefore one of the oldest and most effective PR tools.
• Newsletters. Sending newsletters – relevant information about the organisation or/and its products/services - directly to the target audience is also a common method to create and maintain a strong relationship with the public. Newsletters are also a common marketing strategy but PR specialists use it to share news and general information that may be of interest to the target audience rather than merely promoting products/services.
• Blogging. To reach the online audience, PR specialists use the digital forms of press releases and newsletters but they also use a variety of other tools such as blogging and recently, microblogging. It allows them to create and maintain a relationship with the target audience as well as establish a two-way communication.
• Social media marketing. Like its name suggests, it is used primarily by the marketing industry. Social media networks, however, are also utilised by a growing number of PR specialists to establish a direct communication with the public, consumers, investors and other target groups.

PR Vs. Advertising

PR and advertising often go hand in hand but they are two completely different things with a completely different goal and overall effect. While advertising is exclusively focused on promotion of products or services with an aim to encourage target audience to buy, PR is specialised in communication with the public and media.

Difference between PR and Advertising

Just like advertising, PR often helps increase the sales as well and may include elements of marketing. However, it is mainly focused in creating positive publicity about a particular company, organisation or individual and maintain a good reputation in the public. By doing so, PR helps create a relationship between let’s say a commercial company and its customers who are more likely to choose the products from a company they have a good opinion over those from a firm they have never heard off before or heard something negative about it.

The Effect on the Public

The public reacts very differently to an add than to a newspapers article or a TV report. They know very well when they are reading/looking an add and the information they are communicated is perceived with a certain degree of skepticism. They know that the add wants to persuade them to buy a particular product or service and will either believe or disbelieve the information they are communicated. But when they are communicated news about a new product or service through a third party, for example a newspapers or online article they perceive it as informative and worthy of their attention. A press release for instance does not directly encourage them to buy but it often achieves just that by creating a positive image about the product/service or its manufacturer, or both.

Cost

The cost depends greatly on who you hire but generally, PR is a lot less expensive than advertising. But it is also true that PR has a lot less control over the way their clients are presented by the media in comparison to paid ads that oblige the media to publish them unchanged. At the same time, a press release is published only once by a single media, while the adds can be published over and over again.

But given that press releases and other PR tools to attract publicity usually achieve a greater impact on the target audience, there is no need for repetition of the same stories over and over again to attract attention of the public like this is usually the case with ads. In addition, an article or TV cover of purely informative nature is more likely to led the target audience believe the content of the adds. As a result, PR campaigns often precede or/and accompany marketing campaigns or are an integral part of advertising strategy.

How Can PR Boost Your Business

In today’s world, publicity is everything of course along quality service or product. There is a fierce competition in just about every sector, while the consumers typically decide for brands they are familiar with and which they trust. In order to earn the consumers’ trust, companies rely heavily on marketing strategists but they also rely heavily on PR specialists.

PR Much More than Just Promotion

Unlike marketing which is focused on promotion of the company’s products or service, PR is primarily focused on communication with the public, e.g. the potential buyers and the media. By communicating relevant information about the company and of course its products/service, PR specialists also help in the promotion of the business. But above all, they create a positive public image and establish a relationship with the target audience and media. That way they gradually earn the consumers’ trust which as mentioned earlier, has a major influence on their decisions including the product/service they choose from the many available.

“Damage Control”

Besides attracting public attention and helping establish a good reputation which directly influences the sales, PR specialists also play an important role in the times of crisis. Imagine that an angry employee or the competition starts to spread unpleasant rumours about your company. The public does not know the story behind and if you do not react, they may think that the rumours are true. And even if they find it hard to believe, they will remember that they have heard something bad about your company.

Now imagine the consumers choosing between a brand from which they have heard only the best and your company. Most of them will not take any chances and choose more respected company instead. And you cannot really blame them because you would probably do the same if you were in their shoes. Therefore it is not a good idea to leave the public wondering about the truth whatever it is and this is where a PR specialist steps in.

In the times of crisis like the situation described above, you need someone who reacts quickly and efficiently to at least minimise the damage. And that someone can only be a person who can think and act fast under pressure as well as communicate well with the public and media – a PR specialist.

Public Relations Strategies and Tactics  the Difference between the Two

'Strategies' and 'tactics' are terms that are often used interchangeably, but they are two very different things. One is the way in which a competitive advantage is (attempted to be) gained, and the other is the competitive advantage. That makes the two things related in the sense that they are both part of the public relations planning process. A strategy is what will set your company apart or help your company or client to reach a goal and objective. For each strategy, there are tactics needed to accomplish that strategy.

Let's start with some definitions:

Strategy: noun a : a careful plan or method : a clever stratagem b : the art of devising or employing plans or stratagems toward a goal.

Tactic: noun a device for accomplishing an end.

Those definitions help to show the differences between the two. One is the strategy or the art of creating a plan, while the other is the means with which that plan is executed.

When creating a PR plan, there are essential components (which can be found in the previous post) that include strategies and tactics. Having these components gives the plan a better chance of success and makes the plan more relevant and tailored for the company or client when these strategies and tactics are based on the company's overall business objectives. To help ensure that success companies should create strategies corresponding with the company's and PR plan's objectives as well as tactics tailored for the intended/targeted audiences and media.

While strategies and tactics seem to be the same thing, they are not. Know that one requires the other, and vice versa. To take action and implement a tactic without knowing why wouldn't be very helpful, and to create a strategy without acting upon it would be somewhat pointless. 

Examples of Strategies vs. Tactics in Public Relations

In public relations, you develop a plan that lays out your objectives, or what you want to accomplish for your business within a certain time period. Striving to get 10 newspaper stories in three months is a PR objective. In order to accomplish this, you need to devise methods, which are strategies, and then take specific actions, which are tactics.

Media Strategies

A good media strategy hinges on items that will capture the media’s attention. A strategy of “pegging” something to your business is often effective. For example, you can use holidays to draw attention to your business, such as Veteran’s Day or Valentine’s Day. Other strategies include strategic leaks of information to a few reporters to gain a competitive advantage or surveying customers on a timely topic so you can publicize the results.

Other PR Strategies

Soliciting community involvement, customer recognition and using a respected business leader or celebrity to endorse your product or service are examples of other strategies. Strategies are not always tangible; appealing to emotions is also a strategy. For example, if employment background checks are a timely topic in your community and you run a temporary employment agency, appealing to the issue of time, money and consequences of inadequate background checks is a strategy.

Media Tactics

Developing a press release schedule is an example of a media relations tactic. If you have the news items to support it, you can, for example, plan to send two press releases out a month. The news items will come from your strategies. Using press releases to announce survey results of your customers is a tactic. Announcing discounts or free items to veterans on Veteran’s Day is a tactic, as is getting a radio deejay to broadcast from your business that day.

Other PR Tactics

If you create a bicycle race to draw attention to a cause, such as hiring disabled workers, you are engaging in a PR tactic. Creating a speakers’ bureau to achieve a strategy of greater community visibility is another tactic, as is starting and circulating a petition calling for an end to using credit checks as a condition for employment. Creating collateral materials -- posters, fliers and brochures -- that support your strategies are also tactics.

Chapter 5

Sales Promotion: Meaning, Definition, Objectives and Importance of Sales Promotion!

Definition of 'Sales Promotion'

Stimulation of sales achieved through contests, demonstrations, discounts, exhibitions or trade shows, games, giveaways, point-of-sale displays and merchandising, special offers, and similar activities. Sales promotions are the set of marketing activities undertaken to boost sales of the product or service.

Definition: Sales promotions are the set of marketing activities undertaken to boost sales of the product or service. Sales promotion refers to ‘those marketing activities that stimulate consumer shows and expositions.

Purchasing and dealer effectiveness such as displays, demonstration and various non- recurrent selling efforts not in the ordinary routine.” According to A.H.R. Delens: “Sales promotion means any steps that are taken for the purpose of obtaining an increasing sale. Often this term refers specially to selling efforts that are designed to supplement personal selling and advertising and by co-ordination helps them to become more effective.”

In the words of Roger A. Strong, “Sales promotion includes all forms of sponsored communication apart from activities associated with personal selling. It, thus includes trade shows and exhibits, combining, sampling, premiums, trade, allowances, sales and dealer incentives, set of packs, consumer education and demonstration activities, rebates, bonus, packs, point of purchase material and direct mail.”

Objectives of Sales Promotion:

Sales promotion is a vital bridge or a connecting link between personal selling and advertising.

Sales promotion activities are undertaken to achieve the following objectives:

1. To increase sales by publicity through the media which are complementary to press and poster advertising.

2. To disseminate information through salesmen, dealers etc., so as to ensure the product getting into satisfactory use by the ultimate consumers.

3. To stimulate customers to make purchases at the point of purchase.

4. To prompt existing customers to buy more.

5. To introduce new products.

6. To attract new customers.

7. To meet competition from others effectively.

8. To check seasonal decline in the volume of sales.

Importance of Sales Promotion:

The importance of sales promotion has increased tremendously in the modern times. Lakhs of rupees are being spent on sales promotional activities to attract the consumers in our country and also in other countries of the world.

Some large companies have also begun to appoint sales promotion managers to handle miscellaneous promotional tools. All these facts show that the importance of sales promotion activities is increasing at a faster rate.

         i.            Increased brand parity and price sensitivity of consumer:

With more brand choices available to the consumer and with the fact that product differences are becoming less and less apparent, consumers are becoming more and more reliant to the price and price incentives.

        ii.            Decreased brand loyalty:

Another reason which goes hand in hand in increasing sales promotions budget is decreased brand loyalty. Consumers are getting used to the fact that almost always at least one brand category is on sale or on a sales promotional offer.

      iii.            Rewards for meeting targets:

Another reason is coming from the roots of corporate culture and the reward and promotion strategy within corporations. In the conditions of severe competition, there is increasing pressure on brand managers to show fast results in terms of increased sales and nothing is as effective in short run as sales promotions to achieve this goal.

      iv.            Consumer responsiveness to money saving options:

Another explanation the change in reactions and responsiveness of customers towards these promotions. For example, the results of NCH Consumer Survey indicate that on average 80.5 percent of consumers in US used coupons over the period of 1996- 1999. (Shimp 1993).

        v.            Increase in product variant:

One more reason for increasing sales promotion importance is that many product categories on the market are in the mature stage and according to the product life cycle theory, sales promotions are extremely effective in maturity stage of the product helping to boost sales. (Blattberg, Neslin 1990).

      vi.            Fight for every inch of market share:

Finally the reason that is very relevant to highly competitive markets where companies find themselves constantly fighting for the smallest piece of market share – “prisoner’s dilemma” spiral – which is very similar to a price war situation. Manufacturers are locked into defensive reactive escalation of sale promotional expenditures. If one company cuts its sales promotions, it will suffer short-term loss, chances are that competitors will take advantage of that, the company increases its sales promotional expenditures short term increase of sales might be very small because competitor reacts. (Blattberg, Neslin 1990).

     vii.            Immediate positive impact on sales:

Normally a sales promotion leads to a sense of urgency among the customers to make the purchases immediately as the promotional offers are for a s о duration of time. So unlike advertisement, where purchase after seeing the advertisement is a prolonge process, sales promotion aids in getting an immediate positive impact on the sales of any organisation. So if the promotion is well planned, measuring the impact is also very easy.

   viii.            Shoppers want to be Smart-Shoppers:

Shoppers have learnt pretty well that they are supposed to be smart and make their purchases exactly as and when they have the best offers being given by the retailers and manufacturers. They have learnt overtime that brands with promo offers need not necessarily be of bad quality.

      ix.            Advertisements getting more costly:

Today advertising in any media has become very expensive. Among the most costlier are the audio visual ones which are considered to be the most effective ones. There are many firms who are not been able to afford the high pieces and hence are resorting to sales promotions which otherwise they are finding more effective. Also the customers are also not very happy with the advertisement clutter which hampers their normal viewing of any program. And as discussed earlier, the zipping and zapping cause a major loss of communication through advertisement.

        x.            The increase in power of trade:

Today with the retail boom, distributors and retailers are more powerful and they are actually dictating certain terms with the manufacturers. The shelf space since limited in the retail outlets, is creating a lot of competition among the manufacturers for that space. Everybody wants prime space, especially during new product introduction. This gives a chance to the retailers to play around with the manufacturers.

      xi.            Impulse purchase is on an increase:

Consumer behaviour has changed drastically. Purchases are more impulsive today than ever. This facilitates the success of the sales promotion.

     xii.            Create interest and excitement:

Some promotions like scratch card, games, contests, free premiums etc create a lot of excitement and interest among the customers. They enjoy these offers very much and respond very positively to these.

   xiii.            Increasing Inventory:

Presently there are many brands which are selling in the market and because of this increasing competition and presence of so many brands, the retailers and distributors are finding it very difficult to anticipate future sales. So inventory is piling up and they need sales promotion from time to time to clear these stocks.

Types of Sales Promotions

Different types of sales promotions can benefit small businesses. Sales promotions are used as a way to attract attention to your business or provide an incentive for a customer to take a desired action. Sales promotions typically last for a specified time period and are designed to achieve a defined purpose like helping to launch a new business or luring customers away from a competitor. A variety of sales promotion types are available to small business owners.

1.       Demos and Sampling

According to the Business Owner's ToolKit website, 51 percent of shoppers purchased a product they normally would not have purchased when given a free sample. Samples are most commonly used in grocery stores to introduce a new food product. A demo is another form of sampling when a product or service is demonstrated during actual use. A small business owner such as a home improvement contractor could work with a local hardware store to demonstrate a home improvement project.

2.       Coupons

Coupons can be used as a way to attract new customers or to develop customer loyalty. Mail coupons to targeted households as an incentive for someone to shop at your store or purchase your product. You can also place them on products on your store's shelves to provide customers with an immediate savings at the cash register. The latter method encourages customers to keep coming back to your business.

3.       Price Reduction

A price reduction allows customers to buy your products at a lower price for a specified period of time. A price reduction may take the form of a sale or an in-store event like an unadvertised special on certain items. A price reduction may also be used to take attention away from a competitor. For example, if you operate a dry cleaning business and a new dry cleaner opens a store down the street, you can offer a price reduction to lure customers away from the new store's grand opening event.

4.       Free Products

Giving something away is another way to lure customers to your place of business. For your grand opening event, you can provide everyone who attends with free food or drink or free merchandise. You can also give away items containing your brand or slogan such as coffee mugs or t-shirts. Another idea is to give away prizes to the first 25 people who enter your place of business on a given day.

Objectives of Sales Promotion:

Because sales promotional tools are so varied in form, no single unified objective can be identified for them. There are three major contributions of sales promotions that have practical influence of the objectives of promotion: (Kotler 1988)

1. Communication– promotions gain attention and usually provide information that may lead the consumer to the product

2. Incentive– they incorporate some concession, inducement or contribution designed to represent value to the receiver

3. Invitation– promotions include a distinct invitation to engage in the transaction now.

Within these three major goals that sales promotion help to accomplish, specific objectives might be reach of new users, reinforcement loyalty of old users, increase product usage, introduction of new product, increase distribution channels, Obtain trade support and improve or built trade relationship. For quick reference please see following table.

Utility of Sales Promotion:

i. Dissonance Reduction:

The housewife, who buys one brand of washing machine, may get confused when she hears her neighbors praise a competitive brand. Sales promotions reduce this confusion in the consumers’ mind. For instance, Hyundai Motor India announced the extension of warranty on all Santros it had sold. This was a promo aimed at rewarding existing customers, for having made Santro their choice.

ii. First Move:

Use promotion now or your competitor will. As A1 Ries and Jack Trout say “Be the first to enter the consumer’s mind”. For instance, Britannia was the first to launch the now famous promo, “Britannia Khao, Crorepati ban Jao”, centred on the popular TV game show “Kaun Banega Crorepati”.

iii. Jump-start Effect:

Sales promotion helps in getting the brand off the ground. A well-planned promo attracts consumers to your brand. The jump-start effect is often used in the retail context. When the consumer enters an outlet, she is attracted by the product being promoted, and ends up buying several other products as well. Lipton Ice tea being strategically placed between the entrance and the food counters at Food World.

iv. Motivation:

Promos leverage the key factors of customer motivation. They can urge trial, keep the consumer coming back for more, or help him switch to the brand being promoted.

v. Stimulate New Product Trial:

Introductory offers with either discounts or sales promotion enable the consumer to try out a new brand in a familiar category. A brand of new cookies can create trials through such offers. Trial is necessary for any new brand which has the disadvantage of not having the equity enjoyed by well established brands. Sales promotion can bring in consumers who may have otherwise not done so to try the product. Dettol s liquid hand wash or a trial offer from Heinz ketchup is likely to attract consumers who may not even be regular users of these categories.

The Top 10 Most Popular Types of Sales Promotions

When it comes to promotions for your ecommerce store, how can you be sure you’re getting it right? Do you struggle for ideas on what you should do and when? We’ve put together a list of 10 popular sales promos to help steer you in the right direction…

1. Discounted products

Adding a discount to your products is possibly the most popular type of promotion. Customers love to grab a bargain, so it makes sense to offer discounts every now and then. When it comes to deciding the way you choose to promote - % vs $ - think about what will look more attractive to the buyer. Always consider your bottom line and be sure to not constantly have a sale, as people will just come to expect this as the norm.

• Make sure your discount is attractive
• Consider your bottom line
• Don’t do it too often

2. Free Shipping/Free Returns

According to this WalkerSands infographic, 80% of consumers would be more tempted to buy from Amazon if they were offered free shipping. 66% would buy if they were offered next-day delivery and 64% said they would buy if they were offered free returns. Free shipping and returns gives the customer a sense of security that they wont lose out if they wanted to send the product back.

If you are worried about your margins then you can always incorporate the shipping cost into your product, or think about offering free shipping when a customer spends over a certain amount.

• Free shipping/free returns creates customer security
• Makes it hassle free
• Incorporate shipping cost into your product

3. Flash Sale

A flash sale is basically an offer that only lasts for a limited time and it’s a great way to create a sense of urgency for the customer to buy. Many retailers are now adopting this strategy as a way to sell more products and get rid of surplus stock.Monetate found that 56% of businesses agree that flash-sale campaigns are better received than regular campaigns. The more successful flash sales are ones that don’t last very long and 50% of purchases occur during the first hour of a flash sale.

• Market your flash sale with a recognizable visual
• Put a shorter duration on your sale
• Promote via email and on social

4. Buy More, Save More

This kind of deal entices the customer to buy more of your stock, so it’s kind of a win, win. There will be plenty of potential customers visiting your store that want to buy, but feel guilty because of the price. Giving them a discount if they spend more, may just give them a little shove in the right direction. You don’t have to offer a huge discount, but make sure it’s attractive enough to convert visitors.

• Entices the customer
• Takes away the guilt of spending more money
• Helps to sell more stock

5. Product Giveaways/Branded Gifts

Let’s be honest, everyone loves a freebie so this really is a great promotion. Not only does it give potential customers the chance to test out your product, but also it entices people to buy your stuff! If your product isn’t something that you can giveaway, then think about creating some useful branded gifts that you can offer with each purchase. Think along the lines of keychains, bumper stickers, magnets, pens etc. Customers will appreciate the gesture and will think of you whenever they see their branded gift.

• Lets customers test your product
• Makes your brand memorable
• Provides value and a reason to buy

6. Loyalty Points

Rewarding your customers will help you build a solid base of loyal fans and it will entice people to shop more at your online store. Providing great customer service is so important to the success of your business, and offering a loyalty point system is a popular promotion. You could think about setting up a virtual card: The customer can gain points every time they buy and then use their points to get money off future purchases, or if they buy 9 items, they get the 10 ^th free.

• Builds a loyal customer base
• Provides better customer satisfaction
• Provide them with a loyalty system to keep coming back

7. Coupon Giveaway

This is a different way of promoting discounts. Sending your customers virtual coupons will make the promotion seem more exclusive and will give the customer more of a push to visit your online store. Think about sending coupons to loyal customers that have spent over a certain amount. You could also consider sending coupons to visitors that have experienced bad customer service, to try and convert them back to happy customers!

• Makes the promotion seem exclusive
• Keeps the customer happy
• Offers a great way to win back disgruntled customers

8. Competitions

The great thing about running a competition is that you only have to give away one thing, but you gain so much – making it a popular type of promotion! It will not only help raise your profile, but every person that enters, will then become an email contact that you can try and convert into a sale. If they’re entering your competition, chances are they are interested in your products, so running a competition is a great idea – particularly for start-ups.

• Great way to gain email sign ups
• Helps you raise your profile
• It will create a buzz on social media

9. Price Match Promise

Price match promise has fast become one of the most popular ways to promote your brand, particularly if you have a lot of competitors out there. It allows your customers to shop with you and will be safe in the knowledge that if they can get it cheaper somewhere else, you’ll refund the difference. There’s nothing to lose for them and it means that you still get to keep a solid customer base.

• Helps you stay ahead of the competition
• Provides a no lose situation for the customer
• It’s a bold move that will build loyal customers

10. Holiday Promotions

There is a reason that holiday promotions are so successful. Customers always like to spend more around the holidays, making it the perfect opportunity for you to get your brand out there and sell more products. You don’t have to go too crazy on your offers, but enticing customers with slight discounts will always work in your favor. It’s also the perfect time to get creative with your promotion and use the theme of the holiday, to sell your products.

• You don’t need to offer huge discounts
• Get creative with your promotions
• You will sell more during the holidays

Chapter 6

Exhibition

Exhibitions are an important medium to project on organisation’s materials process, products on its activities services, and ideas to the public. It offers an excellent opportunity for personal contact with prospective consumers, consumers or dealers.

12 reasons why companies fail at exhibitions

1. They were at the wrong exhibition

It’s easy just to sign up to an exhibition because your competitors are there or you think it’s a great opportunity. I learnt that lesson myself after my first successful exhibition —where I gained 100 leads and converted 70 of those into paying clients. I’m afraid I thought I’d cracked it! And so when another exhibition came up four months later, I jumped at the chance to attend. I was disappointed to say the least at the 38 leads we gained, and even more so at the quality of the leads – we converted less than 25 per cent into paying clients. And I learned a valuable lesson: to look at the opportunity on offer before diving in with my chequebook.

2. They didn’t show the visitors how they could help them

The vast majority of visitors haven’t come to the exhibition to see your business. They probably don’t even know who you are or what you do. Which means that there is absolutely no point in throwing up a generic poster or pop-up stand. You need to refine your offering and make it relevant to the visitors at this specific exhibition.

3. They didn’t capture enough leads

There are many reasons to exhibit and the main one for me is to use exhibitions to capture leads and build my database. I’ll do the selling later. At the exhibition it’s a frantic mission to capture as many leads as possible.

4. They didn’t follow up the leads

I recently worked one-to-one with a web development company helping them plan their exhibition strategy for a new product they were launching. We started talking about the firm’s previous experience of exhibitions and I asked how many leads they’d generated in the past. “Not many” was the response. And so I asked how much business they had generated from those leads “Erm… I’m not sure” came the reply “they’re still in the shoebox from last year.”

Failure to follow up leads is an absolutely heinous crime! No wonder they didn’t win any business. Meanwhile, their competitors were busy contacting all the show visitors and potential clients went for the easy option: the company that kept in touch.

5. Their stand looked uninspiring

You cannot underestimate the importance of making sure your stand looks fabulous. Your stand is your shop window for the day. It’s how your potential clients will judge you. If your stand looks like you’ve penny-pinched and thrown it together at the last minute, what does that say about how you’re going to handle your customers?

6. Their marketing literature let them down

I once visited an exhibition where a courier was sharing a stand with an electrician. The stand was a curious mix of day-glo A4 posters from the courier, and plugs and wires on the electricians’ half. It was hard to see the link between the two businesses, and not only did the stand lack polish, the marketing literature this courier was handing out did not do justice to his professionalism and passion for customer service. Sadly he is no longer in business. Your marketing literature is all people have to remember you by. Get it wrong at your peril!

7. They didn’t have a clear objective for the event

As a small business owner I need to make sure that every piece of marketing I do generates a return on my investment, and exhibitions are no different. I go in with a clear goal to generate a specific number of leads, and we always make sure we exceed them.  Last year I worked with an IT company on their exhibition stand. We set a goal of picking up more than 100 leads for this particular event and the marketing manager offered a prize for the person who generated the most leads. The result? They picked up over 140 leads.

8. They didn’t look welcoming or friendly

How many exhibitions have you been to where the staff are huddled together chatting? Or eating? Or on the phone? I could go on, but you get the picture. As a visitor, exhibition stands can be intimidating. Do we dare cross that threshold? Are the staff going to bully me into buying something I don’t want? If you want to encourage people onto your stand, don’t do anything that will put them off.

9. They didn’t have enough take-away literature

I recently caught up with a client of ours who had just had a particularly successful exhibition. She runs a jewellery company and had arranged for a hairdresser to come to the stand to demonstrate how jewellery and hair could work well together. This was a fantastic approach that generated crowds of people and doubled their sales from her last event. However, there were so many customers on the stand that there was no way the team could talk to them all and so clients were walking away empty-handed. If you can’t talk to everyone, it’s vital that you have enough literature so you can maximise the exposure you get on the day,

10. They didn’t promote their attendance at the event

When an event doesn’t quite go to plan it’s all too easy to blame the organisers. They didn’t promote the exhibition well enough or ask the right people or put on an enticing enough seminar programme. And this may be true to a certain extent. But as an exhibitor you need to get involved with marketing the event too. You need to let people know that you’re going to be there, because for some visitors, your attendance alone will be a big pull!

11. They weren’t persistent enough in their follow up

Following up on every single lead after an exhibition is hard work, believe me. When you have over 100 leads, making a commitment to speak to every single one takes weeks, if not months of dedication. Often you won’t get through straight away, and when you do your contact won’t have time to talk and you’ll need to call them back another time. But you’ve got to do it if you want to maximise on the opportunity. It will pay off.

12. They didn’t follow up for long enough

With most companies, the average buying cycle is more than a couple of days, which means that sending out one email and a letter after the event just isn’t going to cut it when it comes to winning business from your new contacts. Plan to keep in touch for more than a year and you’ll get a much, much more profitable outcome from your new contacts.

25 Questions to Creating an Effective Exhibition Strategy

In recent years exhibitions have reduced in number and size, but that’s not to say there isn’t a place in your marketing strategy for exhibiting or attending industry specific events. Although we may have seen visitor numbers drop, remember that the visitors who do attend are the ones interested in being there. Here are 25 questions you need to ask the senior team so that you can make an informed decision of a) whether to attend and b) create a strategy which will meet your objectives.

Important questions first

• Why are you exhibiting?
• Who is your target audience and will they be in attendance at the show?
• What message do you want to communicate?
• What do you want to accomplish at the show?

Now these are answered let’s take a look at the detail:

•  Is this a new company, concept, product or service?
• How will the show integrate with your overall marketing strategies and plan?
• What sales volume is expected from the event?
• What is your position in the industry (your perception and that of your clients)?
• What are your current channels of distribution?
• What are the characteristics of your prospects/clients buying behaviour? Preferences? Needs?
• Describe your products/services in terms of: Application, Benefits, Relative Price
• What are your competitive advantages? How can they be communicated?
• What are your weaknesses? How can you minimise them?
• What is most memorable about your product? How can you communicate it?
• Who are your competitors? What are their strengths and weaknesses? How will they communicate their strengths?
• Why should a prospect consider purchasing your product?
• What key words communicate the most about your company, its product and services? Can they be communicated through graphics?
• What can you use to gain attention on your stand? Why are attendees going to visit you?
• How will visitors interact with your staff? Who is going to man the stand?
• What are attendees going to want to do/find out when they visit your stand?
• Can a meaningful demonstration be integrated into your exhibit?
• How will you measure the results of the event?
• What role will management play in the execution of your plan?
• What is the budget?

And finally…

• Who is going to be responsible for the planning, coordinating and execution of the entire event to ensure its success?