Concept and Objective of Promotion and Concept of Marketing Communication

Promotion

Promotion is some form of communication through which any company communicates the benefits of its offering to the target consumers in such a way that they recognize that offering is uniquely qualified to meet their needs. If it is mass communication and we pay for it then it is called as advertising. If it is one-to-one or one making a pitch to a small group, we call it as selling. If we participate in some way while designing the communication but do not pay for it then we call it as public relations.

The objectives of any marketing promotion are related to the goals and strategies of the organization launching the project. Normally, the marketing objectives of promotional efforts are focused on attracting new customers, raising awareness, increasing sales, or expanding market penetration. The scope of an initiative is generally based on the firm’s advertising budget.

Objectives Of Promotion

Increase Business

Marketing promotions are normally used for attracting new customers to a business. This can be done through various promotional actions, such as running targeted advertising campaigns or launching a social media blitz or holding special events. The goal is to reach towards the potential new customers and provide them an incentive to patronize your business.

Increase Sales

After people become customers of a business, another promotional marketing objective is to motivate them to increase their spending on the business product and services. An example of this marketing objective in practice is the use of a customer “rewards” card which tracks what the customer purchases and develop coupons for similar products. As a whole, the objective of the marketing tactic is to get the consumer to buy additional products, or more expensive products, than the ones which initially brought them to your business.

Repeat Business

The objective of retention marketing promotion is to turn one-time consumers to repeat consumers. This can be done through collecting the customer contact information and putting the one-time buyers on a direct-mail or email advertising list. These consumers then obtain special offers, special perks, advance notice of sales, and “two-for-one” offers designed to keep them returning back.

Brand Awareness

For keeping their name in front of consumers and reinforce their image, a small business must have a marketing objective of creating brand awareness. This can be accomplished in part by being consistent in all of the marketing messages and using inexpensive promotional products. An example: giveaway things such as refrigerator magnets, coffee cups, ink pens, and calendars imprinted with the organization logo or image. People who take these items have a constant message in front of them, strengthening brand awareness of the business.

New Product Introduction

The objective of promoting as new product launch through marketing initiatives is to widen a firm’s reach into new markets, while still retaining its existing consumer base. An example of this approach is a cleaning company which widens its services to include handyman-type home repairs. The objective of the marketing promotion would be to attract new consumer seeking home repair services, while cross-selling existing consumers who already use the organization for their cleaning needs.

Marketing Communication

Marketing communications consist of various integrated activities in which the targeted person is identified and a well coordinated promotional program is prepared to obtain the desired response from the audience.Most problems of preferences, image and immediate awareness in the target consumer are focused on the marketing communication. But there may be certain limitations associated with the concept of communication. These limitations include high cost and short term duration which can’t be able to generate the desired results from the targeted customers.

Integrated marketing communications (IMC) is an approach used by the firm to brand and coordinate their communication efforts. The primary idea behind an Integrated Marketing Communication(IMC) strategies is to generate a seamless experience for customers across different aspects of the marketing mix.

There are so many products and services to choose for the consumers and they are often overwhelmed by the vast number of advertisements which are flooding both online and offline communication channels. Marketing messages run the risk of being ignored and overlooked if they are not relevant to customers' needs and wants.

One of the major advantages of integrated marketing communications is that marketers can clearly and effectively communicate their brand's messaging and story across various communication channels to create brand awareness. It is also more cost-effective than mass media since consumers are likely to interact with brands across various forums and digital interfaces. The other benefit of integrated marketing communications is that it creates a competitive advantage for the organizations looking to boost their profits and sells.

In this modern period, marketing communication is used by most of the marketers for building customer relationship at the stages of pre-selling, selling, utilization, and post utilization. Due to differences in consumers, different programs of communications are being developed for specific segments & niches.

Element of Marketing Communication Process

For effective marketing communication, the marketer must know how communication works? Following are the nine elements which are involved in the marketing communication process.

• Sender
• Encoding
• Message
• Media
• Decoding
• Receiver
• Response
• Feedback
• Noise

Each of these is discussed one by one.

Sender

The person or party who is sending the message to the other person or party is the sender.

Encoding

Encoding is simply the conversion of thought into the meaningful symbols.

Message

The message is defined as the group of symbols transmitted by the sender.

Media

The channel of communication through which message gets transferred from sender to receiver is called media.

Decoding

Decoding is the conversion of symbols into meaning by the receiver.

Receiver

The sent message received by another person or party is called the receiver.

Response

Response is the reaction shown by the receiver before the message.

Feed Back

Feedback is the portion of the response of the receiver that is sent back to the sender.

Noise

Noise is the unplanned distortion that arises during the process of communication due to which the receiver understands the wrong meaning of the original message.

The effective message is delivered if the process of encoding is matched with the decoding of messages. The message sent should consists words and symbols which are known to the receiver.

Reference:

Kotler, P., & Armstrong, G. (2013). Principles of Marketing. Chennai: Pearson India Education Services Pvt Ltd.