Promotion Mix Determining Factors

Factors Affecting Promotion Mix

The promotion mix is the blend of various promotional activities such as advertising, personal selling, sales promotion, public relations, direct marketing used by business in order to create, maintain and increase the demand for a certain product.

The management should consider the following factors in determining the promotion mix, these are:

Nature of Product

Different promotional tools are required for the different types of product. Such as, for the industrial products Viz. machinery, equipment or land personal selling is more appropriate as a great deal of pre-sale and after-sale services is required for selling and installing such products. On the other hand, publicity and advertising are more suitable for the consumer goods, especially the convenience goods.

Use of a particular tool of promotion mix depends upon the type of goods to be marketed. More of personal selling is required for industrial products. The presence of designers or celebrities inside the store is required for the highly image- oriented products like fashion garment. For goods where not much difference is there in characteristics and performance, more sales promotion is required.

Nature of Market

Promotion mix is greatly influenced by the number and location of the customers. Personal selling is more likely to be effective in case the group of potential customers are small and are concentrated in a particular locality, then the blend of advertising, personal selling, and the sales promotion is required to sell the product.

The blend of advertising, personal selling, and the sales promotion is required to sell the product if the customer base is large and widespread. Managerial decisions of the promotion mix are also influenced by the type of customers. The nature of promotion for the urban, educated and institutional consumers would be different as compared to the rural, illiterate and household customers.

Type of Buyer

Buyers may be of different types and promotion mix must have to be devised accordingly. Ads published in specialized trade publications and personal selling are more important in the case of organizational or business buyers, whereas, consumers are more influenced by glossy advertisements endorsed by some celebrities.

Types of Distribution

For intensive distribution of goods, more advertising is done and also the sales promotion is taken.The promotion mix would vary for goods sold through selective distribution, and for exclusive distribution like Rado watch, high- quality furniture, it requires more of personal selling.

Stage of Product’s Life

The product moves along its life cycle and the promotion mix also changes with the life cycle.During the introduction stage, the main objective of the promotion is to generate the primary demand by emphasizing the product’s features, utility, etc. so, the blend of advertising and publicity is required. As the product reaches its maturity stage the advertising and personal selling is required for maintaining the demand of the customers.

The expenses on other promotional activities are cut, and more emphasis is concentrated on sales promotion with the intent to push up the declining sales during the decline stage.

Availability of Funds

The promotion mix is also decided by the marketing budget. The blend of promotional tools can be used if the funds available for the promotion are large. Management must choose the promotional tool wisely in the case the funds are limited.

Nature of Technique

Each component of the promotional mix has unique characteristics which significantly influences the purpose of promotion. Such as, the advertising is an impersonal mode of communication that reaches a large group of consumers. Its expression could be amplified with the use of colors and sound that helps in developing the long lasting brand image of the business company in the minds of the customer.

The Personal selling involves face to face interaction which helps to develop cordial and personal relations with the customers. Likewise, the sales promotion is short-term incentives provided to the customers with the intent to increase sales for a shorter period of time.

Promotional Strategy

The promotion mix mostly depends on the organization’s promotional strategy, whether it accepts the push strategy or a pull strategy.In a push strategy, the manufacturer forces the dealers to carry the product and promote it to the consumer, i.e. convince the potential consumer to buy it. Here, personal selling and trade promotion are likely to be more effective.

In the case of pull strategy, the customers ask the dealers to carry the product, i.e. customers themselves purchase the product. Here, advertising and consumer promotion are more effective.

Readiness of Buyer

Different promotional tools are necessary at different stages of buyer readiness.Such as, at the comprehension stage, the blend of advertising and personal selling plays significance whereas personal selling is more effective at the conviction stage. The blend of sales promotion and personal selling is likely to be more appropriate at the time of sales closure.

Hence, the advertising and publicity are more appropriate at the early stages of buying decision process while during the later stages, the sales promotion and personal selling are more effective.

Reference:

http://www.shareyouressays.com/112830/7-important-factors-that-affect-promotion-mix

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