A promotional mix is the way you communicate the features and benefits of your business to your customers.
The promotional mix used in a digital marketing strategy comprises of advertising, public relations, selling and sales promotion and is consists of all the forms of communication that a business can use to establish its product or service.
There are many ways to promote your business to your target audience and drive sales however the method in which you apply the promotional mix to your digital marketing strategy will determine your results.
The promotional mix basics
You need to engage with persuasive communication when you are promoting your business and the best way to achieve this is by convincing your target audience to buy your product or service.
You will want to ensure the following three things with your promotional mix:
- Capture your target audience’s attention
- Educate your customers
- Influence potential buyers
Your promotional mix should be designed in a way that quickly and effectively informs your target audience about your commercial presence. When you educate potential and existing customers with your promotional mix you gain leverage against your competition, which ultimately drives sales.
Promotional mix types
It’s a good idea to complete a digital marketing course to enable you to figure out exactly what promotional mix will work for you.
Advertising is a large part of the promotional mix and it refers to the paid promotion of products and services by a sponsor to a mass medium.
Personal selling is another element of the promotional mix which involves non-media and non-media marketing communication. This form of communication is aimed at increasing consumer and market demand for your product or service.
Other types of the promotional mix include public relations, direct marketing, digital marketing and promotional product placement.
Elements of the promotional mix
This is an allocation of marketing resources that include the following elements of the promotional mix.
- Public relations – Reputation is key in any business and public relations is all about managing your reputation. Public relations is all about promoting your image.
- Sales promotion – There is a difference between sales promotion and advertising, and this should be kept in mind when applying the promotional mix to your marketing strategy.
- Advertising – there are two categories in advertising, namely traditional and digital. Traditional advertising refers to tv, radio and print. Digital advertising comprises of the multitude of channels that are available for advertising on the world wide web.
- Personal selling – Individuals are used to promote the marketing message to your target audience, which can be an expensive element in the promotional mix.
- Direct marketing – This is a form of promotion that sends a specific message directly to a potential or existing customer, either via traditional or digital marketing methods.
- Web presence – This form of marketing has become the single most important marketing platform available. The cost of website development has decreased significantly which makes having a web presence easily achievable.
- Social media – All social media platforms are a great way to communicate with your target audience and is relatively inexpensive.
Identifying your promotional mix
It’s vital to consider your target audience when identifying and classifying your promotional mix. Your marketing goals and budget obviously also affect your decisions. Deterring your target audience will instantly define the key demographics of your promotional mix.
Marketing tools are much more effective when they are combined, even though each individual marketing tool has its own value. By combining marketing tools, marketers understand that this goes a long way to ensuring their overall marketing strategy is effective.
Establishing the promotional mix that is right for you involves the following steps:
- Determine your target audience
- Set your objectives
- Plan, develop and design your message
- Choose your promotional channels
- Establish your budget
- Measure the impact of your campaigns
You’ll find that not every element of the promotional mix will be relevant to your product or service, so the trick is to create a nice balance to the promotional mix of your marketing strategy. Your specific promotional mix will depend on your target audience and budget.