Promotion Mix

A promotion mix is a set of different marketing approaches marketers develop to optimize promotional efforts and reach a broader audience. The marketer’s task is to find the right marketing mix for a particular brand.

In this video, Alex, a SendPulse marketer, explains how to create an effective promotion mix strategy. 

Developing a promotion mix requires skills and experience in marketing. Marketers should complete various studies and gather lots of data about a particular company to come up with an effective promotion mix.

For instance, it is necessary to identify your target audience, work out a budget that you can afford for a promotion, and decide the most efficient marketing channels for your audience.

A promotion mix is a more expanded approach towards one of five elements of the marketing mix — Promotion. Other factors are people, product, place, and price.

• Improves the effectiveness of promotional campaigns. Promotion is a crucial part of any business, so companies develop a promotion mix, putting all efforts to make promotions at the right place, at the right time, and to the right audience. It helps one get the most out of their marketing resources by optimizing their budget and saving time.
• Helps segment the audience. To develop a compelling promotion mix, a company needs to identify its target audience. Potential subscribers may include various groups of people who have something in common, for example, age, gender, preferences, etc., and they all require an individual approach. A promotion mix is a key method for delivering a relevant promotion message via the most suitable channel for each segment.
• Improves communication with clients. Companies develop a promotion mix trying to speak their consumers’ language. If prepared correctly, it helps build trust between the brand and its customers. This is a crucial factor in lead nurturing and customer retention. For example, automated email campaigns help achieve these goals by responding to people’s actions instantly.
• Informs subscribers. Some promotions, on Instagram for example, aim to show the product from the best angle, and others, like SMS, emphasize the advantages of local services. When using a promotion mix, companies define the best ways to educate people about the products and services they provide.
• Stands out from the crowd. People are bombarded with all sorts of advertising at every turn. With a promotion mix, it is possible to stand out from the crowd without creating chaos in your customers’ heads. Successful companies make quality prevail over quantity, promoting their product or service at the right place and right time.

1. Advertising. This is a non-personal promotion of products and services. Marketers use advertising as a vital tool for increasing brand awareness. Advertisers show promotions to masses of people using email, webpages, banner ads, television, radio, etc.
2. Direct selling. This is a one-to-one communication between a sales representative and a potential customer. Direct selling influences people to decide to buy certain products or services. It is one of the most effective ways of promoting your brand because the sales rep can tailor the promotion precisely to those who are most likely to make a purchase. On the other hand, this is the most expensive form of sales because companies need to pay for one person’s time.
3. Sales promotion. This is a set of short-term activities that are designed to encourage immediate purchase. Sales promotions are a campaign that uses time-sensitive offers — sales, discounts, coupons, etc., to engage existing consumers and bring in a larger audience. Many companies make this a core component of their marketing efforts, though sometimes it’s the most annoying type of communication for people.
4. Public relations. This type of promotional method determines the way people treat the brand. Companies using PR try to build a firm and attractive brand image by planting interesting news stories about their activities in the media. Public relations are not fully controlled by the company, though, as some reviews and webpages may negatively highlight the brand. If a company adequately solves these issues, people will reward them with positive word-of-mouth consideration.

You can cover some of the promotion mix components with SendPulse. Let’s find out which marketing channels you can implement in your promotion mix.

Email

This marketing channel allows you to send promotional emails, newsletters, trigger emails, follow-ups, and more. Avoid monotonous promotions because users’ inboxes are often overwhelmed with sales emails. Send email campaigns that provide value to the customers, not only put your product in front.

SMS

Send time-sensitive offers to your audience to impulse quick sales. Try to implement an SMS campaign in your promotion mix because it has huge open rates.

Web push notifications

Follow up on the success of your email marketing or drive visitors back to your website with this technology. Send web push notifications to inform about new products, discounts, news, and updates.

Messenger marketing

This channel allows businesses to have conversations with people in messengers. SendPulse allows marketers to create chatbots for Facebook Messenger and Telegram app to automate answering clients' questions, collect orders, register them for events, and promote products. You can create three chatbots and send 10,000 messages to unlimited number of subscribers each month for free.

• Identify the target audience. Determine your target audience and take advantage of the promotion mix tactics. Create your customer profile to find out how to provide people with the products they need.
• Follow a five P’s rule. Five factors form promotional marketing success: what you sell (Product), how much you want for it (Price), how you offer it (Promotion), where you sell it (Place), and whom you sell it to (People). Work on these five P’s of marketing and give your customers what they need at the most convenient time.
• Provide people with useful information. Demonstrate the products and services you sell. Explain what makes them so unique and why customers should choose yours and no one else’s products. Create reviews comparing your product with competitors’ products.
• Use appropriate marketing channels. Find out which channel of communication is the most convenient for your audience. Try delivering the same message through different channels and examine which performs best with your customers.
• Rely on the right promotion mix elements. Personal selling is usually useful for only small businesses due to its high cost and low outreach. Every business can afford to display advertising and email marketing, though. Develop a balanced system of communication with your audience that fits your business well.
• Implement segmentation. This tool targets the audience by dividing it into smaller groups based on similarities. With SendPulse, segmentation works with emails, SMS, and web push notifications.
• Monitor marketing trends. As internet marketing evolves, new channels for communication with customers appear. Follow marketing trends to be able to reach your customers the way they like it.

Let’s take Nike’s promotion mix as an example and learn how they use each of the promotion mix components.

1. Advertising. In advertising campaigns, Nike aims to reach large target audiences. The brand invites celebrities who represent the image of an ideal consumer. Potential customers associate themselves with famous ones, and this motivates them to trust the brand and communicate with it.
2. Personal selling. Nike’s selling takes place in their stores. Trained store personnel assist consumers, provide details on the company’s products and stimulate visitors to buy their products. Besides, Nike’s employees help customers find the right Nike product and promote the company through the use of personalized services.
3. Sales promotion. Usually, Nike’s sales promotions include special discounts for a targeted audience. The brand motivates their customers with the savings they can have when they buy discounted products. After that, they create a demand for purchasing more products using those bonuses, turning new customers into loyal clients.
4. Public relations. Nike developed a social responsibility strategy, in response to global ecological trends. Besides, Nike sponsors numerous sports events that build a better brand image in the eyes of their audience.
5. Direct marketing. Nike uses direct marketing to promote its products among sports organizations in universities, colleges, schools. Marketers call this lead nurturing.

Last Updated: 06.12.2023