Promotional marketing. The two faces of the most popular tool

Although it is one of the pillars of marketing and business communication, promotions are difficult to implement due to their broad spectrum and because they depend on countless factors such as costs, segmentation, duration and corporate image.

However, it is not an ideal tactic for organizations without a history. Despite its advantages, it is not advisable to carry out these actions in the early days of the company because it is not yet very well known who its user is or how they are managed on social networks.

 

The commitment to promotions in the face of stagnant consumption

The offers make up the pillar of the 4P of marketing: price, product, place (place in English) and promotion-communication. The American Marketing Association defines them as any commercial effort made for a certain period of time aimed at the end customer, retailer or distributor in order to stimulate them to try a product or services, increase their demand or improve their availability.

That is why they should not only be thought of as a way to increase sales, get rid of difficult-to-deliver merchandise or increase profits. “Although it is true that in many cases, promotions are not 100% profitable, they are often used as a communication excuse to attract the attention of users. Even play with retention and loyalty strategies”, said Nayla Tirado, digital marketing specialist.

 

Clothing brands traditionally appeal to discounts with the changes of season

To achieve this, you need to have a well-defined objective and an action plan to follow. “On several occasions, we carry out promotions not for a monetary issue but to gain presence. We are ambassadors of craft beer that, for various reasons, some people have not tried yet. Through the offers we try to incorporate more consumers for this type of drink”, said Juan Cavallo, co-founder and CEO of Bierhaus.

 

Reason and feeling

Being rational and sentimental tools, communication and creativity are fundamental in their execution. At the same time, they must provide rational and emotional reasons to take advantage of that opportunity. “In e-commerce, many of the purchases are impulsive; especially in the fashion sector. They are quick decisions where, in general, the user sees a discount and buys even if they don’t need it”, explains Tirado.

In a way, one of the cons of promotions lies in the emotional. You can attract the wrong customer who is tempted by the offer but then does not buy again. For this reason, it is necessary to remember that one of its purposes is also to attract new audiences and create or strengthen long-term relationships.

The duration of these events is an element of weight. You need to set a beginning and an end so that it doesn’t get out of control. Setting an expiration date is intended to generate anxiety among consumers. Its impact is magnified if it coincides with special dates or some digital event.

Your planning begins before you set a goal. Part of the analysis of previous statistics, which allow detecting which products or services were most successful, why and when.

 

Public and message

Communication is directed through different channels according to each type of client. Thus, it is very likely that the efforts will reach the target that is sought to be reached. In addition, it must reflect the ideals and principles of the brand. “An important point is that the promotion is not complicated to understand or explain. Otherwise it has no effect. It becomes something tedious and long to synthesize in a graphic piece”, Tirado indicated.

Prior to defining what to communicate and how it is necessary to segment the public and define the ideal client and design one or more typical consumer profiles. “Talking to everyone is not very successful. To detect your potential audience, you must be clear about your objectives. Mine are 25-year-old women who seek self-knowledge. I start from that premise: women, 25 years old and self-knowledge. Later, when putting together a promotion on Instagram, I use the tools offered by that social network,” said the founding partner of Demagia.

The next step is to select the type of offer and in this case the alternatives are endless, so it is easy to get confused. Discounts are the most used formula. In this case, the key is a psychological look, in which the final price, the type of client and the perceived value of the offer come together. “In the current local context, the reduction of the product ticket is unfortunately the most effective. Due to the economic situation and the pandemic, Argentines look more at the price than the quality or uniqueness of a product,” Cavallo commented.

This sum of factors must be reflected in a feeling of saving in the consumer. This feeling should be accentuated when it comes to more expensive goods. An attractive presentation makes for success. This implies analyzing the use that the client gives to that good or service.

 

Various discounts

There are endless variations of these actions. The most traditional is a price reduction. A simple variation is to apply a reduction in the value of a product that enters a list on a website specialized in offers.

“Also, you can apply it to drive more traffic to e-commerce. 4 or 5 of the most attractive products for the consumer are selected. Although they are not the best sellers, a special promotion is put together in a featured section. In this way, profitability is relegated to expanding the user base”, said Tirado.

Vouchers or discount coupons fall into this segment. They are widely used in cafeterias, bakeries and bakeries.

The 2×1 serves to create consumption habits. Applying it on a weekly basis with one or a few product lines helps to dispatch goods with lower turnover. In this line is the pay 4 and take the 5 free. Basically, they are all tactics that aim to increase the average ticket or the average transaction value.

Today and due to its effectiveness, the most used tactic is free delivery. This modality allows you to increase the average billing of the purchase to receive free shipping. “Free delivery is highly valued by our public; especially, in a monothematic store like ours. However, delivery is still a complicated issue,” said the CEO of Bierhaus.

To all these marketing tactics, the fact that the attractiveness for the consumer lies in the discount stands out and seeing the current panorama of the pandemic and economic crisis that has been generated in the world, the consumer is looking more for the economy in the low price of the product than its quality. IRAIC investors and marketing analysts in a report stated that in the last year, sales have dropped significantly, which has led to innovative marketing strategies and together with IRAIC many companies and businesses have retaken the market towards new alliances of business and marketing increasing your sales and profits.

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