Promotion
Promotion – communication link between buyers and sellers; the function of informing, persuading, and influencing a consumer’s purchase decision
The manner in which the four components of integrated marketing communication (IMC) (i.e., advertising, personal selling, salespromotion, public relations) are combined into an effective whole is called the IMC mix.
The promotion mix tends to be highly customized. While, in general, we can conclude thatbusiness-to-business marketers tend to emphasize personal selling and sales promotion overadvertising and public relations, and that mass marketers are just the opposite, there aremany exceptions. However, the following factors tend to have an impact on the particularIMC mix a company might select:
1. Marketing/IMC objectives.Companies that desire broad market coverage or quickgrowth in market share, for example, must emphasize mass advertising in orderto create a dramatic and simultaneous impact.
2. Nature ofthe product.
3. Place in the product lifecycle. Products in the introductory stage in the life cycleoften need mass advertising and sales promotion, those in maturity need personalselling, and those in decline employ sales promotion.
4. Available resources.Companies with limited financial and human resources are
often restricted to sales promotion and public relations while those with plentyof both opt for mass advertising and personal selling
⠀ Boone, L. E., Kurtz, D. L. (2014).Contemporary Marketing (16th ed.). South Western, Cengage Learning (p. G-10)
⠀ Burnett, J. (2008). Core Concepts of Marketing. Retrieved from http://www.freeinfosociety.com/media/pdf/2936.pdf.