Sales promotion is a valuable instrument of marketing communication. Skillfully used, it facilitates the implementation of the assumed strategy, based on specific sales goals. What is this tactic about? And what are the sales promotion tools? We advise!
What will you learn from the article?
Sales promotion is a powerful tool in any company's arsenal that can significantly increase sales performance. But which of the tools available are actually effective? In this article, we take a look at the most popular and effective sales promotion methods.
Did you know that there are two main types of sales promotions? Consumer promotions, which target customers directly, and trade promotions, which aim to support intermediaries and distributors. Each of these forms has its own specific tools and techniques that are effective in specific situations.
Wondering which forms and tools of sales promotion when to use? We'll talk about how to choose the right tools for your specific marketing goals, as well as the most effective sales promotion tools for consumer, trade and internal promotion.
It is worth remembering that sales promotion is not only about increasing sales in the short term, but also about building long-term relationships with customers and business partners. Therefore, it is worth investing time and resources in understanding and effectively using sales promotion tools.
Read on to find out how to effectively increase sales and stand out in the market with the right sales promotion techniques.
What is a sales promotion?
With the rapid development of marketing, we can see the growing popularity of sales promotions. This mechanism has become an integral part of today's marketing. T. Taranko in his publication "Marketing communication. Istota, uwarunkowania, efekty' (Essence, conditions, effects) writes that sales promotion is 'a set of activities aimed at creating extraordinary, additional and short-lasting stimuli increasing the attractiveness of the product for the buyer and increasing his/her inclination to purchase'.
In practice, this means additional benefits for potential customers or people who have purchased a particular product. Benefits are understood to be attractive discounts, freebies and others. The idea behind sales promotions is to influence consumer behaviour at a specific point in time.
Sales promotion it gives marketers a lot of possibilities. This mechanism can be implemented in many different ways using different tools. What are the types and tools of sales promotion?
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What are the 2 types of sales promotion?
Sales promotion can be carried out in two different ways - in accordance with with a pull or push strategy. Pull strategy, i.e. the strategy of attracting, consists in directing promotion directly to the consumer in order to build loyalty and subscribe to his awareness. Thanks to the promotion, the customer decides to buy the product. Thus, he hopes to find it in retail stores. Consequently, retailers have to buy goods from wholesalers who source from the manufacturer.
Push strategy is an aggressive promotion of goods that first go to wholesalers, then to retailers and only to consumers. It's about creating a kind of promotional chain that will ultimately lead to sales. The push strategy is most often used for everyday products, where the brand is of little importance - consumers do not pay attention to it.
Which forms and tools of sales promotion when to use?
Depending on the selected strategy, one of the 3 forms of sales promotion is used. These are the promotions:
- consumer - aimed directly at consumers, the most popular and diversified model, the purpose of which is to encourage potential customers to buy,
- commercial - returned to intermediaries, its purpose is to encourage them to sell and promote the products of a given producer,
- internal - addressed to employees, its idea is to motivate employees to work effectively.
Each form is implemented through selected sales promotion tools.
Sales promotion tools for consumer promotion
Promotional campaign addressed directly to consumers, its purpose is to encourage them to take advantage of the brand's offer. Various incentives can be used to implement this idea.
These include:
- free samples,
- coupons,
- promotional packaging,
- bonuses,
- special advertisements,
- discounts and price reductions,
- contests, lotteries and games with prizes,
- awards for the best or regular customers,
- trade stamps,
- on-site promotions.
Although the idea behind the above sales promotion tools is to interest consumers in the brand's offer at a given moment and a short-term increase in sales, in reality the effects can be much more spectacular. A skillfully used consumer promotion can contribute to building a positive one corporate image in the long term. This type of promotion is the driving force behind the entire marketing campaign. Especially today, in times of incredible opportunities offered by the Internet, we can build consumers' attachment to the company by using simple sales promotion tools. An example is online lotteries or contests that engage customers for a long time, which we can use to convey corporate values, build their trust and build positive relationships.
Tools for trade promotion
Currently, building lasting relationships with business partners is of great importance. Long-term B2B cooperation based on logical, mutually beneficial principles often guarantee spectacular success on the market. Due to the wide market and high competition, it is necessary to constantly take care of the quality of common interests, showing partners the benefits that result from them and, in a way, encouraging them to further cooperation and promote the products in our offer. Various sales promotion tools can be used for this, e.g .:
- variable price,
- discounts,
- sales bonuses.
The tools should be adapted to the purpose, preferences and form of activity conducted by a given business partner.
And what to use as part of internal promotion?
The last form of sales promotion is internal promotion, which focuses on keeping employees interested. Its idea is to motivate the team to better and more effective work, which will translate into real benefits for the company. After all, employees are the best capital of any enterprise! That is why it is worth taking care of their full commitment.
As part of internal promotion, you can use such tools as:
- bonuses for sales employees,
- bonuses for employees whose task is to acquire new customers,
- remuneration systems for the best employees.
Why is it worth using sales promotion tools?
The use of sales promotion in your marketing activities is a great support for the entire strategy aimed at achieving specific sales goals. Sales promotion:
- due to its specific nature, it can bring quick results, visible in the form increasing sales,
- it is easy to measure, the so-called you can easily measure its effectiveness compared to other forms of advertising,
- it is cheap - its implementation is not associated with such high costs as, for example, the use of mass media in promotion,
- strengthens or builds a competitive advantage,
- creates customer loyalty to the company,
- is a great way to product launch.
It is worth bearing in mind, however, that the improper use of sales promotion may have the opposite effect to the intended one. Acting in an intrusive way not only discourages people from buying, but also may even have a negative impact on the company's image. The sales promotion mechanism should be used in a thoughtful and careful manner. Then it will bring the best results.