promotional mix
promotional mix
the means which a firm can use to inform prospective customers of the nature and attributes of its products and to persuade them to buy and repeat-purchase those products. The promotional mix is made up of ADVERTISING, SALES PROMOTION, PERSONAL SELLING, DIRECT MARKETING and INTERNET MARKETING, PUBLIC RELATIONS.Advertising involves the placement of ADVERTISEMENTS in the MEDIA (commercial television, newspapers, websites etc); sales promotion embraces such things as money-off-packs and free trial samples; personal selling involves visits by a firm's SALES REPRESENTATIVES to prospective customers; direct marketing involves the acquisition and retention of customers without the use of an intermediary; internet marketing refers to the use of the INTERNET to gain and keep customers; public relations is aimed at promoting the COMPANY'S IMAGE in general to establish a favourable public attitude towards the firm and its products.
In practice, most firms will use a combination of these methods to sell their products, varying the mix according to the product and buyer characteristics of a particular MARKET or MARKET SEGMENT. For example, low-price, frequently-bought consumer goods like tea are mostly promoted by mass media advertising and sales promotions, while high-price industrial or consumer goods such as cars are promoted largely by personal selling. See FOUR P'S OF MARKETING.