What is promotion?
Promotion is the part of marketing that informs buyers, persuades them to buy, and reminds them later. The combination of tools a firm uses is called the promotion mix.
It has four main tools: advertising, personal selling, sales promotion, and publicity / public relations.
Advertising and advertising media
Advertising is a paid, impersonal message from an identified sponsor, sent through mass media.
Main media
| Medium | Good for | Limit |
|---|---|---|
| Newspapers | Local reach, quick to place | Short life, poor print |
| Magazines | Specific readers, good colour | Slow, costly |
| Television | Sight + sound, huge reach | Very costly |
| Radio | Cheap, reaches rural areas | Sound only |
| Outdoor (hoardings, buses) | Seen again and again | Short message only |
| Digital (websites, social media, search) | Targets exact groups, measurable | Ad-blocking, clutter |
Merits: reaches many people, low cost per person, builds brand image. Limits: high total cost, no direct feedback, and buyers may ignore it.
Personal selling
Personal selling is face-to-face (or one-to-one) talk between a salesperson and a buyer to make a sale.
Steps
- Find likely buyers (prospecting)
- Prepare (learn about the buyer)
- Approach
- Present and demonstrate
- Handle questions and doubts
- Close the sale
- Follow up
Merits: flexible, instant feedback, builds trust, good for costly or complex goods (cars, insurance, machines). Limits: costly per buyer, reaches few people.
Qualities of a good salesperson
Good manners, product knowledge, patience, honesty, and good listening.
Sales promotion
Sales promotion means short-term offers that push people to buy now.
- Discounts and rebates
- Coupons
- "Buy one get one free" and quantity deals
- Free samples and gifts
- Contests and lucky draws
- Exchange offers (old for new)
- Loyalty points
Merits: quick boost in sales, helps launch new products and clear stock. Limits: effect is short; too many offers can make buyers doubt quality or wait for the next deal.
Publicity and public relations
Publicity is news about a product or firm in the media that the firm does not pay for. Example: a news story about a start-up's clean-water invention.
Public relations (PR) is the planned effort to build goodwill with the public: press releases, events, community work, handling bad news well.
| Advertising | Publicity | |
|---|---|---|
| Paid? | Yes | No |
| Control of message | Full | None |
| Trust | Lower | Higher |
| Can be negative? | No | Yes |
Choosing the right mix
The best mix depends on:
- Product: cheap everyday goods โ advertising + sales promotion; costly technical goods โ personal selling.
- Market: many scattered buyers โ advertising; a few big buyers โ personal selling.
- Budget: small firms may rely on publicity and digital ads.
- Product life cycle stage: launch needs awareness; maturity needs reminders and offers.
Try it
In step 6, first put all 100 on advertising, then all 100 on personal selling. Compare reach and depth. Then find a mix where both are above 40%. Finally, look at three ads around you today and name which tool each one uses.
Key formulas and definitions
- Promotion mix = Advertising + Personal selling + Sales promotion + Publicity/PR
- Advertising = paid, impersonal, mass media, identified sponsor
- Personal selling = face-to-face, two-way, few buyers
- Sales promotion = short-term offers to buy now
- Publicity = unpaid media coverage; PR = planned goodwill building
- Cost per person = Total ad cost รท People reached
Worked examples
1. An insurance company trains agents to visit families and explain policies. Which tool?
Personal selling: one-to-one explanation of a complex product.
2. A shampoo brand gives a free 10 ml sachet with a newspaper for one week. Which tool?
Sales promotion (free sample).
3. A TV ad costs โน50,00,000 and reaches 2,00,00,000 people. Find cost per person.
50,00,000 รท 2,00,00,000 = โน0.25 per person (25 paise).
4. A newspaper writes a story praising a local firm that planted 10,000 trees. The firm did not pay. Which tool?
Publicity (part of public relations).
Common mistakes
- Calling every promotion "advertising". Advertising is only the paid, mass-media tool.
- Thinking publicity is always good. It can be negative and the firm cannot control it.
- Thinking sales promotion builds long-term loyalty. Its effect is mostly short-term.
- Using personal selling for cheap everyday goods. It costs too much per buyer.