As per A.H.R. Delens, a renowned author of sales and marketing book, \u201cSales promotion means any steps that are taken for the purpose of obtaining an increasing sale. Often this term refers especially to selling efforts that are designed to supplement personal selling and advertising and by co-ordination helps them to become more effective.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sales promotion is any kind of marketing\nactivities and sales effort to promote products\/services to increase sales\nrate. While running sales promotion, an organization should keep a few things\nin mind:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- \n
- The cost of promotion and is it worth it?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Does this promotion damage the brand image?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Does that particular offer attract new customers?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Think, if any alternate promotion with less cost can produce more results.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- “As long as the benefits outweigh the costs, moving forward is a good idea. It’s crucial to take an objective viewpoint to avoid the unnecessary biases coming into play” comments James Durr of Auctioneers Property Solvers<\/strong>.<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
There are several things to keep in mind before\nkeeping any sales promotion. Sometimes, for the sake of sales promotion,\norganizations offer a good deal at a cheaper price. Hence, people start\nthinking about the quality of the product which may spoil the brand name. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\nApart from these, there are several good\nobjectives of a sales promotion:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- \n
- To increase sales rate and bring more awareness among a new audience<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- To stimulate old and new customers toward sales<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- To introduce a new product<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- To stand out from the crowd<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- To lift the seasonal decline in sales<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Though different organizations adopt different promotional methods, the objectives are common. The aforementioned points are common in every organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Importance of sales promotion<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\nAs sales promotion is important for every\norganization, but now most of the organizations hire sales promotion managers\nto handle all the promotional activities. S\/he is not only responsible for\nhandling the promotional activities but s\/he is also responsible for generating\nrevenue from the promotion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There are advantages and disadvantages of\nsales promotion. Sometimes, it affects a lot and sometimes it works well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n![\"sales](\"https:\/\/www.ampliz.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/sales-promotion.jpeg\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nTypes of sales promotion<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\nThere are several sales promotions many\norganizations adopt according to their business. Principally, four types of\nsales promotions are found in all organizations:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- \n
- Consumer Sales Promotion<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Dealer Sales Promotion<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Business Promotions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Public Relations<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
1. Consumer sales promotion<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\nConsumer sales promotion aims to attract customers\nby offering something valuable for the short term. Though it is for the short\nterm, it attracts a lot of customers. The promotions can be samples, free\ntrial, discount coupons, contest prize, price packs, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\nWhen samples or free trials are provided, your customers will come to know about your product\/services. Discount coupons, contest prize, and price packs are provided to attract customers. If you are new to the market, samples and free trials are the best options.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This promotion is good for the B2C industry. In order to spread awareness of the brand or attract the customers, the aforementioned promotions are result-driven.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n2. Dealer Sales Promotion<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\nDealer sales promotion is employed when a company sells its products through retailers, distributors, or vendors. This promotion aims to stimulate sales by providing buying allowances, merchandise allowances, price deals, cooperative advertising, dealers\u2019 sales contests, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\nGenerally, this promotion happens in the\nB2B industry. This is also called trade promotion. Sometimes, salesmen are\nhired for one on one sales and in that case, the individual incentives are\nemployed to enhance the sales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n3. Business Promotions<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\nBusiness promotion is one of the efficient\npromotions to encourage sales. There are several ways to do business promotions\nsuch as partnership (joint promotion), sponsorship, participating in relevant\nexhibitions, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\nIn order to promote your brand or your\nproducts, offer a partnership with those whose audience is also your target audience.\nThough sponsorship is expensive, it is effective to promote your brand. Another\nmagnetic tool of promotion is to participate in an exhibition or web submit. Bringing\nawareness of your brand helps attract people for the demo of your products and\ncreates an opportunity for partnership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These methods are especially for brand\npromotion than a sales promotion as brand promotion is the long-term fuel of\nsales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n4. Public Relations or Publicity<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\nPublic relations is completely different\nfrom other promotions. In this promotion, organizations don\u2019t have to sponsor\nor promote their products or services. This promotion is far away from\ncommercial promotion. Generally, it comes from reference, reviews from\nexperience holders, columnists or journalists. These reviews or references come\nfrom the performance of products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The best tool for this promotion is to build good relationships with the customer, employees, shareholders, and different communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\nSales promotion techniques<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\nSeveral sales promotion techniques have been followed by different types of organizations. As explained above, consumer sales promotion adopts techniques like samples, free trial, discount coupons, custom certificates<\/a> for gift vouchers and contest prize whereas the dealer promotion has other techniques such as buying allowances, merchandise allowances, price deals, cooperative advertising, and dealers sales contests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The most common sales promotion techniques\nadopted by the overall types of business are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- \n
- Free Samples<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Discount Coupons<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Refund policy within the trial\nperiod<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Quantity Gifts<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Lucky Draw<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Contest Prize<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Provide the finance options<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- A sample packet of new product\nas a gift along with other product<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Loyal Customer gifts<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n