The definition – “Marketing is the management process of identifying, anticipating and satisfying consumers wants and needs profitably.”
Small business owners often make the mistake that Promoting and Advertising equals Marketing.
If you notice in the definition, there is no mention of advertising. This is because advertising is a by-product of marketing, you must first do your marketing before you can do any advertising.
To break this down further, marketers often use the 4 P’s of Marketing – Product, Price, Place and Promotion. It’s also important to note, it is usually in that order.
“A product is an item that is built or produced to satisfy the needs of a certain group of people. The product can be intangible or tangible as it can be in the form of services or goods.”
“The price of the product is basically the amount that a customer pays for to enjoy it. Adjusting the price of the product has a substantial impact on the entire marketing strategy as well as greatly affecting the sales and demand of the product.”
“You have to position and distribute the product in a place that is accessible to potential buyers.”
“Promotion is a very important component of marketing as it can boost brand recognition and sales. Promotion is comprised of various elements like: Sales Organisation, Public Relations, Advertising and Sales Promotion.”
Understanding these four components and how they integrate and effect each other is key to successful marketing.
Note: At Pixertise we often use the tag line “Online Marketing”, which is technically an incorrect usage of the terminology. What we really mean is “Online Business Promoting” or “promoting your business online” but it doesn’t quite have the same ring to it. The word marketing is so often misunderstood with advertising that “Online Marketing” is a more recognisable and understandable term for our customers than “Online Business Promoting”.
It is likely, that if you are reading this post, you have already defined your Product, Price and Place. You will have also most likely dabbled in some form of promotion. It is important to note that although the first 3 P’s (Product, Price and Place) are usually well established, they are not permanently fixed and can and should be continuously reviewed and developed further. Markets and their consumers wants and needs change rapidly and often. A successful business should always be looking to track and adapt to these changes.
Because these first 3 P’s are established, they take more time and in-depth analysis to make any changes. Too much for us to cover in this website post.
Our name Pixertise is derived from the combination of pixel – “a minute area of illumination on a display screen, one of many from which an image is composed” and advertise – “to make something known generally or in public, especially in order to sell it”.
So we are going to focus the remainder of this post on the last P – Promotion.
How you go about promotion will depend on your budget, the message you want to communicate, and the target market you have defined. Businesses can run several promotions targeting different market segments, methods and messages, either simultaneously or over time.
It is important to know where a website sits in terms of promoting your business. A business website is a multitude of components:
A website can be all these things and more, it is the centre pillar for promoting your business. Without a website, it is difficult to meet the full potential of promotions. Consumers are inquisitive, they want information fast and a website is the most effective way to satisfy these needs. Your website is a workhorse, converting curiosity and promotions into enquiries and sales. Your website runs 24/7 and works whilst you sleep, as such, any promotions you carry out should always return to your website.
Tell your customers WHAT, WHERE, WHEN and WHY. If you want to stand out from the competition, you must be DIFFERENT. The more you conform to be like everyone else, the less successful you will be. The core of any successful promotion is providing a targeted reason to use your business. That could be a benefit, saving, something new, experience etc. You then want to convert your promotion into a transaction with the use of call to actions and conversion tools. A promotion should be seeking a commitment to an action via a visit, communication, booking or purchase.
We need to switch the order of WHAT, WHERE, WHEN and WHY which is for the customer to WHY, WHAT, WHO, WHEN and WHERE for building a promotion.
WHY (are you running a promotion) – Start with your main objective then set goals to reach that objective. Why are you promoting and what are you trying to achieve? A business is most likely running a promotion to increase sales but there are numerous strategies, methods and plans to achieve this objective. You need to take a step down from this top-level objective and set a smaller goal. Most common goals for promotions are brand awareness, product awareness, price awareness, place awareness, customer retention, new customers and direct sales.
WHAT (are you going to promote) – Next you need to decide on WHAT you are going to promote. Identify your revenue streams, products/services, places, unique selling points, benefits and business ideologies. Once you’ve identified these, choose one that works best with your WHY.
WHO (are you targeting) – Break your target market down into market segments. Look for common characteristics such as shared needs, common interests, similar lifestyles or even similar demographic profiles. Chose a market segment with a potential high yield.
WHEN (are you going to use this promotion) – When can be either a set time, event or following an action. It is good to have a mix of timed promotions and reactional promotions. We have created a simple 12-month planner for 2019 to help build your promotional strategy. This is for timed promotions. Event promotions are when something is occurring for example if you are a tradesperson and you are working at a customer location, you can promote during this event with a banner outside or parking your van with sign writing in a visible location. Reactional or on action promotions is when an action has been taken or completed, e.g. when a customer buys a product you provide them with a catalogue or voucher for money off of other products you sell.
WHERE (are you going to run your promotion) – There are infinite places you can run a promotion. Some examples are: In person, a point of sale, direct mail, newspaper, websites, social media, print, events, banners, sponsorship, YouTube, Google.
Now you have your WHY, WHAT, WHEN and WHERE for building a promotion it’s time to start putting it together. We have put together a free promotion template for you to download and print out as many times as you like. Don’t forget a successful business will be running multiple promotions at a time.
Here at Pixertise we can help you with building your promotions. Including Graphic Design, Advert Design, Photography, Promotional videos, Marketing Workshops and Outsourced Business Promotions. If you have any questions or would like to find out more, please email us at [email protected]
