Integrated Marketing Communication Mix an Avenue of promoting the sales of product and services

Integrated Marketing Communication Mix an Avenue or Promoting the Sales  of Products and Services.

Every organization wants to promote their business. Everyone wants to move from one level to another in business. Promotion of the sales of products and service can be achieved only by an expansion of the customer base.

How can this customer base be expanded??? 

The answer to the question can be found basically through Integrated Marketing Communication.

 IMC was briefly introduced in the article “Basic Marketing Strategies for Growing a Profitable Business as an Entrepreneur”. Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) is the coordination of the entire marketing promotional mix element towards achieving common goals and objectives in an organization.

There are five (5) marketing promotional mix element. The five (5) basic marketing promotional mix element includes;

i)       Sales Promotion

ii)    Advertising

iii)  Personal Selling

iv)  Public Relations and Publicity.

v)    Direct marketing.

I)                  SALES PROMOTION:  

What is Sales Promotion???   Anything you do to promote sales right?  Even if it means giving out bonuses, discounts, gifts etc.

Sales Promotions are incentives that are used to motivate individuals (customers/prospects) to buy a product or patronize a service. It is usually done for a short term. It can lead to a purchase/trial purchase/ repeat purchase.

What are these incentives?  Incentive can be an activity or anything that can be used as a persuasion tool  to motivate customers to purchase a product.

Incentives such as Price discounts, trade discounts, coupons, gift packages, bonuses etc.

Jeez, that is going to cost a lot, how am I to get my profit from doing charity with my business??

Sales promotion cost varies as the case maybe. It all depends on the kind of incentive one is using.  But the amazing fact is that sales promotion has a very great advantage. It is worth the cost.

I will use a case:  Company XYZ is using the price discount as a sales promotion strategy to increase the sales of product ABC. Product ABC cost $100 per carton. Company XYZ agrees that for 3 cartons of product ABC will be sold at $250 instead of $300. A discount has been made.

What will be Company ABC achievement through this?

a.     Customers will be motivated to buy more of that products, instead of buying usual one carton of product ABC, customers will love to purchase 3 cartons of product ABC.

b.     Sales for product ABC will be at large quantity.

c.      Increase in sales leads to an increase in production.

d.     Increase in production and sales, leads to a regular profit making.  It is better to have frequent sales at a good cost than having rare sales at a high cost. Frequent sales imply regular profit.

II)              ADVERTISING.

Taste is difference. Difference is in the taste!!! What advert is that?

                                         Oh my Indomie!!!

What is advertising?  Everyone knows an advert when they see one. Advertising is everywhere, on the television, internet, radio, magazines, billboards, roadside etc. We also have person/human/individual marketing this is done in politics, it is known as political marketing.

Advertising is a paid form of non-personal presentation, promotion of ideas , goods, services, which can take any form usually by an identifiable sponsors through the media. Media here include the print media (Newspapers, magazines, journals); the broadcast media (television, radio), the internet, billboards, signpost etc.

Advertising plays a major role in creating awareness of a product to the market at wide.  Advertising explains what a product is all about. It serves as an efficient reminder to people about a product.  Advertising is quite expensive but it can attracts people to a product thereby increasing sales of a product.

More light will be shed on advertising, role of advertising, steps involved in developing advertising etc in the article “Advertising a marketing tool for awakening in the business world”.

III)           PERSONAL SELLING:

Just an interaction between the sales force (seller) and the prospect or customer with the aim of making sales out of it. Simple!!!

Who is a prospect? A prospect is someone who is likely to purchase a product; there are the potential buyers of a product.

Personal selling brings the buyer and seller into a direct contact. The salesperson meets the prospect or customers directly. Thereby making it possible to persuade these customers or prospects to the point of purchase. The basic role of a sales person is to locate prospects and convert them to customers.

The steps of personal selling, types o salesperson, importance of sales person will be articulated in “The role of personal selling in persuading and retaining customers”.

IV)           DIRECT MARKETING:

Direct marketing is usually confused with personal selling.  Personal selling is a subset of direct marketing. Direct marketing is the relationship or interaction between an organization and carefully targeted customers or segments often on a personal basis.

Direct marketing includes personal selling, catalogue marketing, telemarketing, direct mail marketing, direct response, television marketing, kiosk marketing, new digital technologies, online marketing & electronic commerce.

V)              PUBLICITY AND PUBLIC RELATIONS:

Publicity is quite different from public relations.

 Public relation is an indirect promotional mix element. It is the relationship the organization has with the public.  The image the public has of the company. Public includes your immediate environment, the society, the community, suppliers, consumers, distributors, competitors, the government etc.

Publicity is basically creating awareness about a product or service to the public, which can be done through the advertising tools such as newspaper, magazines; television etc. publicity is a part of public relations.

Various tools can be used for public relations, these includes; Press release, exhibitions and shows, news, corporate identity materials, product launch publicity, sponsorship of national and international event etc. 

Organization can decide to use the social responsibility forum as a medium for public relation. Social responsibility such as provision of good roads, education, hospitals etc

Why should we use our hard earned money to provide social amenities??

 This can boost the company image. Remember the public are your customer too. Customers are attracted to organizations that have a good relationship with their customers.

IN CONCLUSION:

Personal selling is used mostly for industrial products and new products. Industrial products include raw materials, partly finished goods used for further production of consumer products. It is advisable to use personal selling for the promotion of industrial products so that the functions & use of the industrial products can be explained well by the sales person to the industrial users.

Advertising, direct marketing and Sales promotion can also be used for new products. But due to the cost needed for this promotional mix, it is advisable to use them for already existing goods. IF the organization has enough money they can go for advertising and sales promotion anytime.

Publicity and Public relations can be used when the competition in the market intensifies and sale level- off. It can be used to re-awaken the public about a particular product or service.