To this day, many people still believe in the effectiveness of advertising and promotion. The marketing department can collect statistical data on television program ratings and coupon reductions, then carefully compare marketing costs with total sales total.
Many small businesses run advertising and promotion management in the same spending category, giving both of them the same benefits. Advertising generally refers to controlled and paid messages in the media, while promotions include paid and free marketing activities, such as sales or sponsorship. Until your business is large enough to have two different departments, consider placing ads and promotions along with public relations, under the direction of the marketing division.
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Definition of Advertising
Advertising is an impersonal promotional tool used to attract public attention to a product or service, through selected and paid media. This is a means of communication that helps to communicate a single message, to a large number of people in less time. In short, advertising is nothing but “saying and selling” commercial goods. Advertising is a technique used by most companies, to persuade potential customers to buy products. Various channels are used for advertising purposes such as television, radio, newspapers, magazines, billboards, pamphlets, posters, taxis, buses, walls, etc.
Due to the intense competition between companies, the cost of advertising a single product has been very high lately. In general, people are interested in advertising and the demand for the product is increasing. So, the effect of the ad is positive. Advertising results are seen in the long run when there is an upward movement in sales figures. However, it is very difficult for the average person to identify a good product among the various products because only positive aspects are expressed in the ad. The more ads are displayed to customers, the more it will make an impression on the minds of customers. In this way, it helps companies to make money easily with their products no matter if the quality conforms to the standard or is lower.
Definition of Marketing
In Marketing, promotion refers to a series of activities that communicate the benefits of a product, service, or brand to persuade target customers to buy it. This is one of the four elements of a marketing mix. The goal is to attract, persuade, and create awareness among people to initiate a purchase. Marketing or promotional methods include, discount coupons, free sample distribution, rebates, offers such as giving two items at the price of one item, trial offers, offers at festivals and occasions, contests, value-added services, etc.
Because of this method, companies get an instant boost in their sales due to impulsive customer response when they know they will get more at a cheaper price. This involves activities such as:
- Direct Marketing
This is a technique in which companies sell their products directly to customers, eliminating intermediaries.
- Advertising
Advertising is a paid advertisement, in which the message is conveyed to attract customers and bring attention to the product, through the media.
- Public Relations
Every company wants to build and maintain its image in public, through various channels.
Personal Sales: In this technique, the seller sells the company’s products by directly visiting and influencing them to buy the product.
Differences between Advertising and Marketing
Advertising and promotion are both used as marketing strategies to get product information to consumers.
Advertising
Advertising is usually done by medium to large companies, as it can be very expensive. However, small businesses can find creative ways to advertise cheaper, especially by learning how to use the Internet. When you pay to advertise in local newspapers, magazines, or other billboards, the assumption is that your efforts will generate sales. Advertising can have a positive effect on overall sales with increasing revenue, but it can take longer to achieve results. The main purpose of advertising is to build brand awareness.
Marketing
Marketing is usually used by companies to increase sales quickly or encourage consumer purchase or testing services. The appeal created for consumers with marketing and promotion tends to be more rational and less emotional. Promotional sales are designed to offer incentives to consumers, motivating them to buy your product or service immediately.
Promotions via marketing generally generate lower profits, but they have an instant effect and are more focused on building sales in the short term, than building brands.
Here are some common types of marketing strategies
- Paid advertising
In paid advertising, companies pay their advertising space provider to display their products in that space. The price paid is usually determined through negotiations between the marketer and the advertising space provider.
- Transactional marketing
One of the biggest challenges facing even the largest companies is meeting sales targets. However, the existence of a transactional marketing strategy is quite effective in overcoming this problem. Companies that use this strategy are able to attract consumers through shopping coupons, discounts, promotions, and big events. Finally, consumers are interested in buying more products on offer.
- Social media marketing
Today, more than 2.8 billion people are actively using social media. Social media marketing is also easy to use, cost-effective and can target many targets so that this strategy can be applied by various companies. this strategy focuses on the use of social networking sites or applications such as Facebook, Instagram, and the like. Given its wide scope, companies can build a brand in no time.
- Interactive marketing
Interactive marketing strategies involve consumer participation in the marketing process. For example, companies can include consumer names or other customizations on limited edition products. This method allows consumers to get the latest information about a product or service. That way, consumer demand for the product or service will increase.
- Content marketing
Content marketing strategy focuses on creating and distributing content that is valuable, relevant, and consistent to attract consumers. Instead of making direct offers, the company actually provides the information that consumers need so that they are interested in a product. Content marketing can be applied to small and large companies. In order for the content created to be of high quality and able to attract consumers, companies must have competent content creators.
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
SEO is the process of getting traffic from organic search results, editorial, and free search engines. This strategy is closely related to content marketing and even determines whether content can be said to be quality. Content that meets SEO will occupy the top position in search results. If the content rises rapidly, the company will get high traffic. This can increase the awareness brand so that the number of consumers also increases.
- Telemarketing
This type of marketing strategy may not be unfamiliar to you, however, telemarketing is still considered effective by some companies. This type uses direct marketing methods where a salesperson offers a product or service over a telephone connection or web conference in agreement with a potential customer. An example of a telemarketing strategy is offering credit cards to customers, or when a telemarketer of a telecommunications company offers a postpaid sim card service.
- Email Marketing
Email marketing is a procedure performed by marketers to achieve their marketing goals by sending email advertising to multiple customers or audiences who are the target business. Although effective, you need to pay attention to the right strategy in doing email marketing. The reason is, with unattractive titles and content, as well as too frequent submissions will keep your email marketing from opening, spam, or even directly deleting your target audience.