Maximizing Advertising Effectiveness Through Strategic Tools

Evaluating Advertising Effectiveness

Sales Promotion

A collection of incentive short-term tools to stimulate the purchase of goods and services.

Sales promotion includes:

• Consumer promotion
• Trade promotion
• Sales force promotion

Sales promotion expenditures have increased over the last two decades. This rapid growth has created clutter. To combat this clutter, manufacturers must find effective sales promotion tools.

Objectives

• Consumer promotion
• Trade promotion
• Sales force promotion

Process

1. Establish objectives
2. Select the tools
3. Develop the program
4. Pretest the program
5. Implement and control the program

Tools

• Samples
• Coupons
• Rebates or cash refunds
• Price packs
• Premiums
• Promotional products
• Point of purchase promotions
• Contests, drawings, and games

Public Relations

Building good relations with the company’s various publics by obtaining favorable publicity, building a good corporate image, and managing unfavorable rumors, stories, and events.

The PR department may perform any or all of the following functions:

• Press relations or press agency
• Product publicity
• Public/community affairs
• Lobbying (with legislators and government)
• Investor relations (with shareholders)
• Development (with members of nonprofits)

Personal Selling

Consists of transmitting a message from one person to another through direct contact.

Characteristics:

• This technique enables the seller to address the customer’s reasons for not buying.
• Personal selling may be face-to-face, over the telephone, one-on-one, or in groups.
• Advertising is an extremely potent means of persuasion if the message is simple. For more complicated messages, personal selling is more effective.
• Telemarketing is an example of personal selling that can be used as a main tool or as an additional tool when targeting difficult-to-convince groups.

Direct Marketing

Consists of connecting directly with carefully targeted consumers, often on a one-to-one, interactive basis. Using detailed databases, companies tailor their marketing offers and communications to the needs of narrowly defined segments or individual buyers.

Beyond brand and relationship building, direct marketers usually seek a direct, immediate, and measurable consumer response.

Benefits

• Customers: Convenient, easy, and private; larger selection of merchandise, comparative shopping, different orders.
• Sellers: Mailing list, customized messages, personal long-term relationships.

Forms of Direct Marketing

• Digital and social media marketing
• Traditional direct marketing