As I covered in the last article, the promotion aspect of marketing involved communication. This article will continue this lesson in terms of the promotional mix.
The main determinants to the promotional mix are personal selling and mass selling. Personal selling, I described in the previous article as a face to face conversation with the sales rep of such store and are being sold such product. Mass selling however, is some sort of sales representation communicated to a large audience of the target market through mediums like television. The promotional mix depends on the type of customer, the technical complexity, and the brand awareness of the product.
If the marketer is selling the product to the average consumer then mass selling will be sufficient; although, if the marketer is selling to businesses or middlemen then personal selling is necessary to better sell the product and to build good relations. If the marketer is selling a product that is very technical like my father’s telecom PBX systems then personal selling is best but if your just looking for the next new smartphone mass selling via commercials is best.
Another important factor to deciding the promotional mix aspect to selling your product is the brand awareness of the product. If the customer is brand insistent then watching the recently released Apple product in a commercial will be enough to sell to such product due to the extensive rebuying behavior of Apple product users. But if the product is non recognized then there must be a pull push strategy implemented to best sell the product. The pull strategy is best directed to consumers as mass selling helps build demand for such product. The push strategy is best directed to middlemen as personal selling helps them resell products.
As a marketer, you must utilize the promotional mix to sell your product to the right customer.
