Promotional Planning and Promotional Marketing

Promotional Planning sounds grand, how is it different to marketing communications planning. Well quite simply it focuses on promotions or sales promotions only. Again the secret of good promotional planning or a good promotional plan is in fact PLANNING. Far too many companies fail to plan their promotional activity and the result is poor results and big costs. Some companies tell us that they don’t promote because it doesn’t work. A closer look reveals that is not the promotion in itself that was flawed it is the audience, the timing, the mechanic or the response that was at fault. Understanding the pitfalls of promotions can save a lot of money and valuable time. We can show you how to make a promotional plan that supports your business and your communications plan.

Sales promotions are a joy because you can switch them on and switch them off whenever you want to cater for the needs of your business. They are a tactical marketing tool that used well can create peaks in your business and fill troughs. So why do companies shy away from sales promotions? Well because the challenge with good sales promotion, is, as we said earlier, PLANNING. Most sales promotions involve a mechanic: a coupon to be redeemed, money-off at the point of sale, stamps to be collected and redeemed etc. Promotions have rules and regulations surrounding them and you must ensure that you can fulfil your promotion that you can deliver what you have promised to your customer. This all requires knowledge, experience and careful promotional planning.

Promoting your products and services doesn’t have to be expensive. There are literally thousands of promotional ideas and promotional mechanics and many of them are very low cost or no cost. Not all marketing or promotional activity has to cost money; you would be surprised how many FREE promotional marketing opportunities are open to you if you look for them. From directories and listings to word-of-mouth recommendation and referrals. Networks, alliances, associations and partnerships often provide free marketing and promotional channels. A good promotional plan can bring in incremental business and open up new markets and new audiences. Sales promotions are a great tactical marketing tool that with the right strategic inputs can yield remarkable results.

Our lead marketing consultant has lots of promotional and planning experience and can help you put together a highly effective promotional plan to drive business and fill sales gaps. If you need help with implementing the plan she will also show to execute the promotions.  She is pretty hot on promotional mechanics and terms and conditions and will show you how to avoid some of the common pitfalls and mistakes that marketers make when trying to promote their products and services.  Make sure your promotional plan and your promotional activities become an integral part of your marketing toolkit.