Yes, things are certainly different right now. States are slowly lifting their lockouts and workers are returning to work. They are starting to export and import again.
That isn’t to say you should underestimate the terrible effects of the coronavirus outbreak. Most businesses will survive just as they have through wartime, recessions, depressions and even 9/11. You don’t want to find that while you shut up shop through panic, your competition rode the waves and was ready for the revival.
It is natural to feel fear. Fear comes from not knowing what lies ahead. This is definitely unprecedented. We are all in this together. Three months have already gone by. Some businesses are able to see ahead at least one quarter and they feel good about that. Let’s take the wins where we can.
Nevertheless, you should keep digital marketing going. You need to keep your business visible and in people’s minds for when customers decide to return and are returning.
Your Promotional Mix – have you adapted the mix?
Your business promotional mix is the collection of tools that you use to promote your business, products or services. This includes advertising, public relations, personal selling, direct marketing and sales promotions.
Your promotional mix should be designed to show your target market the benefits, features and values of the products or services you offer. This helps differentiate you from the competition and drive sales.
The 5 Elements of Promotional Mix
Creating the right promotional mix depends on your business, your customers and industry. There are several elements to choose from:
Advertising is the paid promotion of your ideas, services and goods. This would be radio, Facebook Ads, ads on websites or blogs, print ads in magazines and newspapers or any other paid promotion.
Public relations is the practice of managing the spread of information between your company and the public. This is usually in the form of news stories, expert interviews on podcasts or radio, press releases or other media coverage. PR aims to promote and publicize a business without paid advertising.
Direct marketing is much like it sounds – marketing directly to a person. This is communicating with a narrow group of potential customers through telephone marketing, snail mail, email marketing, catalogs and brochures.
Personal selling involved one on one interaction with potential buyers to share the benefits and value of your goods or services, with the ultimate goal of the convincing them to buy. This can happen in person, over the phone, through online call or chat or any other kind direct interaction.
Sales Promotion is any non-media marketing communication aimed at increasing customer demand as well as improving product availability. This is typically in the form of coupons, holiday sales, customer loyalty discounts or other “deals” aimed at increasing sales.
Your Current Promotional Mix
When the lockdown began, and all of us business owners saw our revenue stream drop to almost to nothing. Some of us had to lay off our employees or put them on to part time. We had to look at our expenses and figure out what to cut, and what to defer.
Smart business owners when they are looking at their current promotional mix, they are making determinations if there are ways, they can adapt their mix that would be more cost effective and more effective.
Your Goals Determine the Promotional Mix
For most businesses in the current environment is to increase sales. Other goals would be to build awareness or continue to build their reputation as a thought leader.
Your goals act as a guide for every decision relating to your promotional mix elements. Once you know where you want to go, it is easier to create your marketing plan to get there.
So, how do you adapt your current promotional mix to increase sales? The answer depends on your budget. Different activities and channels can vary in costs. Smart business owners know that they still need to be visible and in front of their customers.
If you know what and where you are getting the best return on your marketing dollars, that is where you would invest your marketing dollars and resources. If you don’t. Then this is the perfect time to start putting those things in place.
For example, we all need to increase sales in the current environment. If you have been tracking each promotional mix and goals, you should have a pretty good idea where you are getting your most results from.
Let’s say that your social channel Facebook is generating the most referral traffic to your website, and your weekly email generates certain amount of sales every time you send one out.
Your other activities are so-so. They could be better. But in the current business environment – you have limited resources now.
Smart business owners would be looking closely at Facebook and email marketing to see how they can be improved. Then the next step would be evaluating the so-so activities, deciding which of those activities to put on pause. Which activities to cancel or let go.
This is also the perfect time to make determination to identify what areas of the promotional mix to improve on when businesses are finally ramping up. Perhaps its personal selling that needs to be improved. Or it is time to develop and implement public relations strategy.
Start Creating Your Revised Promotional Mix Today
Finding the right promotional mix is vital for every business. A carefully crafted promotional mix can make a difference between a sustainable company and one that fades out.
Think about how you can implement an effective promotional mix now. Are you reaching the right audience? What channels are you using to promote your products or services? Are you tracking and measuring? Are you making the most of your marketing budget?
SCS Digital Marketing offers scs custom marketing plan with each of their clients. It is a personalized digital marketing strategy that fit you and your business goals. If you are interested in learning more, contact hello at scs-digitalmarketing.com