Most Effective And Successful Advertising Techniques.

Ensuring that media is bought effectively and not directed toward the ‘wrong people’ has always been a challenge for marketers. It is a total waste of time to try selling chicken chops to a vegan. The most famous social media platforms allow businesses to run ads that attract specific groups of users based on what information they include in their profiles. Traditionally, the goal in media planning was to minimize wasted advertising, which was achieved by reducing the quantity of advertising sent to consumers who are unlikely to purchase or have an interest in their product and who are not active in the category. This gave birth to the idea of target advertising which I have discussed about in my blog Social Media and Happy Customer.

This concept can be effectively used through social media as an economical and more effective way to reach to the right consumer.

Integrated Marketing Communication

Integrated Marketing Communication is another effective way to achieve the best results from marketing activities. The idea is to coordinate the firm’s promotional efforts to achieve the best combined effects for the firm. Promotion involves a number of tools we can use to increase demand for our products. The most well-known component of promotion is advertising, but advertising is not a stand-alone process. It is a part of integrated marketing communication process, which also involves the following:

Public relations – in simple words, the firm’s staff provides information to the media in the hopes of getting coverage. The benefits, however, are that it is often less expensive and media coverage is usually more credible than advertising. The risk it entails is that we cannot control what the media will say.  Small and growing businesses can particularly benefit from this tool—especially those that make a product which is inherently interesting to the audience.

In-store displays- all of us know that firms pay a lot of money to have their goods displayed prominently in the stores, especially for free-standing displays at more desirable display areas like the end of an aisle, near the check-out counter etc.  Occasionally, a representative may also be placed to display the product. It is noteworthy that at HyperEffects, marketing is an art and a science in itself. We use state of the art graphics and videos as an “Art” and tested techniques and strategies as “The Science” of marketing, to target potential clients. You may contact us for a free consultation with one of our business experts on effective and economical ways to advertise your product.

Trade promotion–  offering temporary discounts to retailers and wholesalers, which may or may not be passed on to the consumer, to stimulate sales.  Sales promotion- consumers are given rebates, price discounts or coupons.

Making Sales

This is not just a term. It entails a sequence of events before a consumer buys the product.  This is known as a hierarchy of effects which includes-

• Awareness
• Motivation
• Evaluation

The consumer must first be aware that the product exists.  Only then would he be motivated to give some attention to the product and what it may provide. This will be followed by evaluation of the need for the consumer to buy, which will hopefully make him give the product a try. A good experience may lead to continued use, so this stage can be critical in making or breaking a sale and how your brand’s name is perceived in the market plays a strong role in this step. Note that the consumer must go through the earlier phases before the later ones can be accomplished.

Product Life Cycle

It is important to understand that promotional objectives for the same product may be different across the Product Life Cycle (PLC). Early in the PLC, when the product is in the introductory stage, the most important objective is to create awareness for the product among consumers.  For example, many consumers currently do not know that the Stevia plant is a healthy replacement for sugar and how diabetics can benefit from the plant and plant based products. So, the companies making products from this plant first have to create awareness of the existence of the plant itself.

The next step is to induce trial. Trial is possible only when you either get consumers to buy the product for the first time, or you give it away free of cost.  During the growth stage, important needs, especially for small business owners, are persuading the consumer to buy the product and convincing them to choose it over known brands.  Here, it is also important to persuade retailers to carry the brand, and thus, retailer incentives become a large portion of promotional resources and eat up a major chunk of the promotional budget.

The next stage in the PLC is maturity stage. In this stage, the firm mostly focuses on maintaining shelf space, distribution channels, and sales.

Just like different promotional approaches will be appropriate at different stages of a PLC, promotional approaches also change depending on the stage of the consumer’s decision process that the marketer wishes to influence. I am going to follow up with a new post to discuss this process.