Sales promotion is a marketing activity which is essential for a company to gain an edge over its competitors. Like advertising, personal selling and public relations, sales promotion is also an essential part of the marketing communication strategy. Different companies use different techniques to promote sales and to defeat their competitors. Sales promotion is one of them. Sales promotion is for a short period of time.
The Functions Of Sales Promotion Are:
Sales Promotion Attracts Customers
Sales promotion helps to attract customers and tempts them to buy more and more products. For a company, convincing customers to buy its products is not an easy job. That’s why the marketing department of a company plans various strategies and tactics to sell the company’s products. Sales promotion is a boon for retailers as it helps them to buy products in large quantities.
Sales Promotion Increases Market Share Of A Company
A company using sales promotional strategies may notice an increase in its sales as more people might buy the company’s product because of attractive prices and free gifts. This in turn may lead to rise in the shares of the company.
Sales Promotion Helps In Launching A New Product
If any company decides to introduce its new product in the market, it can take the help of sales promotional strategies. Customers will not hesitate to try a new product if they can purchase it at discount rates. After seeing the results of sales of a new product, the company can then decide the selling price of the product.
Sales Promotion Differentiates The Products
Sales promotion helps to differentiate products from one another on the basis of their prices. Companies use this technique to increase their sales and to stay ahead of the competition. A well planned sales promotion will reap good rewards for the company. While advertising for sales promotion, the company should take care to publish correct information about it, for example, it should publish the correct offer which the customer will get upon visiting the company store.
However, if the company tries to dupe customers by changing its sales promotion scheme upon the arrival of customers then it will spoil its own reputation. It is also the duty of distributors and retailers to give their customers the exact offer which was mentioned in their advertisement. Companies should not introduce sales promotion on a regular basis otherwise it may work against them.
Some of the tools used in sales promotion are product giveaways, special trial and price reduction, rebates and coupons, free gifts and point of purchase displays. Various sales promotion activities include loyalty programs, premiums, product demonstrations, sweepstakes and free samples. A company can use different mediums for sales promotion advertising. The internet is an effective and powerful medium to advertise a business. The company can use brainstorming tools and techniques to get creative and innovative ideas to increase its sales. It should welcome the suggestions of its employees and practically apply them if these ideas have the power to boost up the sales of its products.