4.5.5—Promotion

Promotion communicates value and attempts to change awareness, attitudes or behaviour through advertising, sales promotion, PR, personal selling or direct marketing.

The channel and message work only if they reach the target and fit the buying stage; discounts can increase trial but train customers to wait.

Specify the target action, message, channel and measure, then check cost and unintended effects.

A trial code measures whether a social campaign creates first purchases, not just views.

Promotion is not the product’s value itself.

Classify the promotion accurately: above-the-line (ATL) uses paid mass-media communication for broad reach; below-the-line (BTL) uses targeted activities such as direct marketing, sales promotion, sponsorship or personal selling; through-the-line (TTL) integrates mass and targeted channels with a consistent message. Social media can target, interact, spread content and measure response at relatively low cost, but algorithms, negative comments, privacy concerns and weak conversion can limit its effectiveness.