Sales promotion campaign

Sales promotion is a short-term incentive to initiate trial or purchase. Sales promotion is one of the elements of the promotional mix. The primary elements in the promotional mix are advertising, personal selling, direct marketing and publicity/public relations. Sales promotion uses both media and non-media marketing communications for a pre-determined, limited time to increase consumer demand, stimulate market demand or improve product availability. Examples include contests, coupons, freebies, loss leaders, point of purchase displays, premiums, prizes, product samples, and rebates.

Sales promotions can be directed at either the customer, sales staff, or distribution channel members (such as retailers). Sales promotions targeted at the consumer are called consumer sales promotions. Sales promotions targeted at retailers and wholesale are called trade sales promotions.

Consumer Thought Process

Meaningful Savings: Gain or Loss

Many discounts are designed to give consumers the perception of saving money when buying products, but not all discounted prices are viewed as favorable to buyers. Therefore, before making a purchase, consumers may weigh their options as either a gain or a loss to avoid the risk of losing money on a purchase. A “gain” view on a purchase results in chance taking For example, if there is a buy-one-get-one-half-off discount that seems profitable, a shopper will buy the product. On the other hand, a “loss” viewpoint results in consumer aversion to taking any chances. For instance, consumers will pass on a buy-three-get-one-half-off discount if they believe they are not benefitting from the deal. Specifically, consumers will consider their options because “…the sensation of loss is 2.5 times greater than the sensation of gain for the same value”.

Impulse Buying

Impulse buying results from consumers’ failure to weigh their options before buying a product. Impulse buying is “any purchase that a shopper makes that has not been planned…  sudden and immediate”. For example, if a consumer has no intention of buying a product before entering a store, but purchases an item without any forethought, that was impulse buying. Product manufactures want to promote and encourage this instant purchase impulse in consumers. Buyers can be very quick to make purchases without thinking about the consequences when a product is perceived to be a good deal. Therefore, sales companies “increasingly implement promotional campaigns that will be effective in triggering consumer impulse buying behavior” to increase sales and profits

Comparing Prices

Many consumers read left-to-right, and therefore, compare prices in the same manner. For example, if the price of a product is $93 and the sales price is $79, people will initially compare the left digits first (9 and 7) and notice the two digit difference. However, because of this habitual behavior, “consumers may perceive the ($14) difference between $93 and $79 as greater than the ($14) difference between $89 and $75”. As a result, consumers often mistakenly believe they are receiving a better deal with the first set of prices based on the left digits solely. Because of that common misconception, companies capitalize on this sales pricing strategy more often than not to increase sales.

Right Digit Effect

The right digit effect focuses on the right digits of prices when the left digits are the same. In other words, prices like $45 and $42 force consumers to pay more attention to the right digits (the 2 and 5) to determine the discount received. This effect also “implies that consumers will perceive larger discounts for prices with small right digit endings, than for large right digit endings. For example, in a $32-to-$31 price reduction, consumers will believe to have received a greater deal than a $39-to-$38 price reduction. As a result, companies may use discounts with smaller right digits to mislead consumers into thinking they are receiving a better deal and increasing profit. However, consumers also are deceived by the infamous 9-ending prices. “The right digit effect relates to consumers’ tendency to identify 9-ending prices as sale (rather than regular) prices or to associate them with a discount. For example, a regular price of $199 is mistakenly viewed as a sale or discount by consumers. Sales companies most commonly use this approach because the misinterpretation of consumers usually results in an increase of sales and profit.

Framing Effect

The Framing Effect is “the phenomenon that occurs when there is a change in an individual’s preference between two or more alternatives caused by the way the problem is presented”. In other words, the format in which something is presented will affect a person’s viewpoint. This theory consists of three subcategories: risky choice framing, attribute framing and goal framing. Risky choice framing references back to the gain-or-loss thought processes of consumers. Consumers will take chances if the circumstance is profitable for them and avoid chance-taking if it is not. Attribute framing deals with one key phrase or feature of a price discount that is emphasized to inspire consumer shopping. For example, the terms “free” and “better” are used commonly to lure in shoppers to buy a product. Goal framing places pressure on buyers to act hastily or face the consequences of missing out on a definite price reduction. A “limited time only” (LTO) deal, for example, attempts to motivate buyers to make a purchase quickly, or buy on impulse, before the time runs out.

Outside Forces

Although there are aspects that can determine a consumer’s shopping behavior, there are many outside factors that can influence the shoppers’ decision in making a purchase. For example, even though a product’s price is discounted, the quality of that product may dissuade the consumer from buying the item. If the product has poor customer reviews or has a short “life span,” shoppers will view that purchase as a loss and avoid taking a chance on it. A product can also be viewed negatively because of consumers’ past experiences and expectations. For example, if the size of a product is misleading, buyers will not want to buy it. An item advertised as “huge,” but is only one inch tall, will ward off consumers. Also, “the effects of personal characteristics, such as consumers’ gender, subjective norms, and impulsivity” can also affect a consumer’s purchase intentions. For example, a female will, generally, purchase a cosmetic product more often than a male. In addition, “some…shoppers may be unable to buy a product because of financial constraints”. Neither a discounted price nor a bonus pack has the ability to entice consumers if they cannot afford the product.

Promotional campaign process

1. Identify the target market (current users ,influencers, decision makers)
2. Identify the communication channel (Direct mail ,newspaper ad ,tvc )
3. Set the objective for the campaign (SMART goals)
4. Determine the Promotion mix
5. Develop clear and unambiguous messages
6. Allocate the budget
7. Evaluate the campaign effectiveness