Promotions refer to the entire set of activities, which communicate the product, brand or service to the user. The idea is to make people aware, attract and induce to buy the product, in preference over others.
There are several types of promotions. Above the line promotions include advertising, press releases, consumer promotions (schemes, discounts, contests), while below the line include trade discounts, freebies, incentive trips, awards and so on. Sales promotion is a part of the overall promotion effort.
There are also:
- Personal selling: one of the most effective ways of customer relationship. Such selling works best when a good working relationship has been built up over a period of time.
This can also be expensive and time consuming, but is best for high value or premium products. - Sales promotions: this includes freebies, contests, discounts, free services, passes, tickets and so on, as distinct from advertising, publicity and public relations.
- Public relations: PR is the deliberate, planned and sustained effort to establish and maintain mutual understanding between the company and the public.
