The Importance of Promotion & Advertising

Whether you’re a corporate CEO, retail manager or social media intern if you work in business you are not blind to the importance of marketing. In basic terms, marketing is the process of identifying consumer needs and how your business can meet these.

Particularly important tools in the marketing mix, for any company, are promotion and advertisement. A lot of people like to use these terms interchangeably however they communicate a different objective. Whilst marketing focuses on getting your product/service to the customer and securing a sale, promotion and advertise work to promote your brand to potential consumers and the benefits to choosing your brand over competitors.

When you offer a product/service on promotion, your audience is given an explicit
incentive to purchase. It creates a sense of urgency and attracts value-seekers while converting casual browsers to buyers The purpose of promotion is to set your business apart from your competitors, there would be no need for promotions in the business world if there wasn’t any competition. To build customer loyalty and consistent consumer relationships you must stay both aware and ahead of your competition. You’re not the only one selling your products and customers know this, why should they choose you over competitors and what will make them do so?

You’ve established the difference between marketing and promotion - but what is the role of advertising? Advertising is a means of communication with the users of a product or service. These are paid messages and are intended to inform or influence receivers as potential consumers. Advertising works to inform different people about available brands within the market and the range of products that could be of use to them. In today’s day and age, advertising is everywhere and targeting everyone from kids through to our elderly you cannot escape the world of advertising.

To have a successful brand requires an understanding of their potential customer base and aligns your business image with consumers needs and wants and to have success in promotion and advertisement the number one thing you’ll need to have is data. The more data you have the more certain you can be that your promotion will go in the right direction, this data includes all the information you have to know about your target audiences and the platforms where they can be best targeted.

Your business can’t be successful if no one knows you exist. Marketing, advertising and promotion all make people aware of your brand, your products and your services, but the three terms are not identical. While they all work to make potential customers aware of your brand they do in different ways. Marketing focuses on how to get your products/services into customers hands, Promotion focuses on setting your business apart from competitors and creating a sense of urgency to secure a sale and customer loyalty. And advertising is the means of communication you use, focused on promoting your promotions, products, services along with your business as a whole.