Second-Stage Entrepreneurs

Entrepreneur's Resource Center

How to Establish a Promotional Mix

An Edward Lowe In-Depth Business Builder

You drive sales by promoting the benefits of your company's goods or services to pools of potential buyers. The ways you promote your organization will largely determine whether you successfully plant the right messages in the minds of your target audience. This module explains how you can establish a promotional mix best suited to your company's needs and resources.

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WHAT TO EXPECT

Even a superior product doesn't sell itself. Your customers need information about your product or service before they buy it. The ways you communicate features and benefits to your potential customers is called a promotional mix. This Business Builder will explain how you can maximize your company's promotional mix for best results.

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW BEFORE GETTING STARTED [top]

When you promote your business, you're engaging in persuasive communication: You want to convince others to buy from you. You must select the right promotional strategy to:

1. Capture the attention of the right group of potential customers in a credible yet catchy way.

2. Educate them about your products or services.

3. Influence them to buy from you.

A promotional mix is an allocation of resources among five primary elements:

1. Advertising

2. Public relations or publicity

3. Sales promotion

4. Direct marketing

5. Personal selling

How you integrate these elements depends on what you're promoting, the biases and preferences of the potential customers you're courting, general market conditions and your promotional budget.

The communications process will succeed if:

• You deliver a clear, compelling message. You may have several important or beneficial product features, but if you don't emphasize what's most important to your target market or you overwhelm prospects with too much data, they might reject your message. Example: If the target-market customer cares most about saving money, your message should emphasize how this will happen.

• You choose the most appropriate promotion method. To convey your message effectively, you must understand the best way to reach your target market. If your key customers are manufacturers and you supply specialized equipment, communicating through an advertisement in a general interest consumer magazine will waste time and money.

UNDERSTANDING THE MAIN COMMUNICATION CHANNELS [top]

• Advertising. Advertising is any paid form of media communication. This includes print ads in magazines, trade journals and newspapers, radio and TV announcements, Web-based visibility-building, and billboards. Advertising is a nonpersonal promotional activity because the seller has no direct contact with the potential customer during the communication process.

• Sales Promotions. In-store demonstrations, displays, contests and price incentives (50% off, buy-one-get-one-free) are sales promotion techniques.

• Public Relations. These activities promote a positive image, generate publicity and foster goodwill with the intent of increasing sales. Generating favorable media coverage, hosting special events and sponsoring charitable campaigns are examples of public relations.

• Direct Marketing. A form of advertising aimed directly at target customers (usually in their homes or offices) that asks the receiver to take action, such as ordering a product, clipping a coupon, phoning a toll-free number or visiting a store. Catalogs, coupon mailers and letters are common forms of direct marketing.

• Personal Selling. Face-to-face communication between buyer and seller.

WHY YOU NEED A PROMOTIONAL MIX [top]

If you deliver your message in many different ways, you increase your odds of reaching your target market. Hundreds of messages a day bombard your target market, but only a select few penetrate their consciousnesses. Of those, an even smaller percentage eventually lead them to act.

You may want to communicate a range of messages to different markets. If you have a product, such as spot remover, that's used by general consumers but that auto mechanics apply in a more specialized way, you should communicate different messages to each market via different media and methods. You might air a TV commercial to reach consumers and place an ad in an auto magazine to reach mechanics.

Without the proper promotional mix, you may squander your limited resources by taking a scattershot approach. Promotion must advance your overall marketing plan and reinforce the dialogue you want to establish with the segments of the marketplace you covet most.

Beware: In their rush to expand, some fast-growth entrepreneurs fail to coordinate their marketing strategies with their specific promotional efforts. A common trap: You invest heavily on advertising or sales promotion, but you overlook quality control for your product or price it improperly.

ESTABLISHING YOUR PROMOTIONAL MIX [top]

Establishing the promotional mix that's right for your company involves seven steps:

1. Determine Your Target Market

   The segment of people that needs, or would benefit from, your product or service is your target market. Understanding these individuals' attitudes and behaviors will help you design the best message and select the right means to reach them.

   Example: If you own an upscale jewelry store, you know from your sales history or marketing research that your target market is consumers earning more than $75,000 per year. Any print advertising should thus appear in publications in which readership income exceeds $75,000.

2. Determine Your Objectives

   You must determine the response you want to elicit from your target market, such as motivating them to click on your Web ad or sign up for a free trial of your product.

   Some entrepreneurs fail to define their objectives precisely. While you obviously want to increase sales, you need to decide the best way to build a relationship with shoppers. If you engage them effectively, then sales should inevitably follow.

   Example: To introduce new customers to your product, a direct-marketing technique, such as a direct-mail letter with a money-saving offer to first-time customers, might work. Or you can try a sales promotion, such as two-for-the-price-of-one. If your target market has a misconception about your product (say, that it's more expensive or less effective than rival products), you can correct the perception by providing comparisons or testimonials.

   The following exercise can help you define your specific goals.

   Check the objectives that apply to your current business situation:

   _____ I need to introduce a new product to a new market.

   _____ I have a product that's under attack by competitor's products, and I need to retain my current customer base.

   _____ I need to correct false impressions or counter false claims made about my product.

   _____ I need to create greater brand awareness of my product.

   _____ I need to communicate new features to increase consumption by present customers.

   _____ I need to generate more "buzz" or word-of-mouth business.

   _____ I need to build a new image and reposition my product.

   _____ I need to persuade retailers to stock my product or make larger orders.

3. Design Your Message

   The design of your communication incorporates two main factors: content and format.

   Content. The content is the words and images you use to appeal to your target market. You must give your potential customers reasons they should respond to your message. Think of the most important benefit a user of your product receives. That should lead you to the central theme of your message's content.

   Benefits fulfill a human want or need. Examples: The desire to enhance status, save money and time, or increase safety or security.

   In choosing your promotional mix, you must communicate how your product produces a positive emotion or satisfies a particular need. In the case of the jewelry store mentioned earlier, the message can appeal to the target market's desire to gain status, a likely motivator that drives jewelry shoppers. Or your message can communicate the desire to be loved: "If you love her, then you will buy her this elegant ring to prove it."

   Format. Each element of the promotional mix has its own format requirements. Web advertising relies on graphics, clarity and color, while personal selling may involve structured presentations, handouts and diagnostic tests to engage potential customers.

   To determine the best format to deliver your content, consider the technical aspects of presenting your message. If you prefer to demonstrate a product to sell it, you should probably include a broadcast medium in your advertising. That in turn will lead to decisions about sound effects, camera angles, lighting, and so on. Format for print advertising depends on how long or big a headline should look, how to integrate graphics and what types of photos reinforce your message.

4. Select Your Promotional Channels

   Entrepreneurs who miss revenue goals often explain the disappointing results by saying, "We were out-marketed." That usually indicates a failure to plan and implement the right promotional mix.

   By choosing the best methods to convey your message — and extracting the most value from your financial and creative resources — you can devise an integrated marketing communications program that reinforces your company's distinct character in your customers' minds.

   Weigh the pros and cons of each of the five promotional methods:

   Method 1: Advertising

   In one sense, advertising is old-fashioned. It has a long, storied history as a device to sell products. But the way we write and deliver ads today barely resembles the classic print, radio and TV pitches of the past.

   Advertising is any paid form of nonpersonal communication about a company, product, service or idea by an identified sponsor. That means you must buy space or time for an advertised message, although in rare cases you can use public service announcements for which the media covers the cost.

   Advertising involves mass media, from TV and radio to the Internet, magazines, newspapers and billboards. Its impersonal nature usually leaves little room for gathering instant feedback from receivers. That's why you must study how your target audience will respond to your message before you send it.

   Advertising can help you:

   • Introduce your target market to new products, new product features and new applications.

   • Persuade your audience to choose your product over a competitor's or to perceive your product in a new way, perhaps by launching an "image" appeal.

   • Remind your target market of your product's features, benefits and availability.

   Advantages of advertising

   1. Credibility. By investing in a public presentation of your company and its products, you can enhance customers' perceptions of legitimacy, permanence and quality that they associate with your enterprise.

   2. Timing. You can repeat a message at strategic intervals. Repeating your message increases the likelihood that your target customer will see the message at a time where he is open to hearing it. The right timing can maximize your awareness-building efforts.

   3. Drama. The best advertising puts a human face on a company and its products. It can convey a sense of adventure, challenge people to test their assumptions about your business or entertain or enlighten your audience. It can introduce consumers to images and symbols that differentiate your company from others.

   4. Branding. Effective advertising enables you to create and nurture brand equity, a vital but intangible source of goodwill that flows from a favorable image associated with a brand name. Once your company establishes a distinctive trademark in the public eye, you have a competitive advantage.

   Disadvantages of advertising

   1. Cost. Marketers often argue that advertising offers a cost-effective way to reach large groups, and it's true that the cost per contact can prove lower than with other promotional methods. Nevertheless, many entrepreneurs lack the finances to invest heavily in advertising. Producing and placing professional advertisements is prohibitively expensive for many emerging-growth companies.

   2. Follow through. While attention-grabbing advertising can attract interest, even the most innovative campaigns can become stale over time. And entrepreneurs may grow to rely too much on advertising at the expense of more personal, direct appeals to niche audiences.

   3. Lack of feedback. Measuring the success of advertising can prove impossible. Some of the best TV commercials from a stylistic standpoint may not increase sales for the advertiser.

   4. Consumer indifference. As people get pelted with promotional messages throughout the day, they become better at screening out ads. Information overload and clutter can lead your target audience to turn away from your best efforts to engage them.

   Advertising on the Web

   Online advertising is soaring as more people log onto the Internet. Over a billion people worldwide are projected to use the Web by 2005, according to Computer Industry Almanac. Online ad revenue after a tough year for dot-coms was still over $4 billion in 2001 ["Where the Online Ad News is Good," by Jane Black, Business Week Online (January 17, 2002)].

   Creating a Web site for your business can help you educate consumers, solicit feedback and provide online service. But don't expect your Web presence to build your company's exposure.

   To advertise effectively on the Internet, you may need to pay high-traffic sites or Internet publications to list your URL or link to your home page.

   The most common forms of Web advertising include:

   1. Banner ads usually appear at the top or bottom of a Web page as rectangular "virtual billboards" that link to your home page. At their best, they draw a browser's eye with sharp, lively graphics. You typically buy banner ads on an average CPM basis (cost per one thousand page views or ads shown), with rates ranging from $1 CPM to reach broad audiences to $50 CPM for more targeted sites. You can also pay for ads that flash onto the screen when triggered by a keyword search. You'll need to factor in the "click-through rate," or the number of people who click on your ad divided by the number of page views shown, when weighing the cost-effectiveness of banner ads. The industry average is about 0.5%, but it varies considerably based on the type of business you're promoting.

   2. Paid listings. Portal sites, such as America Online, Yahoo and Lycos, tend to attract the widest net of Web users. If you're building a sports-memorabilia business, you may want to pay for a listing under the "Sports" category of a major portal. This may cost a flat fee or a percentage of sales generated from the ad. To stake out a longer-term position on the Web, you can pay to sponsor a page on a Web site or e-mail newsletter that targets your customer base.

   3. Pay-per-click links. Some search engines and general Web sites sell online advertising on a per-click basis. Example: See Overture.com (click on "Marketing") or ValueClick.

   4. Pay-per-sale advertising. A low-risk, low-cost way to experiment with Web-based advertising is to enlist affiliates who provide a link to your company's site. If you make a sale thanks to a customer coming through that link, your affiliate earns a commission of, say, 5% to 15% of the total purchase. You only pay for the advertising when you rack up a sale. Unless you're tech-savvy (in which case you can buy software to run your own program), farm out this advertising to a service bureau that charges an initial set-up fee and then a chunk of the commission you pay your affiliates.

   5. "Opt-in" e-mail advertising allows you to send your ad to list members who've agreed to accept e-mail promotions from businesses such as yours. Response rates range from 1% to 15%, depending on the mailing list and the appeal of your offer, according to Larry Chase, publisher of "Web Digest for Marketers." Because you'll collect 80% of e-mail responses within 48 hours, you can test ad campaigns quickly. And with rates of 15 cents to 35 cents per name, this approach can save money compared to direct mail (with its postage, printing and handling costs).

      Beware: "Opt-in" lists are far superior to "opt-out" lists to which recipients get added involuntarily and from which they must unsubscribe to discontinue receiving your e-mail ads.

   Method 2: Public Relations

   With effective public relations, you can increase sales through favorable, nonpaid media coverage and enhance your company's image. Public relations builds goodwill toward your business by raising your company's profile in the public eye.

   Publicity is free advertising. You can generate publicity through press releases, special events, sponsorships, newsletters and community activities.

   The most common form of publicity is press coverage. It fits into the promotional mix only when there's newsworthy information about your company such as:

   • You've developed a breakthrough technology or service that no one else offers.

   • You've won a prestigious award or industry prize that's widely recognizable.

   • You've made a major investment in your community, whether in ramping up hiring (especially if you're aggressively courting people with disabilities, senior citizens or implementing welfare-to-work programs), purchasing land to build your new headquarters or donating goods to charities.

   • You've acquired another company.

   • You're hiring new executives or announcing the addition of new board members.

   When publicity is not appropriate and your specific objective is to improve your company's image with the public, then consider sponsoring a charitable event. If your specific goal is to increase sales through better customer service and relations, produce a newsletter on a regular basis that provides your customers with useful information.

   Advantages of public relations

   1. Believability. Most people perceive publicity as more credible and believable than a paid advertisement. When you run an ad, you can make any product claim you want. Consumers know this and often react with skepticism. But reporters don't have to feature you in their publications or on their programs and speak positively about your business. You don't control the message when you don't pay for it.

   2. Employee morale. Your staff may work together to promote your company's charitable activities or host special events and celebrations for the community. The resulting publicity can boost their pride and enthusiasm for their jobs.

   3. Educating visitors to your Web site. Before the Internet, companies would issue press releases about news designed to interest newspaper reporters. Today, you can compose press releases and display them on your company's Web site. While this may not reach as many people as having a reporter integrate your press release into a news story, you can still reap competitive value. Web researchers may read your company's press pages to get updates on your product releases, expansion plans or personnel moves.

   Disadvantages of public relations

   1. Cost. While arranging publicity generally costs less than advertising, it can prove surprisingly expensive. You may need to hire a public relations firm to develop campaigns, write press releases and follow up with journalists. Even if you bring these tasks in-house, the cost of developing publicity items and staging events can stretch your budget and divert workers from their primary responsibilities.

   2. Lack of control. While you can invite the media to preview your new product or tour your new facility, there's no guarantee that a glowing article will result. Or information might be improperly reported or key details omitted. What's worse, publicity can backfire if it downplays the positives and harps on negatives.

   3. Failure to hit target. You can do everything right in generating the kind of favorable publicity you seek. But the message may not reach your desired audience. A newscast can run your segment at a time when fewer viewers are watching, or a newspaper can mention your company in a short article buried in a back section that's often discarded.

   Method 3: Sales Promotions

   Sales promotions are marketing activities that provide extra value or incentives to your sales force, distributors or consumers.

   Consumer-oriented sales promotion targets individual customers. It engages and motivates potential buyers. Examples include free samples, coupons, contests, rebates, premiums, point-of-sale displays and other incentives intended to stimulate immediate sales. For retailers, visual merchandising is especially important. Attractive window and interior displays and eye-catching exterior signs can lure shoppers and reinforce the unique theme or character of your store.

   Trade-oriented sales promotion targets intermediaries, such as wholesalers, distributors and retailers. You can use promotional and merchandising allowances, price deals, sales contests and trade shows to persuade the trade to stock and promote your company's products.

   Sales promotions tend to lose their luster after a few weeks or months. They're typically woven into a promotional mix to:

   • Encourage customers to use the product more frequently and to attract users of a competing brand.

   • Transform potential customers into actual customers.

   • Encourage retailers to carry more inventory.

   When weighing whether to use a sales promotion, ask yourself two questions:

   "Will this promotion reach my targeted customers?" and "Will it make a lasting impression on them, or will it be tossed away and forgotten?"

   Sales promotions must complement your overall strategic planning. For instance, avoid offering a coupon unless it fits in with your larger plan to lure consumers to switch brands.

   Experimentation helps you determine the most effective sales promotion tools. Pre-testing is vital to avoid costly mistakes. Example: Before producing and distributing 50,000 product samples with coupons on a consumer's first purchase at 100 regional grocery stores, run a test. Go to five of the stores and distribute samples. Determine how many coupons you actually get back, and then decide whether to expand to the full sales promotion.

   Advantages of sales promotions

   1. Build relationships. Trade-oriented promotions give marketing intermediaries a financial incentive to support your company's products. By offering discounts to retailers in exchange for prominent shelf space or end-of-the-aisle displays, for instance, you can strengthen relationships with key players who can help stimulate sales.

   2. Stir excitement. Many consumers love contests and sweepstakes. You can turn a drab purchase into a more lively event by promising cash prizes to lucky winners. At its best, a sales promotion adds alluring incentives for buyer action.

   3. Gauge price sensitivity. Using coupons or rebates can help you measure to what extent your shoppers base their buying decisions on price. You can also collect their addresses and other consumer profile data that can prove valuable in subsequent marketing campaigns.

   Disadvantages of sales promotions

   1. Risk of misfire. Many fast-growth entrepreneurs rush to try some form of sales promotion, only to declare such efforts a waste. But problems often result from poor planning. You must first identify and develop specific strategies to boost sales before you target customers and choose sales promotion tools, rather than plunging into sales promotions without laying the groundwork first.

   2. Risk of dependency. Business owners can grow to rely on sales promotion and dwell on short-term marketing ploys, at the expense of more coordinated long-range plans. Realize that sales gains from promotions often sputter after an initial spike and you can sacrifice long-term brand equity in the pursuit of short-term goals.

   3. Risk of trivializing your brand. Giving out coupons or samples can undermine the image of exclusivity or prestige that you wish to associate with your product or company. Price-conscious consumers may also withhold purchases in the absence of sales promotions.

   Method 4: Direct Marketing

   Direct marketing enables you to communicate with your customers in a more personalized way than advertising, such as greeting them with a letter or telephoning them directly. Telemarketing, direct mail, catalogs and coupon mailers are all examples of direct-marketing techniques.

   Successful direct marketing depends on whether you can acquire and maintain a database of your target market. Some marketers find this alone justifies the cost of advertising in a national consumer publication instead.

   Consider using direct marketing in your promotional mix if:

   • Your primary means of distributing your product is through the mail or directly to customers. With the growth of the Internet, many companies don't use retail outlets at all. Others supplement their retail efforts by selling through the Web, the mail or telephone. Companies that distribute products through the mail must assemble and maintain databases and mailing lists. Direct mail is a particularly cost-effective communication vehicle for them.

   • You are selling products with many benefits. Your product may have multiple benefits to the user, but space limitations in an advertisement may prevent you from mentioning all but the most prominent ones. A direct-mail letter lets you communicate all your benefits. It's also a good way to announce sales promotions or special discounts.

   • Your advertising efforts fail to reach your target market. As the upscale jewelry store owner, you may feel that the ad you placed in a high-end magazine isn't increasing your business. You can try buying a list by ZIP code in an exclusive residential area. This assures you that you're concentrating on your actual target market.

   • You are selling an expensive product or service. When you're engaging in high-ticket sales, you must expend more effort to convince potential customers to buy. A direct-mail letter gives you more opportunity to expand your appeal than an advertisement with limited space.

   • Your business depends on reorders and/or volume. Magazine publishers use telemarketing because subscribers often put off renewing their subscriptions. A sales rep's reminder call often spurs a renewal sale.

   Advantages of direct marketing

   1. Predictability. By staging initial tests and measuring the results, you can roll out a direct-marketing campaign to a wider universe of potential customers with a strong likelihood that it will succeed. You can mitigate your risk by strategic sampling.

   2. Effectiveness in reaching the right target. Through direct marketing, you can contact narrow market segments and customize your message to appeal to them.

   3. Ease of measurement. Evaluating direct-marketing campaigns is straightforward because you can measure outcomes with quantifiable data, such as number and size of orders, leads generated or requests for more information.

   Disadvantages of direct marketing

   1. Saturation. Many consumers are rebelling against the onslaught of direct marketing. They're more apt to discard direct mail, resent telemarketing calls, turn away door-to-door salespeople and laugh off TV infomercials.

   2. Reliance on obsolete direct-mail lists. In this transient society, increasing numbers of people relocate more frequently or use two addresses. Despite advances in technology that update mailing lists, it remains difficult to buy reliable lists that reach the market segment you want. Incorrect list selection can wipe out the appeal of a great product, a great package or a great offer.

   3. Heightened need for customer service. If you rely on direct-response ads, telemarketing or direct mail to introduce your company to shoppers, you must deliver an even higher level of personalized service to win over prospective customers. This requires additional investment in staffing and customer service training and delivery that some entrepreneurs overlook.

   Method 5: Personal Selling

   Personal selling brings humanness to selling. Sales representatives do what advertisements do: inform, persuade or remind. But they do it in person and can thus give your company a distinct personality.

   There are two types of salespeople, order getters and order takers. Order getters engage in creative selling by finding and winning over customers. Order takers are more passive: They wait for customers to find them.

   The biggest factor in determining whether personal selling should become part of your mix is whether staffing a proactive sales force applies to your business model. Personal selling is most often used by companies that sell expensive, technical or highly specialized products.

5. Determine Your Budget

   A common method of establishing your promotional budget is to estimate what your competitors spend and then match it. You do this by monitoring their ads, promotions and special events they sponsor. While this lacks precision, it provides a ballpark estimate.

   Once you gather data about your competitors' promotional budgets, don't copy your rivals' spending habits or promotional mix. Use your information as a guide.

   A more exact way to determine your budget is to assemble a wish list of promotional methods you want to use to meet your objectives. Imagine that money isn't an issue. Then using actual rates for print and broadcast advertisements and estimated costs for sales promotion and publicity, determine each activity's dollar cost. Then scale the list down until you have a reasonable budget.

   Television and national print advertising may prove too expensive or inappropriate at this time. In any case, consider testing a range of techniques rather than investing your promotional dollars in one area. Why? Because promotion requires experimentation. It may take several months and dozens of tests to uncover the most effective mix for your company. Expect to reevaluate your budget and make adjustments as you go along.

   Establishing an effective promotional mix cannot occur if you allocate resources sporadically. For your marketing message to produce results, promotional activities must occur on a regular basis. Consumers rarely take immediate action and may benefit from repeated exposure to your message before they buy.

6. Determine Your Promotional Mix

   Now that you have completed all of the preceding steps, it's time to formulate your actual promotional mix. The most common method for actually putting your mix on paper is to express it as a percentage of your overall promotional budget.

   Example 1: Our upscale jeweler's promotional mix based on a budget of $5,000 might look something like this:

   50% Direct Mail: Direct-Mail Campaign	$2,500
   40% Advertising: Print Ads in Local Lifestyle Magazine	$2,000
   10% Sales Promo: Coupon In Direct-Mail Letter For Free Appraisal	$500

   Example 2: The promotional mix of the maker of a candy bar that fights tooth decay with the same budget might look something like this:

   25% Public Relations: Press Releases	$1,250
   25% Advertising: Print Ads in Local Newspapers and Dental Publications	$1,250
   50% Sales Promotion: Product Samples, Coupons, Contest	$2,500

   Always integrate and coordinate the various tools you use. For example, sales promotion can be integrated with advertising by announcing a contest in a print advertisement. Public relations efforts should try to produce results at the same time advertisements are scheduled to appear. Direct-mail letters should be sent the same week a new sales promotion begins.

   Exercise: Define your mix

   Formulate a specific breakdown of your promotional mix.

   1. My time frame for testing a promotional campaign: _______.

   2. My promotional budget: $________.

   3. My promotional mix: [use format of above examples]

   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   

7. Measure the Results of the implemented program and Adjust as needed

   Increased sales will be the yardstick you use to measure each promotional vehicle you employ. Advertising is often the hardest to measure. Exceptions: Allow print readers to clip a coupon or send in an order form, or invite radio or TV audiences to call an 800 toll-free number.

   You will need to evaluate and change your promotional mix not only to correct ineffective promotional vehicles but also to adjust for growth.

   After one year on the market, our candy-bar maker will need to re-evaluate the mix:

   Total Budget	$10,000
   60% Advertising: Print Ads in National Consumer and Dental Publications	$6,000
   40% Sales Promotion: Product Samples, Coupons, Point-of-Purchase Displays Note: Public relations is now gone from the mix because the novelty of the product has worn off, and the product is no longer newsworthy. Advertising represents a higher percentage as this company moves to increase its national exposure. This particular company has found that advertising to dentists is important because they recommend it to their patients and that sales promotions have yielded effective results.	$4,000

   
   

   
   
   
   
   

   Sample Promotional Mix
   Company:	Pampered Pets Pet Sitting Service — Employees go into people's homes to feed pets, take them for walks, change litter boxes
   Target Market:	• People who work long hours and don't have enough time to take care of their pets • People who are going on vacation and don't want to put their pets in a kennel and don't have anyone who could stay at their house • Elderly people who are unable to care for their pets but want to keep them
   Communication Objectives:	We need to: • introduce our service to the public • create awareness of our service • get people to use our service, not our competitor's • get veterinarians to recommend our service • have at least one veterinarian agree to treat our clients' pets on an emergency basis, a feature that competitors don't offer
   Design Message
   Content:	If you care about your pet's welfare when you aren't home, then you will use our services/It's so convenient and reasonably priced that you can't afford not to use our services
   Format:	Fliers, brochure, ads in local newspapers and Yellow Pages
   Promotional Methods:	Advertising Yellow Pages, local newspapers Sales Promotions Coupons that can be punched out — 1 punch per day, after 20 punches, get one day free or at discounted rate Public Relations Not applicable at this time. As business grows, we plan to offer to contribute part of customers' payments to an animal shelter. Direct Marketing Fliers in mailboxes throughout local neighborhoods, to veterinarians, apartment complexes where elderly live, to pet shops. As business grows, we will send a newsletter to customers. Personal Selling To veterinarians, pet shop owners, travel agents, apartment/condominium management to refer people to our services. This only requires existing personnel time, no added budget cost incurred here.
   Budget:	Five hundred brochures for display in pet shops and veterinarian offices will cost $150. As business grows, we will expand to two-color pieces. Fliers can also be created inexpensively. Two hundred fliers will cost $20 to copy on colored paper (distribute in spring and summer). Yellow Pages ad will be limited to an informational in-column listing, 1 inch for $300 for the year in the local book. This book is sufficient. Small ads in the local newspaper will cost $300 for two placements. Rolodex cards will cost $160 for 500. Five hundred punch-out cards will cost $27.
   Total promotional budget: $977
   Promotional Mix:	Advertising	61%	$596
   	Sales Promotions	3%	$29
   	Public Relations	0%	$0
   	Direct Marketing	36%	$352
   	Personal Selling	0%	$0
   Measuring Results
   It's now one year later and Pampered Pets is evaluating its promotional mix:
   Communication Objectives:
   We successfully introduced our service to the target markets and have a steady base of customers. We have the support of several veterinarians and were able to form an emergency services agreement with two in the area. This year, we will expand into certain areas of the neighboring county while enlarging the current customer base.
   Promotions Channels:
   Advertising:
   Yellow Pages: Response is slow but steady. We will renew as is ($350).
   Local newspapers: Steady advertising will be put on hold as word-of-mouth referrals are fairly strong. We will place two small ads before the summer and Christmas holiday seasons ($425).
   Sales promotions:
   Punch-out cards: These have proven a success. This year we will add a special discount coupon to attract new customers and to thank customers for their referrals (one free day for every five referrals who become customers) to replace last year's 21st day free program. ($55)
   Public relations:
   When a pet we cared for died, a small donation was sent to the local branch of the ASPCA. The owners were touched and sent a thank-you note. They also told their friends, which resulted in more referrals. We will continue to do this and also send cards when client's pets have surgery. During the holidays, food and supplies were donated to the ASPCA, and our picture was in the newspaper, which generated more referrals for the holiday season ($100).
   Direct marketing:
   The fliers were successful, so we will continue to use them and increase the number of mailings from two to four. The Rolodex cards and letters were successful; but because we ordered such a large quantity last year, we don't need to order more. We also have brochures left from last year, so we don't need more. I plan to launch a newsletter on our Web site in six months ($180).
   Personal selling:
   Total Budget: $1,110
   New Promotional Mix:
   		This Year	Last Year
   Advertising		70%	61%
   Sales Promotions		5%	3%
   Public Relations		9%	0%
   Direct Marketing		16%	36%
   Personal Selling		0%	0%

CHECKLIST [top]

Have you:

___ Identified your target market?

___ Determined your communication objectives?

___ Defined your communication objectives based on your product or service?

___ Applied your objectives to your product or service?

___ Designed your message?

___ Used the most clear, compelling content?

___ Chosen an appropriate format to convey your message?

___ Selected the proper promotional methods to communicate your message?

___ Established a budget?

___ Formulated your actual promotional mix?

___ Evaluated each promotional vehicle that you have employed?

___ Measured your results and adjusted as needed?

RESOURCES [top]

Books

The Internet Marketing Plan: The Complete Guide to Instant Web Presence, 2nd ed. by Kim M. Bayne. (Wiley, 2000).

Do-It-Yourself Advertising and Promotion: How to Produce Great Ads, Brochures, Catalogs, Direct Mail, Web Sites and More, 3rd edition, by Fred E. Hahn and Kenneth G. Mangun. (Wiley, 2003). "And more" includes trade shows and telemarketing.

Business to Business Direct Marketing: Proven Direct Response Methods to Generate More Leads and Sales, 2nd ed. by Robert W. Bly. (NTC Business, 1998).

Marketing Management: The Millennium Edition by Philip Kotler. (Prentice Hall, 1999).

The 11 Immutable Laws of Internet Branding by Al Ries and Laura Ries. (HarperBusiness, 2000).

101 Ways to Promote Your Web Site: Filled with Proven Internet Marketing Tips, Tools, Techniques, and Resources to Increase Your Web Site Traffic, 2nd ed. by Susan Sweeney. (Maximum Press, 2000).

Internet Sites

Wilson Internet Web Marketing & E-Commerce

Topica

Web Digest for Marketers

Associations

The Direct Marketing Association

International Association of Business Communicators

The Public Relations Society of America

Publications

Target Marketing

Writer: Morey Stettner

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This In-Depth Business Builder was originally published in 2000.

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