Sales Promotions Key Terms

Learn about the elements of successful sales promotions

Any business that sells tangible goods or services can benefit from using a sales promotion. A sales promotion uses specific marketing techniques to get consumers interested in the product, whether it's through deep discounts and giveaways or through creating demand for a product before it reaches the market. Marketing strategies used to make successful sales promotions include traditional advertising, point-of-sale incentives and additional benefits for consumers.

 

Promotional mix

A promotional mix is all of the components for creating a sales promotion campaign. Components include public relations, packaging, direct marketing and advertising.
Try: Tutor2u provides an introduction to promotional mix and how all of the elements of promotion mix work together to make a successful sales promotion.

Push promotion

A push promotion is a type of sales promotion that uses the wholesalers or retailers of a specific product to push products out to the customers. This type of promotion works by using display advertising and price reductions.
Try: The Concept Marketing Group examines the debate between push and pull marketing and whether one is more effective than the other.

Pull promotion

A pull promotion tries to work on an opposing strategy to push promotion by building up consumer demand for a product. This demand provides communication with retailers and wholesalers that pull the product through the distribution chain to offer it to consumers.
Try: Gaebler Ventures' Resources for Entrepreneurs provides expanded definitions of pull and push marketing and explains where these strategies are best used.

Point of sale (POS)

Point of sale is the place where the consumer pays for a product. Sales promotions are often placed at the point of sale to entice consumers to buy the product.
Try: Business Town provides a list of different point-of-sale marketing products and the effectiveness of each.

Rebate

A rebate is a type of refund offered to consumers for purchasing a specific product. This is often used a sales promotion for higher-end items, such as computers, phones and cars.
Try: The Association for Integrated Marketing outlines its best practices for offering rebates as a sales promotion.

Marketing plan

A marketing plan presents the objectives and activities of a specific promotion or sales strategy.
Try: More Business provides a sample marketing plan that includes all the information, marketing data and other research necessary to provide a comprehensive sales strategy.

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