When walking into a business, whether it be a real estate agent or your local bank, have you ever looked closely at how they promote and market their brand and the organisation?
I’m not just talking about the posters that state their best rate or how they do in comparison to their competitors, but the tiny details that you may not comprehend as part of your day to day activities which these certain businesses use to earn you as a customer and make themselves noticed.
These components allow them to gain a greater customer base and increase the company’s attention in the public domain.
From the language and terminology that is used in a certain industry to the things that are used to catch your eye.
Therefore, let me show you how you can understand and notice how corporations use promotional material as a means to gain you as a valued customer.
Branding/Advertising
This is usually the most noticeable and obvious way that businesses use to get your attention. Have you ever walked into an office or waiting area and seen a company’s name on certain equipment?
Corporations often use laser cutting materials to have their name printed onto those such as stationery pens and their letterheads on notebook paper. These can be put onto both natural and synthetic materials
These can serve as an easy means of brand knowledge or of the name, producing a means of mass production, often at a low level of cost.
This means of promotion also gathers the consumer’s eye by being a straightforward form of notification by the business.
Many industries also use this technique to, as stated, promote and sell a new product they provide or increase their profit through a sales incentive.
Sales Promotion
This is the second most common form of a business’s propaganda that a customer will acknowledge or recognize.
This form of growth for an enterprise is the main mass gain of information with an intent to inform, persuade or remind its audience as it is a large and widespread way of making a brand noticeable.
By advertising one’s brand, product or business, one has the potential to reach a magnitude of people and do this through a means of different platforms.
This is where those such as visual, print and that of digital and social media can play a big role in hunting for the appropriate target demographic and audience towards which to emphasize the product.
A company can do this via the means of those such as billboards, paper, their website and social networking. Of course, there is also a cost involved.
This also aims to differentiate the product from its competitor.
Personal Selling
You’ve seen it before, the traditional man in the suit selling the product or the lady marketing the classic make-up line, both trying to coax you at the front door or the definitive kitchenware dinner party.
They strive to show you how the said product will easily fit into your intimate world, and thus, make your life easier.
This is a form of personal selling. The salesperson, and thus the business, aims to gain you as a customer by aiming to interact with you on a direct and emotional level by doing so face-to-face.
This form of business promotion is also one where the seller tries to play towards your emotions. It is a very direct tactic that is also used as a persuasive technique to gain you as a customer.
Direct Marketing
As a means of speaking about direct promotion, this is the one where you get those after a visit or a purchase.
Think of when a retail store aims to get your email address after an in-store purchase for the purpose of discount offers and loyalty programs, or you buy into further notifications because you really like the product.
The act of flooding your inbox is an example of this.
They show you what new product is on offer or what is discounted for you to spend more with them, thus extending your time with them as a customer.
Public Relations
Now, we’ve all heard about what certain publicity does for a business. However, the old cliché isn’t always true in its statement, especially if you’re trying to attract a customer base.
That’s why it’s a known fact that many corporations have public relations teams. This is where terminology often kicks in, so I’ll attempt to dissolve.
As the name suggests, this is how the business aims to keep a favourable image with you – the general public!
The main level that we see as a customer is media representation and content development. When you see a company’s blog, (like this one) or a description about what the company is, that’s public relations.
Conclusion
Hence, when it comes to promoting a company or business, from a physical sale to the pen that you’re holding, it really is like chess; it’s a strategy about making one’s best move.
