Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Syllabus of Unit:
INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS (IMC)
Definition:
"The coordination and integration of all marketing communication tools, avenues,
and sources within a company into a seamless program that maximizes the impact
on consumers and other end users at a minimal cost."
IMC is the development of an Integrated Comprehensive Marketing Communication
(Promotion) Plan that links the marketing function with the communication function
to deliver Effective Marketing Messages capable of (1) informing, [2] convincing and
(3) persuading people to buy.
ELEMENTS OR PARTICIPANT IN IMC
IMC makes use of such Promotion Elements as(1) Advertising
(2)Direct Marketing
(3)Sales Promotion
(4-)Public Relations
(5)Publicity
(6) Personal Selling, and other non-conventional elements like
(7) On-line communications
All above elements help to develop and deliver clear, consistent, and impactful
communications capable of informing, convincing, and persuading customers to
buy.
THE INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATION MIX
IMC Mix
Advertising
Direct Marketing
Sales Promotion
Publicity
(1) Advertising
>> any paid form of nonpersonal presentation by a sponsor
>> reaches many buyers
>> expressive
(2) Direct Marketing
>> customized, interactive
(3) Sales Promotion
>> short term incentives to encourage sales
>> generates immediate response
>>short-life
(4-) Public Relations
>>building good relations with various publics
>> more believable, economical, underused by firms
(5) Publicity
>> Non paid form of advertising.
(6) Personal Selling
>>personal presentations by a firm's sales force
>>personal interaction, relationship building
>>costly
(7) Cyber or Internet Marketing
>>Use of internet to persuade customers
Personal Selling
Cyber
Marketing/Intern
et marketing
WVW/\7\7/\7/V\7WV'
MARKETING COMMUNICATION
Marketing communication or promotion is one of the elements of the marketing mix
and is responsible for putting the
marketing offer to the target market. It is the planned and integrated
communication activity that communicates with an
organization's stakeholders.
A shift in market place power from manufacturer to wholesaler to retailer/shift in
channel power.
A movement away from relying on advertising focused approach.
Rapid growth of data base marketing.
A shift in traditional promotions.
Change in the way the advertising agencies compensated.
Rapid growth of internet marketing.
Growing competition in relationship marketing.
Change from mere information delivery to value delivery.
Consumer empowerment.
Fragmentation of media.
Increasing advertising clutter.
Desire for greater accountability.
2. Frequency
. Gross Rating Points
Cost Reduction of Promotion activity
. Continuity
Impressions
?":'*
1. Reach - The number of receivers (e.g. households, people, businesses] exposed
to a communication at least once.
Z. Frequency - The average number of times a receiver is exposed to a particular
communication within a given
period (e.g. a month).
3. Gross rating points rating (% of market exposed] times frequency
Suppose a TV program gets 10% of a market. Run an ad 40 times on that program
during a month, then....
GRPs = 10 X40 = 400
4. Cost Reduction
5. Continuity exposure pattern or schedule used in a campaign. It may beContinuous schedule:
Pulsating schedule:
MM
Discontinuous campaign schedule:
6. Impression an exposure to an ad.
Gross impressions total number ofpeople reached with a communication
[regardless of whether they actually
saw the ad or heard it) number of exposures
How marketing communications work?
No one model can explain how marketing communications work. The AIDA model
was an early attempt to explain how an
advertising's target audience might pass through a number of steps, with attention
being the first and most important one.
Attention
Interest
Action
MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS AND ATTITUDE CHANGE
Marketing communications can change attitudes by modifying negative attitudes,
and which in turn can change purchase
behaviour
Attitudes can be changed by marketing in the following ways:
0 Changing the product itselfand its description
0 Changing misunderstandings
0 Changing attribute priorities
' Changing perception
' Changing brand associations
However, consumers modify or are selective with the messages they absorb.
m) Global Advertising: Multinational firms treat the world as their market. Firms such
as National, IBM or Sony or Ford
advertise globally, e.g., in periodicals like Times, Reader's Digest.
B. According to Target Group
On the basis oftarget groups aimed at, advertising can be classified as:
i) Consumer Advertising: A very substantial portion of total advertising is directed to
buyers of consumer products who
purchase them either for their own use or for their households. The preponderance
of such advertising can be seen by
looking into at random any general print media, such as newspapers and magazines
etc.
ii] Industrial Advertising: Industrial advertising on the other hand refers to those
advertisements which are issued by
the manufacturers/ distributors to the buyers of industrial products. This category
would include machinery and
equipment, industrial intermediates, parts and components, etc.
m) Trade Advertising: Advertisements which are directed by the manufacturers to
the distribution channel members,
such as wholesalers or retailers, are called trade advertising. The objective of such
advertising is to promote sales by
motivating the distribution channel members to stock more or to attract new retail
outlets. for eg :- Retail stores like Big
Bazaar, Wall mart.
iv) Professional Advertising: There are certain products for which the consumers
themselves are not responsible for the
buying choice. The classic examples are pharmaceuticals where are decision is
made by doctors while the consumers are
the patients. Such advertising is called professional advertising. for e.g. :- Doctors,
Lawyers, Engineers etc.
C. According to FocusArea
create favorable attitudes towards the sponsor and his products or services. The
objectives of this form of advertising are
long-run in nature. They include exposure, attention, comprehension, attitude
change, and behavior.
E. According to media type
There are several types of media which can be used by the companies.
Advertisin g
1. Print Advertising - The print media has been used for advertising since long. The
newspapers and magazines are quite
popular modes of advertising for different companies all over the world. Using the
print media, the companies can also
promote their products through brochures and iers. The newspaper and magazines
sell the advertising space and the
cost depends on several factors. The quantity of space, the page of the publication,
and the type of paper decide the cost of
the advertisement. So an ad on the front page would be costlier than on inside
pages. Similarly an ad in the glossy
supplement of the paper would be more expensive than in a mediocre quality paper.
Z. Broadcast Advertising - This type of advertising is very popular all around the
world. lt consists of television, radio, or
Internet advertising. The ads on the television have a large audience and are very
popular. The cost of the advertisement
depends on the length of the ad and the time at which the ad would be appearing.
For example, the prime time ads would
be more costly than the regular ones. Radio advertising is not what it used to be
after the advent oftelevision and Internet,
but still there is specific audience for the radio ads too. The radio jingles are quite
popular in sections of society and help to
sell the products.
3. Outdoor Advertising - Outdoor advertising makes use of different tools to gain
customer's attention. The billboards,
kiosks, and events and tradeshows are an effective way to convey the message of
the company. The billboards are present
all around the city but the content should be such that it attracts the attention of
the customer. The kiosks are an easy
outlet of the products and serve as information outlets for the people too.
Organizing events such as trade fairs and
exhibitions for promotion of the product or service also in a way advertises the
product. Therefore, outdoor advertising is
an effective advertising tool.
c:-N
4-. Covert Advertising - This is a unique way of advertising in which the product or
the message is subtly included in a
movie or TV serial. There is no actual ad, just the mention of the product in the
movie. For example, Tom Cruise used the
Nokia phone in the movie Minority Report.
5. Public Service Advertising - As evident from the title itself, such advertising is for
the public causes. There are a host of
important matters such as AIDS, political integrity, energy conservation, illiteracy,
poverty and so on all of which need
more awareness as far as general public is concerned. This type of advertising has
gained much importance in recent times
and is an effective tool to convey the message.
OBIECTIVES OF ADVERTISING
Four main Objectives of advertising are:
:'*?!-ll"
Trial
Continuity
Brand switch
Switching back
allocation made by the company for advertising. Money provided is a limiting factor
as effectiveness of
advertising, media used, coverage of advertising, etc. are related to the funds
provided for advertising purpose.
Advertising is costly and companies have to spend crores of rupees for this purpose.
Advertising should be always
within the limits of funds provided. Naturally, decisions on advertising package
should be adjusted as per the
budget allocation for advertising.
3. Message: Message is provided through the text of advertisement. The message is
given through written words,
pictures, slogans and so on. The message is for the information, guidance and
motivation of prospective buyers.
Attractive and meaningful messages give positive results and the advertising
becomes result-oriented. The
services of creative writers, artists, etc. are used for giving attractive message to
the consumers. Here, the
advertiser has to decide the message to be given, the media to be used for
communicating the message, the extent
of creativity, the specific customer group selected for giving the message and so on.
The message is also related to
the decisions taken as regards mission and money provided for advertising.
4-. Media: Media of advertising are already noted previously. The advertiser has to
take decision about the media to
be used for advertising purpose. Media differ as regards cost, coverage,
effectiveness and so on. The selection of
media depends on the budget provided, products to be advertised, and features of
prospective buyers and so on.
Wrong decision on media may make advertising ineffective and money spent will be
wasted. This suggests that
media should be selected properly and decision in this regard is important and
critical.
9. It is Wasteful
10. Creates Worries and Discontent
11. Encourages Materialism
12. Hampers Consumer Choice
13. Other Evils and Limits:
(a) Advertising has a harmful effect on children as it can easily inuence the
delicate feelings of children.
(b) Many ads are uensive and exercise high pressure on consumers.
(c] It leads to industrial concentration.
(d) Advertisements are rigid. The message once set cannot adjust to the reactions
of consumers.
(e] They may cause raad accidents as people see hoardings and posters while
driving the vehicles or walking on roads.
Types of Advertising Media
Advertising media are as noted in the chart given below:
Class of Media Tuna included
mm Ncwsfipers. Mag.mnes, lournalz and other publications.
Broadcast Radio, TV [Nahhnal Network}, STAR TV, DD Satellite Channels
Ntm-broadcast Video, Cable ,lCIosed Circuit TV and Cinnrna
Outdoor Pootwfi. Hoardings, Neon signs. Sky advertising etc.
Trmsitl Vol-dndar Railway traim, Bu-1:-s and Trams, Taxis and Auto-rickshaws, P1lvah: \'el1icJu\:
Point of Purchase Banners. I-Iangiings, Paclcaggg. Stickers. Painted figns. Window
display
Speciality Media T-shirts, but-runs, caps, slickma, badgezt diaries, key-d1.-iins,
calandmsi, elr.
Miscelhmcous Direct mail advu-lising, Trolleys at airpmm, etc.
Step 7 - Designing and Creating the Ad: first the design that is the outline of ad on
papers is made by the copywriters of
the agency, then the actual creation of ad is done with help ofthe art directors and
the creative personnel of the agency.
Step 8 - Perfection: then the created ad is re-examined and the ad is redefined to
make it perfect to enter the market.
Step 9 - Place and Time ofAd: the next step is to decide where and when the ad will
be shown.
The place will be decided according to the target customers where the ad is most
visible clearly to them. The finalization of
time on which the ad will be telecasted or shown on the selected media will be done
by the traffic department of the
agency.
Step 10 - Execution: finally, the advertise is released with perfect creation, perfect
placement and perfect timing in the
market.
Step 11 - Performance: the last step is to judge the performance of the ad in terms
of the response from the customers,
whether they are satisfied with the ad and the product, did the ad reached all the
targeted people, was the advertise
capable enough to compete with the other players, etc. Every point is studied
properly and changes are made, if any.
lfthese steps are followed properly then there has to be a successful beginning for
the product in the market.
THE CUSTOMER AND COMPETITION
It is very important to analyse the target customer as well as the market before
deciding upon the advertising strategy. The
advertisement should suit the customer and be written according to the need of the
customer. We shall discuss the
customer and competition separately.
THE CUSTOMER
CustomerAnalysis
It is necessary to know the target customer and his NEEDS. The customer consists
of male, female, child, veterans, youth,
etc. They have their demographic characteristics which must be considered. The
characteristics can be his age, income,
status, sex, occupation, etc. Customers may be classified according to their
psychographic classification which are their
activities, interest and opinions known as [AlO).First we have to find out the target
market and their characteristics and
keeping the market forces into consideration the advertisement is created.
Suppose we take the example of shoes. We can have shoes for schoolgoing
children. In this add, the advertisement should
show children wearing school uniforms, shoes and going to school and looking
happy with the brand that is advertised.
Shoes for Oioe-going Personnel
The shoes should be comfortable, reasonably priced giving a formal look. The
advertisement will depict these features in
the advertisement.
Shoes for Execufives and Party Shoes
These shoes have to be more expensive and better looking, depicting a different
image. The Ad for these shoes will be
directed on the higher income segment of the society.
Ladies Shoes
This will show beautiful ladies and celebrities wearing shoes keeping with the
fashion. The ads can be of different nature
keeping with fashion trend.
Makey0urselfm0re acceptable with X brand ofshoes"
\
the consumer has no choice but to buy the goods that are available. Advertising has
become an integral part of marketing.
The objective is to maintain greater sales and greater profits. The marketing cost
includes the advertising cost. If mass
marketing is done the cost of distribution and promotion is reduced leading to
increase in profits. Advertising helps the
buyers to understand product differentiation and use them to their advantage.
Consumers, through advertising, learn
about the offerings ofthe leader firms and niche firms and their ofjudgment
becomes easier.
Competitive Analysis
We have got strengths and we have our weaknesses but so have our competitors.
But if we sell our strength
against their weakness, we will win".
Competitive analysis means the analysis of competitors, their strengths and
weaknesses and comparing them to your
own strengths and weaknesses."
Whenever we advertise our products we create a positive impact on our product
and may leave a negative impact on the
competitor's products and market. Advertising encourages competition and forces
themselves and their rivals to make
better products for buyers and to serve them better. It also creates Brand loyalty.
The firms, therefore, undertake
advertising research and make products according to consumer needs.
In competitive advertising, we have to consider the following points0 What should be the mix of advertising for our products.
' How much funds should be allotted to Print-media, Radio, Periodicals, Newspapers,
Magazines, lournals, and
Pamphlets etc.
What is the pattern of competition exisisting in the market.
0 What media-vehicle should be chosen. There are audio and audio-visual media,
electronic media etc. We have to
choose among these Media Vehicles.
0 What are the situations of the competitive firms along with the place or the city,
where their product is in great
demand.
We have to compare their product, package etc., and highlight by advertising our
strengths or the extra benefits provided
by our firm. The advertisement competition should be healthy. We should highlight
our strength without naming or
condemning the other firms or their brands.
METHODS OF COMPETITORS ANALYSIS
1. CONSTRUCTION or COMPETITOR ARRAY
One common and useful technique is constructing a competitor array. The steps
include:
a) Define your industry - scope and nature ofthe industry
b) Determine who your competitors are
c) Determine who your customers are and what benefits they expect
d) Determine what the key success factors are in your industry
e) Rank the key success factors by giving each one a weighting The sum ofall the
weightings must add up to one.
f] Rate each competitor on each of the key success factors
g) Multiply each cell in the matrix by the factor weighting.
0 products offered, depth and breadth of product line, and product portfolio balance
0 new products developed, new product success rate, and R&D strengths
0 brands, strength of brand portfolio, brand loyalty and brand awareness
0 patents and licenses
' quality control conformance
' reverse engineering
d) Marketing
segments served, market shares, customer base, growth rate, and customer
loyalty
' promotional mix, promotional budgets, advertising themes, ad agency used, sales
force success rate, online
promotional strategy
0 distribution channels used [direct & indirect), exclusivity agreements, alliances,
and geographical coverage
0 pricing, discounts, and allowances
e) Facilities
0 plant capacity, capacity utilization rate, age ofplant, plant efficiency, capital
investment
' location, shipping logistics, and product mix by plant
1] Personnel
0 number of employees, key employees, and skill sets
strength of management, and management style
' compensation, benefits, and employee morale & retention rates
g) Corporate and marketing strategies
0 objectives, mission statement, growth plans, acquisitions, and divestitures
0 marketing strategies
3. MEDIA SCANNING
Scanning competitors ads can reveal much about what that competitor believes
about marketing and their target market.
Advantages of Media ScanningChanges in a competitor's advertising message can be benefitted in the following
ways
a] Reveal new product offerings, new production processes, a new branding
strategy, a new positioning strategy, a
new segmentation strategy, line extensions and contractions, problems with
previous positions, insights from
recent marketing or product research, a new strategic direction, a new source of
sustainable competitive
advantage, or value migrations within the industry.
b) Indicate a new pricing strategy such as penetration, price discrimination, price
skimming, product bundling, joint
product pricing, discounts, or loss leaders.
c] Indicate a new promotion strategy such as push, pull, balanced, short term sales
generation, long term image
creation, informational, comparative, affective, reminder, new creative objectives,
new unique selling proposition,
new creative concepts, appeals, tone, and themes, or a new advertising agency.
d) Indicate a new distribution strategy, new distribution partners, more extensive
distribution, more int 've
distribution, a change in geographical focus, or exclusive distribution.
frequency, reach, continuity, schedules, and ights, the manager can arrange his
own media plan so that they do
not coincide.
Little of this intelligence is definitive. Additional information is needed before
conclusions should be drawn. Other sources
of corporate intelligence include trade shows, patent filings, mutual customers,
annual reports, and trade associations.
Some firms hire competitor intelligence professionals to obtain this information. The
Society of Competitive Intelligence
Professionals maintains a listing of individuals who provide these services.
4. New COMPETITORS
In addition to analysing current competitors, it is necessary to estimate future
competitive threats. The most common
sources of new competitors are:
a) Companies competing in a related product/market
b) Companies using related technologies
c) Companies already targeting your prime market segment but with unrelated
products
d) Companies from other geographical areas and with similar products
e) New start-up companies organized by former employees and/or managers of
existing companies
The entrance of new competitors is likely when:
0 There are high profit margins in the industry
0 There is unmet demand (insufficient supply] in the industry
0 There are no major barriers to entry
0 There is future growth potential
0 Competitive rivalry is not intense
0 Gaining a competitive advantage over existing firms is feasible
SEGMENTATION. TARGETING. POSITIONING (STP) STRATEGIES FOR ADVERTISING
Before start think about marketing (4P), we must understand what is STP. Terms of
STP include market segmentation;
targeting; andpositinning.
(1) Segmentation
Segmentation is identifying all segments for the product/service. To be useful,
segments should be
0 Measurable
0 Accessible [can you reach them]
0 Profitable
0 Distinct from one another
The objective of segmentation is to find attractive markets. Strategies include0 Break market into components
' Regroup into market segments
' Select which segment to target
[2] Targeting:
Target is the real goal/objective in market that marketer want to reach. As simple
questions are:
0 What percent of the population uses the product at all?
0 What percent uses your brand?
0 How does that compare to competing brands?
' What is the demographic profile of the product category?
0 Which media reach the users of this category?
(3) Positioning:
Positioning is an essential component and skill in good marketing. Perceptual maps
are used to determine the position
ofa product, firm, person, service or idea. One definition of Positioning Theory is: the
science ofperceptualstrategy. It is
based on a theory that strategy can only be planned in the mind of the consumer,
not the marketplace.
ADVERTISING BUDGET
Advertising Budget is the amount of money which can be or has to be spent on
advertising of the product to promote it,
reach the target consumers and make the sales chart go on the upper side and give
reasonable profits to the company.
Factors Affecting Advertising Budget
Before finalizing the advertising budget of an organization or a company, one has to
take a look on the favorable and
unfavorable market conditions which will have an impact on the advertising budget.
The market conditions to watch out for are as follows:
1. Frequency ofthe advertisement
2. Competition and Clutter
3. Market Share of the Product
4. Product Life Cycle Stage
1. Frequency of the Advertisement
This means the number of times advertise has been shown with the description of
the product or service, in the granted
time slots. S0 here, if any company needs more advertising frequency for its
product, then the company will have to
increase its advertising budget.
2. Competition and Clutter
The companies may have many competitors for its product. And also there are
plenty of advertisements shown which is
called clutter. The company has to then increase their advertising budget.
3. Market Share
To get a good market share in comparison to their competitors, the company should
have a better product in terms of
quality, uniqueness, demand and catchy advertisements with resultant response
ofthe customers. All this is possible i the
expenditures beyond the capacity ofa small business. In such cases, small business
owners must scale down their objectives so that they
reect the financial situation under which they are operating.
3. Competitive Parity Method
While keeping ones own objectives in mind, it is often useful for a business to
compare its advertising spending with that
of its competitors. The theory here is that if a business is aware of how much its
competitors are spending to advertise
their products and services, the business may wish to budget a similar amount on
its own advertising by way of staying
competitive. Doing as one's competitor does is not, of course, always the wisest
course. And matching another's
advertising budget dollar for dollar does not necessarily buy one the same
marketing outcome. Much depends on how that
money is spent. However, gauging one's advertising budget on other participants in
the same market is a reasonable
starting point.
4-. Market Share Method
Similar to competitive parity, the market share method bases its budgeting strategy
on external market trends. With this
method a business equates its market share with its advertising expenditures.
Critics of this method contend that
companies that use market share numbers to arrive at an advertising budget are
ultimately predicating their advertising
on an arbitrary guideline that does not adequately reect future goals.
5. Unit Sales Method
This method takes the cost of advertising an individual item and multiplies it by the
number of units the business wishes
to sell. This method is only effective, ofcourse, when the cost of advertising a single
unit can be reasonably determined.
6. All Available Funds Method
This aggressive method involves the allocation of all available profits to advertising
purposes. This can be risky for a
business of any size it means that no money is being used to help the business
grow in other ways (purchasing new
technologies, expanding the work force, etc.]. Yet this aggressive approach is
sometimes useful when a start-up business is
trying to increase consumer awareness of its products or services. However, a
business using this approach needs to make
sure that its advertising strategy is an effective one and that funds which could help
the business expand are not being
wasted.
particularly radio and television time. The task of purchasing advertising media has
grown more complex as specialized
media proliferate, so media buying services have found a niche by specializing in
the analysis and purchase of advertising
time and space. Agencies and clients usually develop their own media strategies
and hire the buying service to execute
them.
5] A La Carte Agency: Some advertisers prefer to order a la carte rather than using
all of an agency's services. A la carte
services can be purchased from a full service agency or from an individual firm that
specializes only in creative work,
media, production, research, or new product development.
6] Special Service Agency (Group): Some agencies focus their efforts only in some
selected areas and then become
specialists in those areas. These firms collectively are called special service groups
and they are by far the least known
component of the advertising industry. For example, if an agency is specializing in
direct response advertising eit in
The advertiser should select that advertising agency whose talent, experience,
record matches with the requirements of
advertiser. Following factors should be considered while selecting an advertising
agency:
1) Location: A major consideration in the choice of an advertising agency is location
of office of agency. Local and nearby
ad-agencies should be preferred. A considerable amount of communication is
required at various stages of decision
making with regard to ad-planning and ad-execution. Outstation advertisers are at a
disadvantage as the costs of regular
visits may be high. So it is desirable that office of adagency is located nearby and
is easily accessible.
2] Size: Both large size-agencies and small-size agencies have their own merits and
demerits. Large-agencies provide wide
range of facilities, services and have more experienced staff. But large-size
agencies have certain limitations viz. these are
costly, these cannot give personal attention to all clients because of large number
of clients, these don't give much
attention to small clients as these agencies have many big clients.
3) Agency Working for Competitors: Advertiser should avoid giving his advertising
work to an agency that handles the
advertising work of his competitor. Because in that case ad agency may not be in a
position to prepare ads which help the
advertiser to take an edge over competition and agency will not prepare such ads
which go against advertiser's
competitors, i.e., agency will not make competitive ads for advertiser.
4) Image of Agency: Before selecting the adagency advertiser should enquire
about its image, integrity, its ethical
standards, and its relation with clients, etc.
5) Services Offered by Adagency: Now-a-days ad-agency give wide range of
services like planning and preparation of
Racial issues
Controversial products (e.g. alcohol, gambling, tobacco etc]
'I'l!
Advertising Agencies
An ad agencyis independent from the client and provides an outside point of view to
the effort of selling the client's
products or services. An agency can also handle overall marketing and branding
strategies and sales promotions for its
clients.
audiences. Many of these messages are, in a very real sense, quite personal. They
are designed to change or shape
attitudes. They must be remembered; they should lead to some kind of short or long
term action.
Marketing messages can reach the targeted customers in two ways:
1. A personal message can be delivered through a person such as a sales rep, repair
department personnel, or customer
service report.
2. Marketing messages can reach targeted audience through a variety of ad media.
Creative concept development
The creative concept is developed by the creative team and forms the core
foundation or theme for an advertising
campaign. The creative concept is essentially the story behind the messages
presented in an ad or series of ads. It ties
together the characters and elements in advertisements to help convey a
memorable and effective message that will create
the desired behavioral response from the target market. Humor, drama and action
are often elements of a creative
concept, depending on what the company is attempting to communicate.
MESSAGE CREATION
Message Creation stage consists ofthree stages:
1) Idea Generation
2) Copywriting
3) Layout
1) Idea Generation Stage
1.1 Orientation: Before deciding on a creative idea for the purpose of
communication, it is important to identify the
purpose behind the communication, whether the aim is to solve a problem or to
capitalize on an opportunity.
1.2 Preparation: Those involved in the creative process should gather as much
information as possible.
1.3 Analysis: Once information is collected, it should be organized under different
heads technical information,
consumer behavior information, competitors information and so on.
1.4 ldeation: Ideation is the generation of actual ideas by trying different
combinations of facts and information
available.
1.5 Incubation: Once ideas are generated, they are kept aside to incubate, i.e., to let
the subconscious mind work on
them for some time.
1.6 Synthesis: When the team arrives at this step, it is equipped with a number of
ideas. In this stage, the emphasis is
on combining these ideas and evolving something substantial from it.
1.7 Evaluation: The various ideas generated in the previous steps are evaluated
here. The criteria used for evaluation
are described here. The idea should be:
i] Relevant to the communication objectives.
ii] Original and capable ofcatching the attention of the viewer.
m] Flexible so that they can be modified or extended to other advertisements in the
future.
2) Copy Writing/Advertisement Copy
The work copy has specific meaning in the world of advertising. Copy is the soul of
advertisement. An advertising copy is
all the written or spoken matter in an advertisement expressed in words or
sentences and figures designed to convey the
desired message to the target consumers. In a print media an advertisement copy is
made-up of head-line, sub-headlines,
both ofthe copy, illustration, long-type, slogan and brand name.
Approaches to Copy Writing
A successful copy writer is to answer the following questions to get much out of it.
These questions are:
1) What am l advertising?
2] To whom am I advertising?
3] How can I convey best the advertising message to my readers?
4] Where and how the product is being sold? Q
b] The Artist
c] The ]udge
d] The Warrior
a) The Explorer Role
I Examine existing information
I Review marketing and advertising plans
I Study the market, product, and competition
I Develop insight
Research
Brainstorming
b) The Artist Role
I Develop the BIG Idea
Visualization/ conceptualization
- Transform or incubate the concept
I Implement the BIG Idea
c) The Iudge Role
I Evaluate the practicality of the ideas
I Decide whether to implement, modify, or discard ideas
I Be self-critical
I Avoid stiing artists's imagination
I Assess risk involved with idea
e) The Warrior Role
I Carries the concept into action
-Compromise method
Step-4 - Deciding the media.
It is also a part of the advertising campaign. There are different kinds of media. A
simple medium may be chosen or a
combination of various media can be chosen. There can be varied choices from
amongst the Television, Radio, Cinema,
Magazines, Newspapers etc., while choosing a media we also have to decide the
media vehicle. e.g., Newspaper is one
medium the media vehicle could be Hindustan Times or any other newspaper.
Step-5 - Creating Ads
For the advertising transmission to be successful, the audience must see the
advertisement, be attracted to it, understand
and comprehend it. The ad should be in the manner that the message gets diffused
in their minds so that they can take
favourable decisions. The Ad must capture the attention of the audience by giving
new information and by supporting
information through data or by stories. It should appeal and inuence the audience.
The main aim is to bring attitudinal
changes favoruably.
\
'demonstration' is essential.
3. Radio: Radio advertising has increased greatly in recent years, with the granting
of many more licenses. It typically
reaches specific audiences at different times of the dayadults at breakfast,
housewives during the day, and
commuters during rush hours. lt can be a costeffective way of reaching these
audiencesespecially since production
costs are much cheaper than for television, though the lack of visual elements may
limit the message. In radio
advertising it is important to identify the right timing to reach specific radio
listeners. For instance, many people only
listen to the radio when they are stuck in traffic, whereas other listeners may only
listen in the evenings.
4-. Cinema: Though national audience numbers are down, this may be the most
effective medium for extending coverage
to younger age groups, since the core audience is 15 to 35.
5. Internet/Web Advertising: This rapidly growing marketing force borrows much
from the example of press
advertising, but the most effective use, adopted by search engines, is interactive.
6. Mobile Advertising: Personal mobile phones have become an attractive
advertising media to network operators, but
are relatively unproven and remain in media buyers sidelines.
Merits and Demerits of Advertising
Merits of Advertising
Advertising as a means of communication has numerous advantages. The merits of
advertising can be summarized
below:
1. Mass Reach- Advertising is a communication medium which can reach a wide
range of people over a broad geological
region. For example- advertising via a daily newspaper reaches millions ofpeople all
over the country.
comparing print media]? To determine a publication's cost per thousand, also known
as CPM, divide the cost of the
advertising by the publication's circulation in thousands.
Cost per point. How much will it cost to buy one rating point for your target
audience, a method used in comparing
broadcast media. One rating point equals 1 percent of your target audience. Divide
the cost of the schedule being
considered by the number of rating points it delivers.
Impact. Does the medium in question offer full opportunities for appealing to the
appropriate senses, such as sight and
hearing, in its graphic design and production quality?
Selectivity. To what degree can the message be restricted to those people who are
known to be the most logical
prospects
Media Planning Process
The media planner/buyer's decision process, then, would go something like this:
Conslcl e r
A Ite rn ative s
q__
Decide
Evaluate
Identify the Problem/Opportunity: Need to raise awareness for a new business, or
promote a sale.
List Decision Criteria: For advertising, among the decision criteria would be reach
and frequency , CPM, CPP, GRP, total
impressions, ad placement, content relevancy to the target audience, and of course,
overall cost.
Prioritize Decision Criteria: What matters more, CPM or ad placement? To help
compare and evaluate qualitative and
quantitative decision criteria together, assign a numeric weight to each criterion [for
example. $25-$40 CPM = 10, $41-63
CPM = 7; primetime = 10, front page = 8, etc.) and create a decision matrix to help
evaluate the information collected in the
RFP and advertising rate request process.
Consider the Alternatives: Have all available media channels and relevant media
partners been evaluated for the
campaign? What local online advertising placements would complement the offline
campaign? Are there any cost-effective,
niche local advertising opportunities to consider in the media mix?
Evaluate: Compared against the weighted decision criteria, which advertising
opportunities best meet campaign goals,
within budget? How would the campaign budget best be allocated across media
channels?
Make Decisions: Based on the evaluation, choose the best-performing options to
build the media mix for the advertising
campaign.
Execute, evaluate, optimize, evaluate.
Media Strategy
Use ofappropriate media mix to achieve optimum results from an advertising
campaign. It involves: identifying the characteristics of the
target audience or market, who should receive messages and defining the
characteristics ofthe media that will be used for the delivery
ofthe messages, with the intent being to inuence the behaviour ofthe target
audience or market pertinent to the initial brief.
Essential element of Media Strategy
Identify Business Goals
Every piece of your social media strategy serves the goals you set. You simply can't
move forward without knowing what
you're working toward.
Set Marketing Objectives
Goals aren't terribly useful if you don't have specific parameters that define when
each is achieved. For example, if one
ofyour primary goals is generating leads and sales, how many leads and sales do
you have to generate before you consider
that goal a success. Makeyaur objectives specific, measurable, achievable, relevant
and time-bound.
Identify Ideal Customers
If a business is suffering from low engagement on their social profiles, it's usually
because they don't have an accurate
ideal customer profile.
Buyer personas help you define and target the right people, in the right places, at
the right times with the right messages.
Research Competition
When it comes to social media marketing, researching your competition not only
keeps you apprised of their activity, it
gives you an idea of what's working so you can integrate those successful tactics
into your own efforts. l
5.
6.
7.
8.
(1)
(Z)
Hand N0tes- IMC, By: Gargee Singh
Start by compiling a list of at least 3-5 main competitors. Search which social
networks they're using and analyze their
content strategy. Look at their number of fans or followers, posting frequency and
time of day.
Choose Channels and Tactics
Many businesses create accounts on every popular social network without
researching which platform will bring the most
return. You can avoid wasting your time in the wrong place by using the information
from your buyer personas to
determine which platform is best for you.
Create a Content Strategy
Content and social media have a symbiotic relationship: Without great content
social media is meaningless and without
social media nobody will know about your content. Use them together to reach and
convert your prospects.
There are three main components to any successful social media content strategy:
type of content, time ofposting and
frequency ofposting.
Allocate Budget and Resources
According to recent data from Google, 30% of respondents say that social media
has its own new and distinct budget. Of
those respondents, 8.7% say their social media budget is pulled from traditional
marketing media
Assign Roles
Knowing who's responsible for what increases productivity and avoids confusion and
overlapping efforts. Things may be a
bit messy in the beginning, but with time team members will know their roles and
what daily tasks they're responsible for.
Media Buying
Media buying, a sub function of advertising management, is the procurement of
media real estate at an optimal placement
and price. The main task of media buying lies within the negotiation of price and
placement to ensure the best possible
value can be secured for an advertisement. The type of people who negotiate the
price of these advertisements are labeled
"Media Buyers" in the workplace. Increasingly, the job of a Media Buyer online is
being done in real-time with advanced
algorithms.
Cross Media Concept
Cross Media is a media property, service, story or experience distributed across
media platforms using a variety of media
forms. lt refers to the journey or linkages across devices and through forms and is
most evident in branded entertainment,
advertising, games and quest based forms such as Alternate Reality Games where
there are a range of dependencies
between the media placed across devices and fragments thereof.
Media research
It is a systematic, empirical research used as a basic for media planning by media
companies. lt conducts a survey to
customers and attracting new ones. It is also used for promotion of special events.
The goal is to create short-term impact
preserving the long-term brand name and short increase of selling products. The
POP communication attempts to
inuence customer buying decisions, and also presenting the products to new
customers to convey primary brand
benefits. Point-of-sale or Point-of-purchase strategy belongs to the category of
Direct Marketing.
Purposes ofPOP
The main goal of POP displays, like that of most promotions, is to boost immediate
sales. Apart from this POP displays can
serve a number of purposes:
I To build store traffic
I Attract attention to a specific brand
I To remind and maintain purchase activity among loyal customers
I To attract new Customers
I Advertise a brand
I To stimulate trial use for the promoting brand in target audience that uses
competitive brands
I Cue recall of brand advertising the buyer may have seen elsewhere.
I to maintain the brand image that is developed already by advertising.
Though the POP display environment has become cluttered, studies show that
welldesigned and located POP displays can
increase sales, sometimes dramatically. This depends on a number of factors
including the type of product being
promoted, the nature of the decision environment (novel or repeat), and the product
knowledge and brand loyalty of the
buyer
Q
3) Sponsorships
4-) Referrals [affiliate relationship marketing)
5) E-mail marketing
6) Online catalogs
7) Online chat
8) Blog advertising
BENEFITS OF E-COMMERCE
The benefits of e-commerce can be seen to affect three major stakeholders:
organisations, consumers and society.
A. Benfits of e-commerce to organizations1. International marketplace: What used to be a single physical marketplace located
in a geographical area has now
become a borderless marketplace including national and international markets. By
becoming e-commerce enabled,
businesses now have access to people all around the world. In effect all e-commerce
businesses have become virtual
multinational corporations.
Z. Operational cost savings: The cost of creating, processing, distributing, storing
and retrieving paper-based information
has decreased.
3. Mass customization: Ecommerce has revolutionised the way consumers buy
goods and services. The pull-type
processing allows for products and services to be customised to the customer's
requirements. In the past when
Ford first started making motor cars, customers could have any colour so long as it
was black. Now customers can
configure a car according to their specifications within minutes on-line via the
www.ford.com website.
4-. Enables reduced inventories and overheads by facilitating pull'type supply
chain management this is based on
collecting the customer order and then delivering through ]IT (just-in-time)
manufacturing. This is particularly beneficial
for companies in the high technology sector, where stocks of components held
could quickly become obsolete within
months. For example, companies like Motorola [mobile phones), and Dell
[computers] gather customer orders for a
product, transmit them electronically to the manufacturing plant where they are
manufactured according to the
customer's specifications [like colour and features) and then sent to the customer
within a few days.
5. Lower telecommunications cost: The Internet is much cheaper than value added
networks (VANs] which were based
on leasing telephone lines for the sole use of the organisation and its authorised
partners. It is also cheaper to send a fax or
e-mail via the Internet than direct dialling.
6. Digitisation of products and processes: Particularly in the case of software and
music/video products, which can be
downloaded or e-mailed directly to customers via the Internet in digital or electronic
format.
7. No more 24-hour-time constraints: Businesses can be contacted by or contact
customers or suppliers at any time.
B. Benefits of e-commerce to consumers1. Z4/7 access: Enables customers to shop or conduct other transactions 24 hours a
day, all year round from almos ny
location. For example, checking balances, making payments, obtaining travel and
other information. In one case a v 0 :
set up web cameras in every room in his house, so that he could check the status of
his home by logging onto the Internet
when he was away from home on tour.
Z More choices: Customers not only have a whole range ofproducts that they can
choose from and customise, but also an
international selection of suppliers.
3. Price comparisons: Customers can shop around the world and conduct
comparisons either directly by visiting
different sites, or by visiting a single site where prices are aggregated from a
number of providers and compared [for
example www.moneyextra.co.uk for financial products and services).
4-. Improved delivery processes: This can range from the immediate delivery of
digitised or electronic goods such as
software or audio-visual files by downloading via the Internet, to the on-line tracking
of the progress of packages being
delivered by mail or courier.
5. An environment of competition where substantial discounts can be found or value
added, as different retailers vie for
customers. It also allows many individual customers to aggregate their orders
together into a single order presented to
wholesalers or manufacturers and obtain a more competitive price [aggregate
buying), for example www.letsbuyit.com.
C. Benefits of e-commerce to society1. Enables more exible working practices: It enables more exible working
practices which enhance the quality of life
for a whole host of people in society, enabling them to work from home. Not only is
this more convenient and provides
happier and less stressful working environments, it also potentially reduces
environmental pollution as fewer people have
to travel to work regularly.
Z. Connects people: Enables people in developing countries and rural areas to enjoy
and access products, services,
information and other people which otherwise would not be so easily available to
them.
3. Facilitates delivery of public services: For example, health services available over
the Internet (on-line consultation
with doctors or nurses], and filing taxes over the Internet through the Inland
Revenue website.
CORPORATE COMMUNICATION
Communication means the exchange of thoughts, messages, or the like, as by
speech, signals or writing to express oneself
in such a way that one is readily and clearly understood.
Corporate means related to corporation increasing the GDP of nation.
Corporate communication is managing an organization's internal and external
communications. It includes> Advertising
Marketing Communications
Marketing
Public Relations
W/W
'1' Advertising is paid and controlled mass communication with a purpose to inform.
'1' Marketing Communication is the branding of products, services, and
organizations including such areas as
consistency, differentiation, equity, identity, imaging, loyalty, positioning, publicity,
promotion, relationships, and
reputation.
'1' Marketing is the management function which creates products or services to fill
public needs and then persuades the
public to buy the products or services.
'1' Public Relations are the management function which creates policies and actions
to fill public demands and then
persuades the public to approve the policies and actions.
Definitions of Corporate Communication
1. Corporate communication is a set of activities involved in managing and
arranging all internal and external
communications aimed at creatingfavorable point ofview among stakeholders on
which the company depends.
2. Corporate communication is a managementfunction that offers afrarneworkfor
the efective coordination ofall internal
and external communication with the overall purpose of establishing and
maintaining favorable reputations with
stakeholdergroups upon which the organization is dependent.
TYPES OF CORPORATE COMMUNICATION
Corporation communication is classified in to two types
1. Internal communication: Internal corporate communication means the
communication within a particular company.
EX:- business meetings, conferences, interviews, presentations or print media like
brochures, newsletters.
2. External communication: The external corporate communication process includes
elements like advertising,
marketing and public relations.
Aid
Policiy
Crisis
Management
STRUCTURE OF THE EXTERNAL COMMUNICATION
IIIIIII
lndustrial Professional Consumer Media Financial P bl. A .
relations relations Relations Relations Relations u [C 3'
Crisis
Management
1 Issue
management
Aid
Poiiciy
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN MARKETING AND CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS
Flarketing cummimimuun
Q Custom er
8 Defined set of channels
t Controlled colnlnunicatiun
s Position 3 product or service
Q More room for creativity
t Needs Do be consistent with product / brand
attributes
IMPORTANCE OF CORPORATE COMMUNICATION
Cnrpltlralze comuiimimtiim
Multiple stakeholders
Multiple channels
Variety of communication types
Positions an entire organisation
Less room for creativity
Needs to be consistent with corporate
identity/corp crate brand attributes
Communication is the key to build and manage a successful business. Here are
some of the most important effects of
encouraging communication in a business.
1) Helps Build a Good Team
Building a good team requires a leader that communicates with each individual who
is a part of it. Taking everybody with
you, requires personal attention from the leader and addressing of their issues and
concerns. By eliminating fear and
instilling confidence in their abilities through direct communication, a leader can
create a team that can outperform and
excel in every department.
Z) Avoids Misunderstanding & Miscommunication
With regular communication, many misunderstandings and miscommunication
issues can be resolved amicably. This
makes it easier for any employee to cut out unnecessary friction and free his or her
mind to focus on the task at hand. l
work together to create a finished product and each member of the team has
concerns. If communication channels are
opened through weekly or monthly interaction meetings and issues are discussed, a
more smoother and efficient business
process can be developed.
4) Improves Quality of Service
From the point of view of a business and customer relationship, interaction with
customers can help a business provide
better service. When customers issues are resolved promptly through immediate
communication, he is bound to continue
buying your product or service.
5) Creates an Inclusive Culture in the Workplace
When there is communication from the top level management with junior most of
the employees and there is interaction
between different management hierarchies of a business, everyone feels included
and looked after. This feeling of included
in the scheme of things, makes an employee feel more encouraged to work.
Appreciation of work objectives achieved by
employees through personal meetings can help boost his or her performance to
higher levels. A pat on the back for a job
done well goes a long way!
6) Creates a Positive Atmosphere
Positive communication among the various team members that make up business
departments, helps sort out internal
problems quite easily and smoothen the rough edges that create friction in a
business process. Most importantly, when
doubts, misunderstanding and other such issues are sorted out through, a positive
atmosphere is automatically created as
everyone focuses on their work and feels like he or she is a part ofthe big picture.
7) Interaction with Customers Benefit Marketing & Sales
provide credibility, many media outlets refuse to accept payment for this; the secret
is to have an interesting story that
they would cover naturally. Business history, tradition, quirks and customers are
taken into consideration.
- Media Tours: This requires a larger budget and is essentially the hiring of a
company spokesperson to travel around
during interviews and attend events. For a small business this might not be the best
form of PR as it requires a larger
budget, however for large companies it can be incredibly effective and is a great
way to publicise a business.
- Newsletters: start collecting email addresses for customers and potential clients
and build a data base. A newsletter is a
great way of keeping people up to date and in the loop on your latest events,
achievements and plans. A fun, light hearted
and newsworthy letter is essential.
- Special Events: These can be anything to a market day, consumer appreciation
day, running a discount or hiring a band.
They are used to target a group of people who you want to speak to within a
location that you can utilise creatively and
effectively.
CORPORATE COMMUNICATION AND PUBLIC RELATIONS
The role ofthe public relations, in many ways, is to communicate with the general
public in ways that serve the interests ofthe
company. Personal Relation, therefore, consists ofnumerous specialty areas that
convey information about the company to
the public, including sponsorships, events, issues management and media relations.
It involves two activities-
1. Issues management
A key role of the PR specialist is to make the company better known for traits and
attributes that build the company's
perceived distinctiveness and competitiveness with the public. In recent years, PR
specialists have become increasingly
involved in helping companies manage strategic issues public concerns about
their activities that are frequently
magnified by special interest groups and NGOs. The role of the PR specialist
therefore also consists of issues management,
namely the set of organizational procedures, routines, personnel, and issues".A
strategic issue is one that compels a
company to deal with it because there is a conict between two or more
identifiable groups over procedural or
substantive matters relating to the distribution ofpositions or resources".
Z. Media relations
To build better relationships with the media, organizations must cultivate positive
relations with inuential members of
the media. This task might be handled by employees within the company's media
relations department or handled by a
public relations firm.
Sales Promotion
Sales promotion is one of the five aspects of the promotional mix. [The other 4 parts
of the promotional mix are
advertising, personal selling, direct marketing and publicity/public relations.) Sales
promotions can be directed at either
the customer, sales staff, or distribution channel members (such as retailers). Sales
promotions targeted at
the consumer are called consumer sales promotions. Sales promotions targeted at
retailers and wholesale are
called trade sales promotions. Some sale promotions, particularly ones with unusual
methods, are
Giving something away is another way to lure customers to your place of business.
For your grand opening event, you can
provide everyone who attends with free food or drink or free merchandise. You can
also give away items containing your
brand or slogan such as coffee mugs or tshirts. Another idea is to give away prizes
to the first 25 people who enter your
place ofbusiness on a given day.
The Relationship Between Advertising & Sales Promotion
Small-business owners want to measure the impact of advertising on sales
performance. Knowing which ads drive sales
helps owners focus their advertising budgets on promotions that bring the greatest
return on investment.
1. Survey Customers
One of the simplest yet most effective ways to find out what role advertising played
in a purchasing decision is to ask the
customer who made the purchase. Train retail clerks to ask customers why they
visited the store and whether they
remember seeing an advertisement for the product. For an online store, update the
checkout process so that it includes a
question about how customers heard about the website. To get more detailed
information, ask customers to complete an
advertising survey or print an online survey address at the bottom of every sales
receipt; send online buyers a survey link
by email.
two or more ads. The advertiser places a print ad that contains a coupon with a
specific discount code in one publication
and a different discount code in another. By tracking the codes as customers
redeem their coupons, the advertiser can
determine which advertisement generated the most sales. Business owners obtain
similar results by including different
telephone numbers in different ads and measuring the number of calls customers
make to each number. Advertisers track
online traffic by advertising different website addresses in different publications. All
the different URLs redirect to the
main business site and the business owner tracks how much incoming traffic comes
from each ofthe referring Web pages.
3. Build Brand Awareness
The relationship between advertising and sales performance is sometimes subtle.
Many consumers decide to purchase
goods for nuanced reasons such as familiarity with a brand. Brand advertisements
don't tout a particular product. Instead,
they provide information about the business that offers the product and help clarify
its brand identity. Researchers
measure the effectiveness of brand advertising by asking consumers to thumb
through a magazine that contains a print ad
or view or listen to television or radio content that contains the advertisement.
Researchers then ask consumers questions
about ads they remember seeing or hearing. If a consumer mentions the sponsor's
ad, researchers ask follow-up questions
to find out how the consumer perceived the ad and to determine her knowledge and
perception ofthe sponsor.
4. Study Conversion Rate
One of the metrics advertisers use to measure the effectiveness of advertising is
the conversion of visits - to a brickand
mortar store or to a website -- to sales. It is difficult to discern precisely what drives
a consumer to make a purchase, but
and, as a part of the program, obtain from a merchant (or merchants] the use of a
showcase window to tell your story.
Sporting goods stores are naturals for this. And don't forget the county fair booth
and church bazaars. You might
consider appointing a special committee just to work on displays. Most malls
welcome community groups to set
displays.
5. Posters - Show card posters for shop windows and public bulletin boards have
some effectiveness for promoting
special events. In a world filled with advertising billboards and neon signs, however,
posters seem to have lost much of
their power except in smaller, tightly-knit communities.
6. Direct Mail- Here is the sure-fire way of getting your full story told in a one-on-one
situation. Preparation and
distribution of the message can be somewhat costly, but it's worth it if the message
is written well and designed to
catch attention. The cost of mailing can also be lightened if student volunteers can
be recruited to distribute yers to
neighbors.
Relationship between advertising and Publicity
1. Advertising is paid form ofideas, goods and services
While publicity is not paid by the sponsor.
2. Advertising comes from an identified sponsor
While publicity comes from a neutral and impartial source.
32
aware ofa supplier's capability and product benefits. They also ensure that
prospects receive the product, pricing and
technical information they need to make a decision, and they maintain contact with
the important decision-makers
throughout the sales cycle.
9. Developing Customer Relationships
To build long-term revenue for the future, representatives use personal selling skills
to develop strong relationships
with customers. By contacting customers after they make a purchase, for example,
representatives can demonstrate
that their company offers high levels of customer care. They also maintain contact
between sales to ensure that
customers consider their company when they are planning their next purchase.
Direct Marketing
A form of advertising in which physical marketing materials are provided to
consumers in order to communicate
information about a product or service. Direct marketing does not involve
advertisements placed on the internet, on
television or over the radio. Types of direct marketing materials include catalogs,
mailers and iers.
with advertising techniques that can include cell phone text messaging, email,
interactive consumer websites, online
display ads, database marketing, iers, catalog distribution, promotional letters,
targeted television commercials,
response-generating newspaper/magazine advertisements, and outdoor advertising.
Amongst its practitioners, it is also
referred to as Direct Response.
i Advantages
(il Flexible positioning- directly identify, isolate and communicate clearly with
defined target market.
[ii] Multi-purpose- For trial, sale, or test new market
often. Make the phone number, the email address and the website easy to
remember. Have your phone number be toll
free, and make sure online ordering is a oneclick process.
2. Be Specific
Cite statistics about the success of your product. Emphasize positive results and
stress the popularity of whatever you're
selling. Many consumers like the sense of reassurance this gives them that other
customers have enjoyed the product
they're considering. You also can compare your price to similar products from
conventional retail outlets. Direct marketing
is generally a cheaper sales model, so you should compare favorably.
3. Have a Giveaway
People love to get something for free. ln addition to your product or services, bundle
in a freebie, such as a sample, booklet,
newsletter or free webinar. Assign this extra product or service a dollar value, so
consumers can quantify what they're
getting for free. This serves as an extra inducement to value-oriented consumers
who otherwise might be undecided . s ut
responding.