Advertising and Promotions

 

LEARN TO ATTRACT NEW BUSINESS

Create Effective Marketing Messages

• Understand where Advertising and Promotions fits within the marketing framework and your overall business.
• Become familiar with the campaign planning, implementing, controlling and evaluating processes.
• Unpack and apply a number of tools from your promotional campaign kit including events, printed promotional materials, free and paid advertising, reward programs, joint promotions, word of mouth marketing, networking, social media etc.

PUT YOUR MESSAGES WHERE THEY REACH YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE

Lesson Structure

There are 10 lessons in this course:

1. Analysing the Market
   • Scope and nature of Promotions and Marketing,
   • Role of Marketing, Approaches to Marketing (The Production Approach: 1820sto 1910s, The Sales Approach: 1920s to 1960s, The Marketing Approach: Stage One – 1960s to 1980s, The Marketing Approach: Stage Two – 1980s to Present),
   • Goals of Marketing,
   • What makes people buy (Attitude, Defining attitudes, How attitudes form, Changing attitudes)
   • Practical Applications (Strengthen an existing attitude, Develop a change in attitude, Increase involvement, Focus on changing several different attitudes toward a product, Message Evaluation & Selection, Message execution, What words sell, Deciding to Buy, Rational Decisions, Heuristic Procedures),
   • Decision Making Process (Recognising a Problem, Seeking Information, Evaluating Alternatives, Purchase Processes),
   • Understanding Communication (Types, Methods, Channels, etc),
   • Managing the Marketing Process (Organising, Analysing, Select Targets, Develop the Mix, Managing the marketing Effort),
   • Market Research (Types of research, Gathering data), Managing the Marketing Plan
2. Target Marketing
   • The Process of Identifying a Target Market,
   • Micro marketing,
   • Developing a Marketing Plan,
   • Organising a Planning Process,
   • Reviewing (Mission statement, Goals & Objectives),
   • Establishing Market Objectives,
   • Increasing Market Share,
   • Expanding Product Mix,
   • Broadening Geographic Range,
   • Expansion through Export,
   • Maximising Customer Service,
   • Develop Objective Focussed Strategies,
   • Increasing Market Share,
   • Analysing Opportunities,
   • External Influences (General economy, Government, Overseas, Demographics, Technology, Changing customer values, Competitor activity, Alternative marketing methods);
   • Internal Influences (Resources, Market Share, Product characteristics, Advertising, Price, Financial capacity, Innovative potential);
   • Selecting Target Markets –Market Segmentation, Mass Marketing, Concentrated or Niche Markets, Differentiated Markets;
   • Physical Basis for Segmentation, Behavioural basis for Segmentation, Developing a Marketing Mix (Product, Price, Promotion, Distribution),
   • Brand Names, Symbols, Logos, Packaging, Positioning and Image, Providing warranties;
   • Price (Pricing Objectives, Pricing Methods, Cost-Price margin, Competition based Pricing, List and Discount Pricing)
3. Display and Display Techniques
   • Channels of Distribution,
   • Market Coverage (Intensive, Selective, Exclusive Distribution),
   • Warehousing,
   • Physical
   • Distribution and Coverage,
   • Inventory Control,
   • Determining Emphasis within Marketing Mix,
   • Product Life Cycle,
   • Product Strategy,
   • Shop Layout, Fixtures and Fittings, Space Available, Displaying Products for Sale,
   • What Sells Best,
   • Spacing, Quantity Displayed,
   • Merchandising Suggestions, Stock Control,
   • Merchandising Program,
   • Signs, Signposting.
4. Advertising and Promotions Strategy
   • Promotional Element,
   • Publicity,
   • Public Relations,
   • Forms of Advertising,
   • Sales Promotion,
   • Personal Selling Method,
   • Promotion Principles,
   • Scope of PR,
   • Steps in Designing a PR Strategy (Set Advertising Objectives, Decide Advertising Budget, Decide Advertising Message, Decide Media to Use, Evaluate Advertising Effectiveness).
5. New Product Development
   • Product Line Decisions,
   • New Products,
   • Tracking Trends,
   • Knowing Your Customers,
   • Packaging,
   • Cost-Benefit Analysis,
   • Financial Forecasting,
   • Project Revenues and Costs,
   • Expenditure Breakdown,
   • Revenue Breakdown.
6. Sales Techniques
   • Promotion and Sales,
   • Steps in the Sales Order,
   • Understanding Persuasion,
   • Materials of Persuasion (Know the Audience, Subject and Yourself, Influencing Opponents, Influencing Neutrals, Handling Criticism, Logical Persuasion);
   • Questioning,
   • Sales Staff Training, Theory of Helping, Strategies (Traditional Approach, Task Approach), Common Strategies for Staff Training and Teaching
7. Writing Advertisement
   • Purpose of Advertising,
   • Writing an Effective Advertisement,
   • Structure of an Ad,
   • Importance of Colour and Size,
   • Advertisement Creation (Develop Product Awareness, Provide Information, Develop a Desire, Develop Conviction, Differentiate Brand, Make a Decision),
   • The Advertising Message, Message Generation, Combining Rewards and Experiences to design a message, Delivering the Message,
   • Advertisement Creation Checklist,
   • Verification and Proofing
8. Electronic Marketing -Telephone & Email
   • Telephone Manner,
   • Managing an Unmanned Phone,
   • Internet Promotions ( Larger audience, Lower Conversion Factor, Different Etiquette, Different Cost Structures, etc),
   • Netiquitte,
   • Ways of Using Web, Web sites,
   • Site Construction, Site Use,
   • Emails
9. Direct Mailing
   • Types of Direct Mailing (The Direct, The Informative. The Reminder, The Utility);
   • Advantages,
   • Disadvantages,
   • Appropriateness
10. Exhibitions & Shows
    • Types of Exhibitions,
    • Judging it’s Value,
    • What can go Wrong,
    • Catering for People Overload,
    • Measuring Success,
    • Organising an Event,
    • Planning a Display

Each lesson culminates in an assignment which is submitted to the school, marked by the school's tutors and returned to you with any relevant suggestions, comments, and if necessary, extra reading.

Aims

• Analyse a market and understand what prompts people to choose one product or service over another.
• Determine the promotional effort on an identified target market.
• Explain how to organise and/or conduct displays.
• Plan an advertising program.
• Review a promotions campaign.
• Explain how to choose and develop marketing of new products and services.
• Explain how to organise and/or conduct promotions.
• Develop a sales approach for a product or service which has a difficult sales history.
• Plan a sales staff training program
• Develop different advertisements and different promotional leaflets or brochures
• Describe promotional and advertising techniques using electronic media, in particular the phone and the internet.
• Determine an appropriate direct mailing campaign.
• Design a show/exhibition stand
• Explain how to organise or conduct shows

What You Will Do

• EXAMPLES OF TASKS YOU MIGHT BE ASKED TO UNDERTAKE
• Go shopping (your routine weekly shopping if you like). Take notice of how different sales staff communicate with you. Note the techniques they use (verbal & non verbal), and how effective they are. Note the type of impression they seem to be creating. When you come home, write down notes on your observations.
• Look through newspapers or magazines at advertisements or articles which discuss products offered for sale and find what you consider to be good examples of each of the following types of communication:
  • Combination of verbal & non verbal communication together
  • Explain why you think these are good examples?
  • Select a product or service which you would like to improve the marketing of. This might be something you are dealing with in your own business or a business you work for; or it might be something you think has potential -an idea you would like to develop into a business OR something another business is dealing with, but not handling as well as what you think they should be.
  • Develop an advertising campaign for this product or service.
• You will need to select a method for determining an advertising budget, and then set that budget.
  • You will then need to find out the costs of advertising in different places.
  • You will then need to write advertisements for these various places. The campaign should be well targeted. NB: We do not expect you to present a highly detailed and involved campaign. This could take longer than the whole course! Put about 10 hours of work into this project, at the most, and then you will present what you have been able to achieve in that time. (You need to not only develop the ability to put a campaign together... but you need to be able to put it together within a reasonable time frame).

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Attract More Customers

The success of any business (or enterprise) depends upon finding customers (or clients) and converting them into business.

• PR and Advertising has the aim of attracting the customers
  
  
• Sales staff then take over and have the role of converting the potential customer into a deal

Marketing any product or service, will require you to do three things:

1. Make potential customers aware of what you offer
2. Nurture a relationship with potential customers that results in you becoming a preferred option for buying from
3. Engage and make a sale.

The first thing can be achieved through advertising. PR is required to achieve the second though. Both 1 & 2 are to no avail, if you can't make a sale though. Similarly, having the ability to make a sale is of little use if you can't attract customers and nurture a positive attitude in those potential customers.

This course is all about finding and preparing potential customers for the sale. If you then want to learn more about how to make the sale, consider taking our "sales skills" course as a follow on from this.

Some marketing professionals are specialists; with an ability to advertise only; promote only, or only sell. Others can be a jack of all trades, with broader abilities. 

Small business owners often need to become marketing professionals, out of necessity. This may be a very good reason to undertake this course.  Others pursue a marketing career because it interests or excites them (An equally valid reason for undertaking this course).

Some people have a personality that is more naturally suited to marketing than others.
You may not need to be a particularly gregarious person to be good at advertising; but many of the tasks involved in promoting and selling things, may require an assertive nature and social personality.

Not everyone can market themselves well. Businesses fail and disappear when their marketing campaigns are not successful; but succeed and grow when they are.

More often than not, businesses fail because they cannot get enough customers; not because they cannot produce enough products (or services).

The aim of advertising and public relations is simple. Advertising is all about getting noticed. Public relations is about developing and reinforcing a positive awareness. Having people aware of your existence, does not guarantee they think highly of you, but when effective advertising combines with effective public relations, awareness and reputation will both strengthen.

WHY DO THIS COURSE?

This course is for anyone wanting to attract more customers to their business, launch their career in advertising and promotions or add a valuable marketing skill to their CV.

• Business owners will improve their understanding and awareness of how to make their business more visible to potential customers.
• People with some experience or training in marketing or sales may widen and strengthen their perception of how to promote any type of product or service.
• You will understand how to systematically develop a promotional campaign that reduces the risk of wasting money, and increases the likelihood of success.

Graduates from this course will have a changed outlook on advertising and promotion. You are likely to notice advertising and promotions by other businesses in a different way, as you go about your daily life. Whether in broadcast or print media, shopping centres or exhibitions, you will see what others are doing to promote their businesses and products, and have a deeper perception about what they are doing. When you see promotions that work and can be translated to your own situation, you will remember them. When you see advertising, you will analyse it and see both strong and weak points.