Ways to Rapidly Promote Your Business this Year

Businesses in East Africa and in particular in Kenya are undergoing an urgent need to reinvent themselves even in these high economic times. One way that such dynamic businesses are employing is the use of Sales Promotions. Sales promotions are a short-term marketing tactic used by businesses to create urgency and increase sales, it is implemented to attract new customers, hold present customers, counteract competition, and take advantage of opportunities that are revealed by the market, and are a key ingredient in marketing campaigns. Unless this sales promotion is adequately put to use, it will keep affecting the perception of your business and your sales. In today’s competitive market, sales promotion comes handy to a marketer in meeting the short-term sales requirements. It serves as a supportive activity for advertising and personnel selling.

Also Read:

1. FMCG Operations – How to win in a rapidly changing environment.
2. Content Marketing for FMCG Industries Today. 
3. How to Conduct Market Evaluation for your Business.

Sales promotion uses both media and non-media marketing communications for a pre-determined, limited time to increase consumer demand, stimulate market demand or improve product availability. Businesses use incentive-type promotions to attract new users, reward loyal customers and increase the repurchase rates of occasional users. Sales promotions often attract brand switchers, who are primarily looking for low prices, good value, or premiums.

Sales promotion to your business can engage in.

Your business should give customers that period in a year to look forward to as your business will be offering good deals for goods that you sell. Consumer promotions stimulate consumers’ interests in products, services, activities, and special events.

1. Price discounts – The customer pays less amount of money than the normal price of the product is purchased within a specified period of time, this promotes short-term sales increase and can also help product sales during the off-season.

There are three types of price discounts promotions:

1. Reduced Price Pack: Reduced Price pack is usually a single product offered at a reduced price.
2. Multiple Packs: Multiple packs are two or more packs of a product sold at a reduced price.
3. A bonded pack is a set of two products that go hand in hand when used bonded together at a reduced price. For example, a pack containing toothpaste and a toothbrush.

2. Bonus pack – This is a type of sales promotion where the customer gets an additional product, the seller might attach a large quantity of product with one or two similar products at a low price. This is a case of buy one get one free.
3. Samples– Sampling of products is aimed at introducing the product trial and letting the customer have a firsthand experience with the product or service. The consumer is given small samples of the products free of cost or allowed to use the product during a specified period. When your business is introducing a new product you should probably go for sampling. Free samples attempt to influence the consumers to purchase your products.
4. Frequent user rewards – businesses should consider giving rewards to the frequent repeating clients, this will encourage purchase and product loyalty, and one-time customers may also be motivated to be frequent clients.
5. Contests – Customers are engaged in contests where they can get prizes, most contests are usually trivia questions, writing about the product, and participating in video challenges. All such contests generate considerable interest amongst the consumers and ultimately lead to increased demand for the product.
6. Flash sales – A flash sale is basically an offer that only lasts for a limited time and it’s a great way to create a sense of urgency for the customer to buy. Many businesses are now adopting this strategy as a way to sell more products and get rid of surplus stock.

The main goal of sales promotion for your business is to bring about change in the demand pattern of products and services that you offer. The following are reasons why your business should engage in sales promotion.

• Helps your business to remain more competitive: Most businesses undertake sales promotion activities in order to remain in the competitive market. Therefore in the modern competitive world, no business can escape the responsibility of undertaking sales promotion activities.
• To attract new customers: Sales promotion also plays an important role in attracting new customers to a business. Usually, new customers are those persons that are won away from other businesses. Samples, gifts, prizes, etc. are used to encourage consumers to try a new brand and recommend the brand to others.
• To introduce new products or services: Sales promotion is often used to motivate prospective consumers to try new products and services. Dealers are also induced to introduce new products and services in the market. Usually, free samples are provided through dealers during such introduction. Similarly, discounts in cash or goods may also be offered to the dealers to stock new products.
• To increase the sales in the off-season: some products have seasonal demand. Businesses dealing with such types of goods make every effort to maintain a stable demand throughout the year. In other words, businesses try to encourage the purchase of such goods in the off-season also. That is the main reason behind discounts and off-season price deductions of such items in the market during the slack season.

• To induce existing customers to buy more: Sales promotions devices are most often used to induce the existing customers of a firm to buy more. Product development offerings, three products at the cost of two, discount coupons are some of the sales promotion devices used by the firms to motivate the existing buyers to buy more of a specific product.

Also Read:

1. Benefits of Conducting Market Evaluation for your Business
2. Optimizing Outbound Logistics to increase profitability.
3. The Future of Workforce in Manufacturing Industries.

There are so many reasons why your business should consider sales promotion, trade deals can help coordinate activities within a marketing channel, ensuring that the participants are striving to maximize profitability for all firms.  Sales promotion can be used as a competitive tool to temporarily steal market share from competitors, protect one’s own market share, and can be used to price discriminate against some consumers, raising the overall profitability of the firm.

Mombasa, Kenya.

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