the main Marketing Marketing Basics - Kotler Philip

Marketing Basics - Kotler Philip

Pre-trial sales promotion program

Whenever possible, all marketing incentives used should be pre-tested and made sure that they are suitable and provide the necessary incentives. But today less than 42% of all proposals related to the distribution of premiums undergo preliminary testing23.

Implementation of a sales promotion program

For each sales promotion event, the firm should develop a separate plan covering both the preparatory period and the period of active commerce. The preparatory period is the time required to prepare the program before it begins. The period of active commerce lasts from the moment the event begins and ends with its cessation.

Evaluation of the results of the sales promotion program

Evaluating the results of a sales promotion program is crucial, but it is rarely given due attention24. When manufacturers still do the assessment, they can use one of four methods. Most often they use the method of comparing sales indicators before, during and after the incentive program. Suppose that before the campaign, the company occupied a 6% market share, which grew to 10% during the program, fell to 5% immediately after its completion, and after a while rose to 7%. This means that the incentive program, in all likelihood, attracted new customers to the product “for trial” and ensured an increase in purchases from existing customers. At the end of the campaign, sales fell because consumers used their accumulated stocks for some time. The final stabilization with an increase of up to 7% indicates that the company has acquired a certain number of new users of its product. If the market share of the brand stabilized at the level that existed before the campaign, this would mean that the incentive program affected only the nature of the distribution of demand over time, without affecting its general level.

Data on the consumer panel will show which particular groups of people responded to the incentive program and how they began to behave after it ended. When it is necessary to obtain additional information, it is possible to conduct consumer surveys to find out how many of them recall incentive campaigns, what they thought at the time of its implementation, how many took advantage of the offered benefits, as it affected their subsequent purchasing behavior in terms of brand selection. Sales promotion measures can also be evaluated through experiments in which the value value of the stimulus, the duration of its action, and the means of disseminating information about it are changed.

It is clear that sales promotion plays an important role in the framework of the incentive complex as a whole. Its use requires a clear statement of tasks, selection of suitable tools, development of action programs, preliminary testing of it, implementation and evaluation of the results achieved.