Performance Indicators:

Explain the role of promotion as a marketing function (PR:001) (CS)

• As one of the 4Ps, Promotion is the means you get the information out about your business and the goods or services you offer or to elevate to a higher standing. 

  • Can be about your product or about your institution

  • You cannot sell your product if no one knows about it

• Ties in with the customer-oriented part of marketing—you need to interact with your customers → promotion is how you do this

  • How does promotion assist in marketing – selling more product

Explain the types of promotion (i.e., institutional, product) (PR:002) (CS)

• Institutional promotion is a marketing approach that demonstrates the goodwill of an organization or individual in order to boost its public relations appeal. 

• Product promotion is to inform, persuade and influence the consumer's decisions on a certain product. You can advertise these things by using TV ads, billboards, magazine ads, buyer and seller interactions, public relations activities, etc.

Identify the elements of the promotional mix (PR:003) (SP)

Acronym: PPADS + DS (personal selling, public relations, advertising, direct marketing, sales promotion + digital marketing, sponsorship) or PPADDSS

1. Direct Marketing – reach out to specific companies or people

   1. Emails, direct mail, phone calls, flyers

2. Sales promotion – ST initiatives to boost sales

   1. Flash discounts, coupons, loyalty reward programs

3. Digital marketing – very efficient

   1. Content marketing, SEO, social media

4. Personal selling – may be face to face or telemarketing. Meant to build a sense of personal relationship (car dealership)

5. General advertising – doesn’t target a specific audience. 

   1. Mass marketing – magazines, billboards, radios, television

   2. Used to promote to first time audience, establish a brand in the market, and launch new products

6. Public relations – influence how an audience sees it. 

   1. Press releases, publicity stunts, social media endorsements

7. Sponsorships – pay a famous person or influential figure to get their approval

Don’t mix direct and personal marketing up – “Direct marketing involves mail, email, brochures, catalogs, flyers, database marketing, newsletters, coupons, social media, and texting campaigns. Personal selling, on the other hand, involves salespeople using their skills and abilities to convince the customers to buy products”

Describe the use of business ethics in promotion (PR:099) (SP)

• Customers are more likely to buy from companies and brands that they trust; being transparent with how things are run, what the priorities are (safety, which is tied with ethics), and the measures taken to prevent harming any group

Describe the use of technology in the promotion function (PR:100) (SP) [src]

• Digital forms of promotion

  • Viral marketing

  • E-newsletters, email

  • Influencer marketing 

  • Chat bots

  • Social media in general

    • Streaming

    • Videos: Long-form educational content and Short-form videos

    • Blogging 

• Technology streamlines and provides a new means of promotion in the current time and age that can reach an extremely wide audience

• This is a trend of 2023, so you can connect this to the current day for extra points with the judge :D

“A martech stack refers to a collection of technology tools and platforms that marketers use to manage and optimize their marketing activities. Easy enough, right?

When considering your martech [marketing technology tools] stack, here are eight types of tools to keep in mind:

• Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tools: Manage and nurture customer relationships effectively.

• Content Management System (CMS): Simplify content creation, publishing, and management.

• Email Marketing Software: Automate personalized email campaigns and track engagement.

• Social Media Management Platforms: Schedule, analyze, and engage with your audience across social media channels.

• Marketing Automation Tools: Streamline repetitive tasks, segment audiences, and deliver targeted campaigns.

• Analytics and Reporting Tools: Gain valuable insights into your marketing performance and measure ROI.

• Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Software: Optimize your website to rank higher in search engine results.

• Advertising Platforms: Run targeted ads across various channels and track campaign effectiveness.”

Describe the regulation of promotion (PR:101) (SP)

• Truth in advertising: This regulation requires that all advertising claims must be truthful and not misleading to consumers.

• Endorsement disclosure: This regulation requires that businesses disclose any paid endorsements or testimonials in their advertising.

• Comparative advertising: This regulation requires that businesses make truthful and accurate comparisons between their products and those of their competitors.

• Children's advertising: This regulation imposes restrictions on advertising targeted at children, such as prohibiting advertising for certain products and limiting the use of certain marketing techniques.

• Health claims: This regulation requires that businesses substantiate any health claims made in their advertising and that such claims must not be false or misleading.

• Sweepstakes and contests: This regulation requires that businesses conduct their sweepstakes and contests in a fair and ethical manner, including disclosing the odds of winning and any restrictions on participation.

• In a nutshell: don’t lie, don’t use copyrighted material that isn’t yours, be careful with children (COPPA) etc.

Performance Element: Understand promotional channels used to communicate with targeted audiences. 

Performance Indicators:

Explain types of advertising media (PR:007) (SP)

Consider the terrible acronym BOOPAS

1. Broadcast Media

2. Online Media

3. Outdoor Media

   1. Billboards, street furniture, transit media

4. Print Media

   1. Newspapers, posters, etc.

5. Ambient Media

   1. Unconventional formats like airplanes writing stuff in the air or holding banners, holographic images in public spaces, etc. 

6. Specialty Media

   1. Recall the three components of specialty media: given freely, useful, and have the advertiser’s logo or marking on it

Or more simply: print, broadcast, online, specialty/other

Describe word-of-mouth channels used to communicate with targeted audiences (PR:247) (SP)

• Word of mouth - Getting people to talk about your business

  • Organic - it just happens. Imagine just telling a friend you recommend something spontaneously

  • Amplified - it’s planned

    • I.e. you pay someone to give a testimonial

    • “Amplified word-of-mouth promotion involves the use of planned efforts (campaigns) in which the business provides specific information to customers (activists) to pass along to their friends, family, and business contacts.”

• Can be more specific than just hoping people talk: 

  • Customer Referral and Refer-a-friend Programs -  incentivize happy customers to recommend products to their friends and family.

    • Freebies that come as a result of referral

  • Influencer and Brand Ambassador Programs

    • People trust influencers more than companies

    • Influencers - already established opinion leaders who influence

  • Affiliate Marketing - “publishers earn a commission by promoting a product or service made by another retailer or advertiser using an affiliate link”

  • Partner Programs

  • Evangelist Marketing - develops volunteers or advocates and encourages them to spread the word (influencers/affiliate sort of implies they’re already famous)

  • Product Seeding - gifting samples to influential people to increase reach.

• Generally a useful way to market as people tend to trust people they’re familiar with more than a faceless business

  • Builds credibility and trust

Explain the nature of direct marketing channels (PR:089) (SP)

• Direct marketing - goes straight to the customers who are most likely to buy. 

• Examples

  • Telemarketing

  • Email marketing

  • Text marketing

  • Direct (snail)mail

  • Direct selling

  • Social media marketing

• Benefits:

  • It goes straight to the person most likely to buy in the first place

  • Affordable 

  • Measurable

• Legal considerations (!! just for those bonus creativity points lmao)

  • National Do No Call Registry run by the FTC - allows you to report unwanted calls and legally groups cannot call numbers on it

  • The FTC Act prohibits unfair and deceptive advertising in any medium affecting commerce including direct mail solicitation in its section 5 (15 USC 45)

Identify communications channels used in sales promotion (PR:249) (SP)

• Same as the BOOPAS of advertising (Or more simply: print, broadcast, online, specialty/other)

• Can be categorized into push and pull

  • Pull marketing - draws customers to the product/encourages them to seek it out - goes directly to the ultimate consumers

    • Examples: SEO, social media, cross-promotion

  • Push marketing - brings the brand or product to customers - aimed toward intermediaries rather than the ultimate customers

    • Examples: targeted emails, POS marketing, TV advertising

    • I.e. if other businesses literally don't know you exist, then that is a problem. 

• What are the benefits/drawbacks of both? 

  • Push - best way to get word of your business out

    • If you’re working with a supplier to get the word out, you may have to split costs

    • Focuses on ST sales

  • Pull - building buzz in the market

    • May not cater to the target market

  • Wise to utilize both options

• Other means of promotion

  • POS  promotion - any display, sign, or other visible advertisement that is placed next to a product in a retail setting to draw customers' attention

    • Extremely powerful when customers are undecided about which product to purchase—or when they are simply browsing. 

  • Free-standing insert - an advertising leaflet or brochure that is inserted into a magazine, newspaper, or other publication

  • Product demonstration - showing customers how a product works, generally in a retail setting

  • Business-to-business promotion - any promotional effort directed from one business toward another

Explain communications channels used in public-relations activities (PR:250) (SP)

• Controlled media - control what it says since it’s from your company

  • Company communication and advertising

  • This is a long list, so just some examples

    • The BOOPAS of advertising

    • Brochures, handbooks, flyers, blogs, social media, etc. 

    • Internal audience? Memos, email, by phone, etc. 

  • Literally any other channel you use for marketing can probably be used for PR

• Uncontrolled media - you don’t get any say in what they’re saying about you. Usually more credible

• PESO model of media used: (!! visual)

  • Paid - purchase publicity through buying advertisements (billboards, print ads, digital ads, etc.) 

  • Earned - an independent party who you didn’t pay talking about you (more credible type)

  • Shared - audience interaction through creating content that is SHARED

  • Owned - publicity your company directly controls

Performance Element: Understand the use of an advertisement's components to communicate with targeted audiences.

Performance Indicators:

Explain the components of advertisements (PR:014) (SP)

• The headline - immediate benefit or reason to learn more (usually big text, eye-catching)

• The body – additional details

• Call to Action – adds a sense of urgency

• Smart Ad placement – find the right audience for your adverts

• Please coordinate elements. I’m begging you. 

Explain the importance of coordinating elements in advertisements (PR:251) (SP)

• Graphic design - you need the elements to be pleasing to the eye so that it clearly and concisely conveys your message

  • Good graphic design is design you don’t notice. Bad design sticks out and distracts you from the message

  • White space is super important in this regard

• If things are muddled and unclear, then people will not only be confused but may think badly about your company as a result. This is the importance of editors, graphic designers, etc. 

• Similarly the tone of the entire advertisement must be consistent — if it changes abruptly, it can be very dissonant to the viewer

• The tone must also match your brand – I would not advise putting together bright graphics and a cheerful mood for a funeral home

Performance Element: Understand the use of public-relations activities to communicate with targeted audiences.

Performance Indicators:

Identify types of public-relations activities (PR:252) (SP) [src]

• Goal of PR: used to help an organization cultivate a good relationship with the public and maintain a positive relationship with stakeholders

• Types: 

  • Strategic communications  - coordinated to help the company achieve its goals 

  • Media relations - sending press releases or pitching interviews into the media outlet → a good relationship to spread key messages. Creating stories for media while the organization looks for exposure is a win win :D 

  • Community relations - directly engage with the community or audience

  • Internal communications - keep employees loyal, satisfied, and engaged

  • Crisis communications - take a planned and consistent approach to crisis management with a clear plan in place and strong relationships built up

  • Public affairs - lobbying. Involved in relations with politicians, government officials, etc. 

  • Online and social media - online PR is important in generating leads, building brand relationships, etc. in the current year 🫡

  • Speaking engagements for employees

Discuss internal and external audiences for public-relations activities (PR:253) (SP) [src]

• Audiences are whoever the PR activities are targeted out

• Internal - people inside your business, management or very closely affiliated with it 

  • Importance: treating them as valued stakeholders establishes trust, enhances engagement, while making sure employees are better informed

  • Cognitive dissonance between the public face and the employee experience can lead to mistrust, cynicism, and affect morale

  • Employees can expose the reality of life in the current social media landscape – don’t turn them against you

• External - everyone else. The public, the media, your audience, etc. 

  • Building relationships with the community and media may come in handy for promotions or having credibility in times of crisis