The impact of promotion on customer patronage or business growth cannot be overemphasized. Many people decide to buy some products or pay for certain services because of the huge impact of repeated advertisement which drives the desire to explore. Statistical evidence has shown that companies that invest heavily in advertising are always in the limelight and the minds of people. Promotion creates awareness of a product and helps the goodwill of a company by gaining customer loyalty.
Since promotion is an offshoot of marketing, let us take a step backward by reviewing our understanding of marketing. In general terms, marketing is the activities a company takes to promote the buying and selling of products or services. The activity includes advertising, selling, delivery of products, and rendering services to customers and other businesses. It involves a company taking actions to gain customers and maintain relationships with them. Marketing makes use of the marketing mix known as the four Ps- Product, price, place, and promotion to achieve set objectives. Marketing is about the people first. Developing creative ideas to meet the need of people thereby mutually benefiting both customers and the company.
Promotion is a significant marketing mix that has an immediate impact on customers or intending customers. People say that marketing gives your business a voice and I believe that the promotion of products keeps the voice alive. Most of us can conveniently recite radio or television jingles of products we learned many years ago as a child. Amazingly, some of these products we still patronize now. When we walk into a store, we easily relate to familiar items before considering an alternative either due to price or taste. When asked to choose from several options of items, we often pick that which we have little idea not necessarily due to preference but due to curiosity to confirm the information gotten about the item via advertisement. What this means is that, without considering other factors that may impact our final decision on products, our first choice of product is often based on promotional content, after which we begin to consider other factors like quantity, prices, and so on. It is common knowledge that the millennial generation is motivated by creative works. Sometimes we wonder why a company like Google still invests in advertisement. My reaction to the first Google advert I saw was “what a waste”. Is it a waste? What do you think a company like Google intend to achieve by incurring additional cost on advertisement?
The promotion of products shows the creativity in man. This creativity is easily absorbed by many, thereby creating clear communication of the product between customers and a company. No wonder many advertising agencies receive a high premium in exchange for their services and marketing team are well-paid in most companies.
In my opinion, promotion plays a significant role in influencing customers’ decisions as it attracts and arouses the interest of customers to buy a product. What do think?
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