Sales are short-term communications that increase interest in a product.
The goals of marketing communication are informing, persuading or reminding. In the four "P"s of the marketing mix (price, place, promotion and product) marketing communication fulfills the promotion aspect. Marketing communication is most often meant to encourage consumers to buy a product by building awareness and announcing the benefits of the product. Marketing communication has it's own mix, often knows as Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC). Advertising, personal selling, sales promotion, public relations and direct marketing are all IMC components.
Advertising
Advertising is paid, impersonal marketing communication. Advertising space is bought by a business from mass media providers, such as TV and radio stations, magazines, Internet sites and billboards. Advertising contacts the masses in the hopes that it will reach some members of a target market. Advertisements are effective at reaching many people at once. Advertising drawbacks include high costs and difficulty in measuring the success of the communications.
Personal Selling
Personal selling involves a flow of communication between the seller and the consumer. This customized communication usually comes from paid salespeople. Personal selling helps sellers understand and address buyers' concerns through immediate feedback. The sales person informs and the consumer responds with questions or comments until persuaded to buy (hopefully). One advantage to personal selling is that much of the interaction is in direct control of the seller.
Sales Promotion
Promotions are value-driven short-term events designed to raise overall interest in the product. Sweepstakes, rebates, coupons, samples and sales are all examples of sales promotions. These mass communications vary widely in price, contingent partly on the amount taken off the initial price. Sales promotions communications are flexible enough to use without as much planning as some other types of communication. Sales are also great at changing short-term consumer behavior.
Public Relations
Public relations communications seek to change consumer attitudes on a mass level without using paid media advertisements. Special events, product image management, lobbying and press conferences are all examples of public relations communications. Consumers see public relations messages as more credible then other types of marketing communications. This type of communication is low-control, as public relations relies on the cooperation of media outlets, which isn't necessary guaranteed.
Direct Marketing
Direct marketing is customized communication that reach consumers over the telephone, through ground mail, through email or through other Internet sources. Direct marketing can be easy to prepare and to target toward a specific audience. The downside to direct marketing is the maintenance cost of the customer or target audience database. In some instances, it also can be difficult to engage consumers enough for them to respond.
Tags: public relations, customized communication, Direct marketing, direct marketing, interest product, other types, relations communications