Table of Contents
*This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
Sales promotional marketing requires an attitude that consumers need to be constantly pushed toward buying products and services, NOW!
Because a promotional strategy is for a short-term lift in sales, push models measuring the effects of a specific, short-term promotion strategy may out-trump a long-term brand strategy designed to pull consumers toward a brand, when quarterly sales numbers are reviewed.
Balancing sales promotion push marketing short-term results with the long-term effects of pull marketing is a process every brand builder needs to be conscious of if you truly wish to grow your brand.
Managing The Price Value Equation
Whether you are building a small business or promoting an established brand, balancing and adjusting a push and pull strategy is the key to long-term success. Apple is a brand that effectively uses a pull marketing strategy. The brand has established an image that creates demand for their products without the use of sales promotional techniques. Customers camp out, in-line, to pay full price with every product launch due to the awareness the brand creates prior to launch. This extraordinary level of demand creation took many years of focused determination to achieve and perfect.
When launching a new product or revitalizing an established brand sales promotion is effective to induce trial and encourage brand switching. Brand advertising should be balanced with a promotional strategy, with more promotion at launch/re-launch and a gradual reduction as consumers experience the value your product provides. As the perceived benefits of your brand increase, consumers are willing to pay for the value they get from your product.
From Push To Pull
With social media and internet marketing added to the media mix, brands are more able to target specific market segments to build word-of-mouth and viral content to create demand (pull). Large marketing organizations have been effectively using Marketing Mix Models to identify their Return On Marketing Investment (ROMI) for many years. With the discrepancy between short-term promotional results and long-term brand building strategies there has been controversy as to the effectiveness of brand building strategies. Continually adapting the models being developed has been effective in balancing the effects of traditional media with social media/web-based sales along with short-term push strategies against long-term pull strategies.
