The promotional mix consists of a blend of personal selling, sales promotion and advertising, public relation tools. Promotion Element Advantages Disadvantages Sales Promotion -good for building awareness with the consumer -effective at reaching a wide audience market -repetition of main brand and product positioning helps build consumer trust and loyalty - impersonal ? as the business cannot answer all customer queries - hard to get the customer to make up their mind on making a final buy Personal Selling - lots of communication between the buyer and the seller - easier to communicate all pros and cons with consumers giving detailed features and product information - when closing the sale, the seller can develop a long time relationship with the consumer - as it involves a member of staff, it can be costly to run a sales team - if there are many buyers involved, it might not be a viable option Sales Promotion - good as a short - term method of communication - if targeting the right promotional incentives on certain products, sales promotion can quickly increase sales - customers may get used to the effect of the incentives if used in the long term - the brand image might be damaged to due too much promotion as it gets too repetitive Public Relations - the company's image might seem more credible as it is seen through a third party such as the tv, magazines, internet etc...

During the growth stage, the goal is to gain consumer preference and increase sales. The marketing mix may be modified as follows: Product - New product features and packaging options; improvement of product quality...

It is an effective way to manage personal customer relationships. The sales person acts on behalf of the organization. They are well trained in the approaches and techniques of personal selling...

In order to achieve marketing involvement in product identification and promotion you should use the marketing tactics of price, place, product, and promotion...