The 'promotional mix' is a term used to describe the set of tools that a business can use to communicate effectively the benefits of its products or services to its customers. The promotional mix includes advertising, public relations, sales promotion, direct marketing and of course - personal selling.

So - What do you do?

If customers do not know what products and services you provide, then your business will not survive in today's competitive marketplace. Effective communication with your customers is vital to ensure that your business generates sales and profits.

By taking the time to develop and implement an appropriate promotional mix, you will stimulate your target audience to buy your products or services - and manage this within a budget you can afford.

A balanced promotion

A successful promotional mix uses a balance of its five tools in a planned and structured way - a single tool rarely works well in isolation.

The challenge is to select the right mix of promotional activities to suit your particular business at a particular time - and to then use it correctly to achieve a result. The combination of tools you use will depend on the target audience, the message you wish to communicate and the budget you make available. There would be little point in advertising new gas boilers in a fashion magazine - much more appropriate to advertise in a trade magazine for builders and gas fitters.

Here is a 10-step checklist for developing and managing your promotional mix

• Decide how the products and services you provide can be 'packaged' together. The image of your business is formed by the way you promote the elements of the marketing mix - your products, prices and the places through which you sell. It is often helpful to think about promoting the business as opposed to a single product or service.
• Develop a profile of the target audience for the message you will communicate. Who is the target audience? This goes beyond a simple customer list. Is it consumers, businesses or members of the channel (such as distributors) you are using to get your product to the end customer? Is it the wider stakeholder audience?
• Decide on the message to use. Are you trying to differentiate, remind, inform or persuade? Set an objective for what should be achieved. Be clear about the benefits that you want to promote.
• Decide what image of the product/service/business you want your audience to retain.
• Decide on a budget. This is often how much you can afford given projected sales for the product or service.
• Decide how the message should be delivered. To help you to decide what aspects of the promotional mix to use, think about taking your customers on a journey that starts by creating awareness about your business, through obtaining information about the products and services you provide, and ends by generating a sale. Each component of the mix will achieve a different result, so your choice must be based on real objectives for your business. What promotional tools should be used? When should communications happen? How often? Is the message consistent?
• Decide what actions you want your audience to take as a result of receiving your communication. It isn't always 'place an order'.
• Put in place a means of measuring and controlling the plan once it is developed. Who will be responsible for dealing with the agency or media? Who will be responsible for checking that promotional activity happens as planned?
• Undertake your promotional plan. Be consistent in what you say and how you say it.
• Measure what you have achieved against the original objectives that you set.

What you need to know

To use the promotional mix effectively, you need to understand a little bit more about each of the five tools and how you could use them to achieve your objectives.