Promotion. Here are ways to improve promotion:

• Public Relation – This is about promoting the image of the business, for example by sponsoring local events, or being involved in education projects, or having positive articles in newspapers.

• Sales Promotion – This includes things like special offers, money back/ off coupons, free gifts, competitions, club cards, point of sale display.

• Advertising – Is the process of communicating information about a product or service to as many customers in the target market as possible in a way which arouses their interest so they are encouraged to buy. Advertising can use such media as newspapers, magazines, posters, TV, radio and cinema.

Here are the advantages of the different methods:

• Packaging – The packaging can sometimes just sell the product by itself, having a good package can usually increase sales, a professional package might improve “brand image”.

• Personal Selling – this can also increase sales as the product will be promoted primarily, this can also be used to build up the customers trust and their “reliability on the shop” for good customer service.

•  Public Relation – This will improve brand image as customers will recognise “that logo”. It will also increase the numbers that will enter the shop because more people will know about it.

• Sales Promotion – This will increase sales and increase the number of customers.

 

• Advertising – This can increase sales, increase customers, improve brand image; it can do anything as long as it is used in the correct way.

Here are the Disadvantages of the different methods:

• Packaging – This will usually cost the firm more money because of the colour printing and paper etc, it will also take up more space. It causes the firm to lose a vague amount of money.

 

• Personal Selling – This will require more staff if there is a lot of customers, and more staff equals more wages to pay, so this could be quite expensive. The customers might want a staff bothering them, so they might be put off the shop due to this method. 

• Public Relation – It will require the firm to hire a person to make the logos for the sponsors, if used in the wrong placed the firm could lose a lot of money.

• Sales Promotion – This could cause the firm to lose profit if the number of customers going to the firm do not increase, you will also have to advertise the fact that you are doing this, which could lead to a loss of money.

• Advertising – If used wrongly it decrease sales, decrease the number of customers, make a negative brand image, it could destroy the firm if used wrongly.

I will be using the following methods:

• Public Relation – because I need to improve brand image. This will cost me quite a bit of money say about £500 per place I want to sponsor, but it will pay off as hopefully I will get more customers, and more people will know about my business. It will also suit my main objective which is to survive and to get more people to be aware of my shop.
• Advertising – I will advertise on radio and the local newspaper so I can get people to be aware of my shop. I will use the profit that I gained in the first few months to advertise on radio and the local newspaper to increase the popularity of my shop and to get more customers it will help for my shop to survive the rest of the year.

I won’t be able to afford any other types of promotion during the first few months because profit will be scarce and I will have to spend most of my capital on setting up the shop and stock, I will use the money left over for promotion.

 

I will also be making a promotional leaflet that I will be sending out to people, to get them to be aware of my shop. I will be sending out at local events such as football matches etc and also at the local shopping centre.