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IMC - Integrated Marketing Communications

Integrated Marketing Communications is a simple concept. It ensures that all forms of

communications and messages are carefully linked together. At its most basic level, Integrated
Marketing Communications, or IMC, as we'll call it, means integrating all the promotional
tools, so that they work together in harmony.

Fully Integrated Campaign

Integrated marketing communications (IMC) is an approach to creating unified and

seamless brand experience for consumers across channels. Integrated marketing is astrategy
aimed at unifying different marketing methods such as mass marketing, one-to-one marketing,
and direct marketing.

What is an IMC campaign?

An integrated marketing campaign is the application of consistent brand messaging across both
traditional (e.g. direct mail) and non-traditional (e.g. social media) marketing channels and
using different promotional methods to reinforce each other.
An integrated marketing campaign combines multiple channels such as content, email, display
advertising and social media in order to promote a consistent message to a specific audience.
The main goal of most integrated campaigns is to convert viewers into customers.

Marketing communication / Promotion of Products

Promotion also know as marketing communications are the means by which firms attempt to
inform, persuade, and remind consumers directly or indirectly about the products and brands
they sell. It is one of the 4Ps or 7Ps of marketing mix as the case may be.

Promotion mix: According to Kotler & Kevin Keller there are eight modes of communication

• Advertising • Direct marketing

• Sales promotion • Interactive marketing

• Events and experience • Word of mouth marketing

• Public relations and publicity • Personal selling

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Designing promotion campaign

• Identify the target audience: loyal, current, prospective, deciders or influencers groups
or individuals.

• Determine objective : here the organization will decide the objectives and goals of the
promotion campaign that is to be achieved. awareness or instructions

• Design communications: what is to be communicated, the content of the promotion

campaign will decide here. [message, creative, source]

• Select channels: personal or non personal routes can be used for promoting the product.

• Establish budget: cost benefit analysis.

• Decide on media mix: what type of media or combination of media is suitable for the
campaign? [TV, Radio, Press etc]

• Measure results

Promotion Mix

It is not enough for a business to have good products sold at attractive prices. To generate sales
and profits, the benefits of products have to be communicated to customers. In marketing, this is
commonly known as "promotion". A business' total marketing communications programme is
called the "promotional mix" and consists of a blend of advertising, publicity, personal selling,
direct marketing sales promotion, events and experience, interactive marketing and public
relations tools.

Advertising: Any paid form of non-personal communication of ideas or products in the "prime
media": i.e. television, newspapers, magazines, billboard posters, radio, cinema etc. Advertising
is intended to persuade and to inform.

Personal Selling: Oral communication with potential buyers of a product with the intention of
making a sale. The personal selling may focus initially on developing a relationship with the
potential buyer, but will always ultimately end with an attempt to "close the sale".

Direct marketing: is a channel free approach in marketing communication. Here the company
deals with its customers directly without the help of any intermediaries.

Sales promotion: Sales promotion includes several communications activities that attempt to
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provide added valueor incentives to consumers, wholesalers, retailers, or other organizational

customers to stimulate immediate sales.

Public relations (PR): includes information that an organization wants its public (customers,
employees, stakeholders, general public) to know. PR involves creating a positive image for a
company, an offering, or a person via publicity. PR has become more important in recent years
because there are now so many media outlets people pay attention to, including YouTube, social
networking sites, and blogs.

Publicity: The communication of a product, brand or business by placing information about it in

the media without paying for the time or media space directly. It is defined as free cost no cost
advertisement.

Experiential Marketing: Also called as XM, engagement marketing, or ground marketing. This
approach is usually a hands-on experience designed to encourage individuals to engage and
participate in an event. This marketing approach is also usually part of a current event or maybe
the event itself.

Interactive marketing: Interactive marketing is a marketing strategy that focuses on one-to-one

interaction and customer communication. It involves marketing efforts based on consumer
behavior, which distinguishes it from traditional forms of marketing.

Major components of promotional mix are given below with explanations.

Advertisement

Meaning and definition of Advertisement

Advertising is derived from the term “Advertere” which means “ to turn” .according to John E.
Kennedy "Advertising is salesmanship in print.” American Marketing Association (AMA) -
"Advertising means any paid form of non-personal presentation and promotion of ideas, goods,
or services by an identified sponsor."

Advertising is nothing but a paid form of non-personal presentation or promotion of ideas, goods
or services by an identified sponsor with a view to disseminate information concerning an idea,
product or service. The message which is presented or disseminated is called advertisement.

The characteristics of advertisement are given below.

• Paid communication an advertiser or sponsor pays mass media like TV, the Internet, Radio,
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Newspapers, Magazines, Hoarding, etc. for successful communication of an advertisement.

Advertiser fully controls such a paid communication.

• Non-personal communication: It doesn't focus only an individual else targets all potential
customers at once. It overcomes the limitations encountered in selling in person using one-to-one
communication. It is an effective non-personal sales tool.

• Identified sponsor: an advertisement mention in its message the name, contact details and related
information of a sponsoring entity. It also has brand-names or trademarks of goods and/or services,
which give additional information about its source.

• Marketing tool: Advertising is presentation and promotion of ideas, products, services, events,
etc. in the market. It is thus, a marketing tool.

• Main purpose: Advertising has three main intentions viz., inform, educate and persuade.

• Creative process: Advertising is a creative process that involves brain-storming or imagination

for bringing out original ideas.

• Requires planning: The advertising-plan must be effective, efficient and capable enough to
capture market and increase sales of an advertiser or sponsor.

• Needs careful preparation: message should be carefully drafted, prepared and published under
guidance and scrutiny of expert professionals. Immense care must be taken to see that
advertisement don't indirectly hurt the sentiments of people on sensitive issues like racism,
religion, politics, etc

• Placement of advertisement: Advertising success even depends upon where an advertisement is

supposed to be placed

Main features of advertisement are It is directed towards increasing the sales of business,
Advertising is a paid form of publicity, It is non-personal, Advertisement are identifiable with
their sponsor of originator

Nature of advertisement

a . It is a paid form of communication.

b. It is a non-personal presentation or communication

c. It focuses on large number of customers

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d. It is the process of persuading and attracting customers

e. Advertisers uses various medias for communicating the message.

f. There is an identified sponsor in advertising.

g. The sponsor, message and presentation can be recognised by the receivers.

h. It is an important element in marketing.

h. Creativity is the essence of marketing.

i. The advertising message is controlled by the advertiser

Objectives

Advertising is the best way to communicate to the customers. Advertising helps informs the
customers about the brands available in the market and the variety of products useful to them.
Advertising is for everybody including kids, young and old. It is done using various media types,
with different techniques and methods most suited.

Importance of content in Advertisement

Content relevance is the result of creating useful content that solves specific problems for a
targeted audience. Relevant content is blindly consumer-centric. They’re more and more seeking
content that applies to their specific situation and problem. Content relevance is one of the most
useful tools that can help you set yourself apart from your competition.

Benefits of creating relevant content

1. Branding: - Relevant content has a positive impact on how a business’ audience perceives their
brand.

2. Trust and authority: - Content relevancy actually moves the needle when it comes to building
trust with the customers of a business. Trust inevitably leads to sales because when people trust,
they will buy from the business.

3. Authenticity: - Authenticity is very important because majority of consumers prefer buying

from authentic brands. It’s much easier to be authentic when talking about concrete solutions to
people’s problems.

4. Search engine rankings: - Relevant content tends to be engaging. And engaging content tends
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to do better in the Google rankings. People simply spend more time with it and are more likely to
share it in their social circles.

5. Sales and lead generation

Sales promotion

Sales promotions are short-term incentives to encourage the purchase or sale of a product or
service. (Kotler and Armstrong)

Sales promotion includes several communications activities that attempt to provide added value
or incentives to consumers, wholesalers, retailers, or other organizational customers to
stimulate immediate sales.

Objectives of Sales Promotion

• Building Product Awareness • Reinforcing the Brand

• Creating Interest • Immediate increase in sales

• Providing Information • Selling edge over the competitors

• Stimulating Demand

Importance of sale promotion

Sales promotion has its own importance to customers, producers and middlemen. From the
point of view of manufacturers or producers sales promotion is important because

• It helps to increase sales in a competitive market and thus, increases profits;

• It helps to introduce new products in the market by drawing the attention of potential
customers.

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• When a new product is introduced or there is a change of fashion or taste of consumers,

existing stocks can be quickly disposed off;
• It stabilizes sales volume by keeping its customers with them. In the age of competition it
is quite much possible that a customer may change his/her mind and try other brands
• Various incentives under sales promotion schemes help to retain the customers.

From the point of view of consumers sales promotion is important for consumers because

• the consumer gets the product at a cheaper rate;

• it gives financial benefit to the customers by way of providing prizes and sending them to
visit different places;
• the consumer gets all information about the quality, features and uses of different products;
• certain schemes like money back offer creates confidence in the mind of customers about
the quality of goods; and
• it helps to raise the standard of living of people. By exchanging their old items they can use
latest items available in the market. Use of such goods improves their image in society

Sales Promotion Strategies

A push strategy involves convincing trade intermediary channel members to "push" the
product through the distribution channels to the ultimate consumer via promotions and personal
selling efforts. The push sales strategy emerges from manufacturers who "push" their product
through the supply chain to the consumer. Incentives are offered that give each middle-carrier
motivation to convince the next person to buy the product. Traditionally, this technique
includes premiums, wholesale discounts and buy-back guarantees.

Pull strategy concentrates on the consumers instead of the middle man. The "pull" strategy
works by getting the end consumer interested in the product to create a demand. When the
demand is there, the supply chain pulls it through, as retailers ask suppliers and distributors,
who in turn ask the manufacturer about the product. If the business has the resources, they can
launch a campaign to get end consumers excited about the products. Television, print and
electronic advertising options lend themselves to the pull strategy.

Combination strategy: It’s a combination of both pull and push strategy. Here the company
is using the promotional tools of both the strategies for sale promotion (i.e. pull and push)

Classification of Sales Promotion

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• Consumer Market Directed - Possibly the most well-known methods of sales promotion
are those intended to appeal to the final consumer.

• Trade promotion techniques– Marketers use sales promotions to target all customers
including partners within their channel of distribution. Buying allowance, buy back
allowance, bulk discount
Sales force promotion techniques– bonus to sales force, sales force meet

Developing Sales Promotion Campaign

• Assessment of marketingopportunities

• Defining promotion objectives

• Deciding the promotion mix

• Formulating the sales promotionstrategies

• Designing sales promotion schemes

• Developing promotion budgets

• Execution of the campaign

• Evaluation of the campaign
effectiveness

Publicity

“Companies pay for advertisements and pray for publicity”

Publicity is the communication about a product, brand or business by placing information about
it in the media without paying for the time or media space directly. It is defined as free cost no
cost advertisement.
Objectives of Publicity
Building/ improving corporate Image: Newsworthiness Information:
Assisting Middlemen Cost saving medium
High Creditability
Removing Misunderstanding or Bad
Image
Building Interest on Product
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Importance of Publicity
 effective medium to disseminate message to the mass with more credibility
 people express more trust on what the third party independently says
 It enjoys priority
 not required to pay for publicity
 indirect costs related to publicity are much lower
 publicity covers the varied information
 suitable to those companies which cannot effort the expensive
 increases credit or fame of the company

Advantages of Publicity
€ The cost of publicity is very less
€ It ensures credibility
€ strengthen its brand
€ open doors for more opportunities and help build relationships
€ It helps you go viral
€ Greater readership
€ Speed
Public Relations
Public relations are about sending the right messages to the right places and people, to build
your brand reputation. PR agencies work alongside clients to build their image in a certain
industry and promote them. PR is an area that could change the future of your business. When

used correctly, PR can make or break a company – giving it the power to overcome almost any
obstacle. These are the reasons which will increase the importance of public relation.

1. Public Relations Increases Brand Credibility - In any industry, trust plays a huge role in
determining whether a business will be successful. Alack of trust could mean that a brand
loses opportunities for sales. However, when they hire someone in public relations, those
experts can work in increasing credibility by improving an organization’s reputation through
thought leadership pieces, influencer connections, and networking strategies.
2. Increase Profits, Sales, and Leads - Part of PR is marketing. When you enhance your
reputation through a range of unique PR activities, you make it more likely that new potential
customers will find their way to your door. Your Customers and shoppers will find more ways
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to connect with your business throughbusiness stories and press releases, and PR agencies
will help you to craft the right messages to resonate with your target customer in the best
possible way. Ultimately, PR can lead to bigger profits.

3. PR changes the way people think about you - The trouble with the online world is that people
can say anything they want about a company – regardless of whether it’s true or not, and there’s
very little that business can do about it. Some businesses get a bad reputation unfairly, while
other organizations aren’t on the right people’s radar. Both circumstances might not be ideal
and focusing on PR campaigns can helpyou to fix them. The right campaigns and PR support
can raise awareness for your brand in allthe right ways.
4. PR enhances your online presence - Finally, in a world where everyone is digitally connected,
PR helps companies to make the most of their online presence. Not only can PR agencies
provide today’s organizations with thesupport and guidance they need to market themselves
online, but these companies can also be ready to step in when disaster strikes or something goes
wrong with the image you’ve been trying to build. Through social media, press releases, and
connections with promotional sites that publish content, PR companies help their clients to
achieve incredible things and overcome the roadblocks that might stop them from accessing
success. With the right PR company – today’sbrands can make sure that they reach the right
audiences, in the right way.

Public relations for small business are powerful because it helps you get more exposure and
it places you in front of your target audience. Some people think of PR as ‘free advertising’
which couldn’t be farther from the truth. Building relationships with the right people and
organisations is time consuming so if you need quicker results a PR agency is the best way
to go. Most bloggers and influencers now charge for reviews, promoted posts and featured
posts so PR is definitely not free.
PR however is very important for any brand, and for numerous reasons.

❖ To raise awareness. People trust established brands. One way to make your business known
and compete with established brands is to send out your message by a third party such as a
popular magazine in your industry, a high-traffic website, a respected influencer or social
media superstar.

❖ Build credibility. Unlike advertising, a magazine mention of your product or a product

review is not a direct sell so it comes out as a recommendation from a person that couldbe
an authority in your niche like a celebrity beauty blogger with thousands of followers.
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❖ Tailors information. Every business has its unique brand message. People adore brands that
have a compelling or relatable story so make sure that you carry yours wholeheartedly at
every function you go to because it is what makes people remember you.

❖ Helps manage reputation. Having trusted connections in the media is not always about free
marketing but also reputation management. In your business journey, you will encounter
(but I hope you don’t) dreadful situations like advertising gone wrong or unsatisfied
customers lashing out on social media about how bad your product is. In times like these,
media connections can help you repair the damage through a press release or similar means.

❖ Helps shape a likable image. Customers love friendly and community-engaged brands.By
maintaining a constant presence in your industry or in front your customers’ eyes, you are
creating a strong connection with your audience.

❖ Cost-effective. Paying for a magazine spread is not a bad idea if you have the budget for it.
However, if you are on a tight budget, having friends in the right places can get youa full
feature or an article mention on the same publication without paying loads of cash.

❖ Promote brand values. You can use PR to send out positive messages to your target audience
that are in line with your brand image by using the language and ideas that your target
customers respond to more positively.

❖ Strengthens community relations. When you make new connections, you are building ties
with the local market by attending functions, joining groups, donating time to charity or
causes related to your business. Being an active member of a community establishes your
credibility with peers, consumers, and editorial contacts.

❖ Boost your niche authority. Getting featured on media outlets may come out as simpleto
many but for a business owner, the effect could be massively beneficial especially if you are
trying to own a niche.

❖ Know your competition up-close and personal. You are not the only one who spends time
in making new connections. It’s one way of knowing what your competitors are up to, which
gives you clues how to keep up with them.
PR is not free in the sense that it requires time and effort in making new connections. It may
seem labor intensive but if your business do this right, it will help your company look more

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likeable, influential, and successful.

Impact of social media on publicity strategies
In the digital age, social media has transformed the landscape of publicity strategies. What was
once a domain dominated by traditional media—newspapers, television, and radio—has
shifted significantly with the rise of platforms like Facebook, Twitter (now X), Instagram,
LinkedIn, and TikTok. For businesses, brands, and even individuals, social media provides an
immediate, interactive, and highly personalized way to connect with audiences. As a tool for
publicity, it offers numerous advantages over traditional methods, particularly in terms of
reach, engagement, and the ability to target specific demographics. Social media has changed
the methods, plans, channels and the strategies used to run public relation campaigns. Social
media aids the brands to market their businesses, solve queries and issues of the customers, as
well as assist with branding and creating an identity for brands. Social media can have a
significant impact on publicity strategies in many ways, including:
1. Brand awareness - social media can help increase brand awareness, which can lead to
more leads. Majority of younger customers say social media is their main source of inspiration
for making purchases.
2. Influencer marketing - Influencers can help brands reach new audiences and build
relationships. Influencers have a loyal following who trust their recommendations and
opinions.
3. Targeted advertising - Social media can be used to create targeted ads based on user
behavior. These ads can be used to promote relevant content or offers to entice users to click.
4. Customer engagement - Social media comments and likes can increase customer
engagement, which can lead to higher brand loyalty.
5. Audience targeting - Social media can help identify and narrow down audience
preferences and interests.
6. Social listening - Social listening can be used to identify conversations that interest an
audience and tailor brand messages to increase engagement and lead generation.
Social media can also be used to help brands market their businesses, solve customer issues,
and create a brand identity.
“Companies pay for advertisements and pray for publicity”
The saying “Advertising is what you pay for, publicity is what you pray for” refers to the
difference between the paid nature of advertising and the cost-free nature of publicity. The
phrase "Companies pay for advertisements and pray for publicity" highlights the fundamental
difference between advertising and publicity in the world of marketing. It succinctly conveys

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how businesses view the reliability and control of advertising versus the unpredictability and
desirability of publicity.
Paying for Advertisements: Controlled Exposure
When companies invest in advertising, they are paying for guaranteed visibility. They have
complete control over the message, timing, format, and placement of their content. Whether
it's a TV commercial, an online ad, or a billboard, businesses can meticulously craft the way
they present their products or services. Advertising ensures a predictable outcome: a company
knows where and when its message will appear, and how it will be framed. The cost is often
substantial, but it allows for a certain level of control and consistency in brand messaging.
However, the impact of advertising is often limited by the growing skepticism of consumers
toward paid promotional content. Audiences today are well aware that ads are designed to sell
something, which can reduce their trust in the message being conveyed. This is where publicity
becomes an attractive alternative.
Praying for Publicity: Earned and Credible
Publicity, on the other hand, is often referred to as "earned media" because it involves third
parties—like journalists, influencers, or customers—sharing information about a company,
product, or service without the business having paid for it. This type of exposure is seen as
more credible because it comes from an independent source, not directly from the brand itself.
A favorable mention in a reputable publication, a positive review from a respected influencer,
or even organic word-of-mouth buzz carries significant weight with the public.
However, the process of earning publicity is often outside the company’s control, which is why
businesses “pray” for it. Publicity depends on factors like newsworthiness, timing, and the
media’s perception of the brand or story. For example, a company can send out dozens of press
releases or pitch stories to media outlets, but there is no guarantee they will get picked up or
featured.
When publicity does happen, though, it can provide far greater value than advertising. It often
feels more authentic to the audience, leading to higher engagement and trust. But because it is
unpredictable, companies have little influence over the final outcome, tone, or timing of the
coverage. Positive publicity can catapult a brand into public favor, while negative publicity can
harm it, sometimes unexpectedly.
Balancing Both Approaches
Most companies understand the need to balance both strategies—paying for the assured
visibility of advertising while continuously working to generate positive publicity. They may
spend resources on PR agencies, media outreach, and influencer partnerships to increase their

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chances of favorable media attention. But ultimately, they must rely on the unpredictable nature
of external forces to generate meaningful publicity.
In essence, "pay for advertisements and pray for publicity" captures the contrasting dynamics
of control versus unpredictability, and paid exposure versus earned credibility. While
advertising guarantees a company’s message is seen, publicity has the potential to generate
more lasting trust and wider reach, but it's not something that can be bought outright—hence
the need to "pray" for it

BASIS FOR
PUBLICITY PUBLIC RELATIONS
COMPARISON

Publicity refers to a public relation Public Relations is a marketing

function, that uses any communication tool, that is used to maintain
Meaning channel to convey news or information goodwill and reputation of the
about someone or something, through company and its product among
media. people.

Control It is not under the control of company. It is controlled by the company

Nature Positive or Negative Positive

Form of
Non-paid Communication Paid Communication
communication

Intends Public awareness Public attention

Experiential Marketing

It also known as XM, engagement marketing, or ground marketing

Experiential marketing is a marketing strategy that involves creating memorable experiences for
consumers to engage with a brand. It's also known as engagement marketing, event marketing,
brand activation, and live marketing. This approach is usually a hands-on experience designed to
encourage individuals to engage and participate in an event. This marketing approach is also
usually part of a current event or maybe the event itself.

Experiential marketing aims to create an emotional connection with consumers by:

Involving consumers: Allowing consumers to touch, feel, and experience the brand's products
and services

Creating memorable experiences: Engaging all five senses to create lasting memories
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Building relationships: Inviting consumers to participate in the evolution of the brand

Interactive Marketing

Interactive marketing is a marketing strategy that focuses on one-to-one interaction and customer
communication. It involves marketing efforts based on consumer behavior, which distinguishes it
from traditional forms of marketing.

Interactive marketing is a tactic that uses engaging visuals or videos to get your audience to engage
with your content. This form of marketing captures your audience's attention, delights them, and
creatively presents your product or service.

Common Types of Interactive Marketing Strategies

Interactive videos: Using video is a great way to explain a topic or entertain viewers. Savvy
marketers have found new ways to engage viewers by adding CTAs in videos prompting them
to subscribe or participate in the conversation in real time. Some videos allow viewers to answer
questions by clicking a set of multiple-choice answers right on the screen. Other formats immerse
the viewer in beautiful landscapes — a technique that's becoming more popular as the use of
360-degree video becomes more prevalent. {CTA stands for call to action. It's a marketing term that
refers to a visual or text prompt that encourages a user to take a specific action. CTAs are often used in
digital marketing to encourage users to engage with a brand or complete a sale}

CTAs can appear on websites, mobile apps, emails, and other content. They can take the form
of a button, hyperlink, or text link. Some examples of CTAs include: "Sign up, "Buy now, "Join,
"Download a demo, and "Fill out a contact form.

Quizzes, surveys, and polls: Quizzes and polls are a fun way to get visitors to interact with your
site — with different types of online interactive games, including spinner wheel or word cloud,
where you can create them for just about any topic.. Buzzfeed has excelled in this area, but it’s
not uncommon to see them used for travel, home search, and interior design sites. They are
popular tools for social media marketing as well.

Personalized content: From addressing customers by name in email to curating specific ads
targeted at their individual needs, adding a personal touch gives the impression that you are
speaking directly to them. Ever abandoned an item in your cart and received an email reminder
about it later? That’s personalized marketing at work.

Interactive storytelling: Keeping readers engaged with a long-form article can be difficult —

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that's why interactive storytelling can be a powerful resource for marketers. Uses infographics,
gifs, video, clickable maps, charts, and other visual aids to help break up text and keep readers
from getting burnt-out or bored.

Calculators: While calculators don’t sound super interesting, they are incredibly useful for
organizations that want to showcase data. Looking for a home? You’ve probably used a
mortgage calculator to get a ballpark estimate of your monthly payment.

Benefits of Interactive Marketing

Interactive marketing offers several advantages, including:

Boosted Conversion Rates - Interactive marketing gives potential customers the chance to make
a purchase immediately. For example, including a call-to-action at points of purchases is a
common, effective interactive marketing tactic--- "purchase now" or different points on a
website that include an "add to cart" button.

Increased Audience Engagement - Delighting your audience is the key to engaging it — that's
why tactics like online quizzes, personalized content, and interactive videos are so helpful. It
gives audiences a unique experience that makes interacting with your business fun. If your
audience is having fun, they're more likely to stay loyal to and potentially evangelize your
company.

Instant Feedback - You can easily and quickly gauge how your audience feels about your
company through tactics like quizzes and polls. Is your website easily navigable? Do your
products meet expectations? Are there any areas that need improvement? With interactive
marketing, you can better connect to your audience and allow their voices to be heard so you can
see what works and what doesn't.

.Personal selling

Personal selling is oral communication with potential buyers of a product with the intention of
making a sale. It is the oldest form of product promotion. The sales personnel search, identify,
meet, communicate and convince the customers to carry out sales in personnel selling.

Personal selling is one of the oldest forms of promotion. It involves the use of a sales force to
support a push strategy (encouraging intermediaries to buy the product) or a pull strategy (where
the role of the sales force may be limited to supporting retailers and providing after- sales
service).
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Advantages / Nature of Personal Selling

• Personal selling is a face-to-face activity; customers therefore obtain a relatively high

degree of personal attention

• The sales message can be customized to meet the needs of the customer
• The two-way nature of the sales process allows the sales team to respond directly and
promptly to customer questions and concerns
• Personal selling is a good way of getting across large amounts of technical or other
complex product information
• The face-to-face sales meeting gives the sales force chance to demonstrate the product
• Frequent meetings between sales force and customer provide an opportunity to build good
long-term relationships
Importance / Benefits of Personal Selling

1. Two-Way Communication: It is the best tool for two-way communication. Salesman can
provide necessary information to customer about company’s offer, and also can collect
information from customer. Customer can actively involve with salesman to solve his doubts
and objections. It is not possible in any other methods of market promotion.

2. Personal Attention: Advertising and publicity are among mass communication tools. They
do not cater individual needs. Personal selling focuses on personal problems of customers. It is
comparatively more effective and result-oriented.
3. Detail Demonstration: Except television advertisements, demonstration is not possible.
However, television demonstration is much limited. Salesman can provide a detail
demonstration and can supervise when customer is making the actual use of products. For
technical products, it has more relevance.

4. Complementary to other Promotional Tools: Personal selling can support advertising, sales
promotion, and publicity. It removes the drawbacks of advertising and sales promotion.
Advertising increases awareness while personal selling reinforces the advertising message.
Similarly, it can make sales promotion tools more effective by personal guidance or conviction.

5. Immediate Feedback: This is the only market promotion technique that provides an
immediate feedback. At the end of every call/visit, a salesman can easily judge whether the
customer is interested or indented to buy.

6. Individual Services: Salesmanship offers individual services. It can meet personal

expectations of buyers. It leads to customer satisfaction.

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7. Flexibility: Sales talks and presentation can be adjusted according to situation to suit
individual nature, motives, and problems.

8. Customer Confidence: By systematic sales talk and presentation, a capable salesman can
remove all doubts, quarries, objections and misunderstandings, and can win customer’s
confidence. It increases customers’ faith in company and its offers.

9. Triple Rewards: Salesmanship offers triple rewards. It benefits all parties, including
customer, salesman, and company. Customer is satisfied with products and services; salesman
can achieve his targets; and company can improve its market share and profits.

10. Improving Image: Note that salesmanship can remove bad image or misunderstanding by
highlighting company’s achievements and offers. The detailed explanation about company and
its products removes all doubts and misunderstandings. It helps in restoring company image
and reputation in market.

Importance of personal selling

Manufacturer side

❖ Create demand

❖ Create new customers

❖ Understand the customer emotions

Customer side

❖ Select best product through face to face communication

❖ Provide information about the product

❖ Learn new uses of the product

❖ Record complaint directly

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Essential elements of personal selling

• Face-to-Face interaction

• Promotion of sales

• Supply of Information - Mutual Benefit

• Flexibility

• Persuasion

Purpose

• Building product awareness

• Creating interest
• Providing information about theproduct

• Stimulating demand

• Reinforcing the brand

The stages of personal selling process

• Prospecting and evaluating (potential customers and acceptable prospects),

• Preparation (prospect's specific product needs, current brands being used, available
brands and personal characteristics),

• Approach (contacting the prospect),

• Presentation (holding prospect's attention, stimulate interest, develop desire for the
product),

• Objections (overcoming ones),

• Closing (asking the prospect to buy),

• Follow up (post-sale services).

Types of Sales Persons

Transactional: Transactional salespeople are those that simply wait for the transaction to make
their sale. These are the salespeople that you might refer to as the order-takers because they
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passively sit by waiting for the sale to come to them.

Relational: This type of salesperson is good at quickly building rapport with the customer and
often gets sales because the buyer likes her enough that she becomes the deciding factor in the
sales process. These salespeople also establish the long-term relationship with a customer that
brings the customer back around for repeat business.

Closers: A large portion of the sales force in many different industries is made up of closers or
those who are always trying to close the deal on a sale.

Consultants: Consultants are probably the most well-rounded of the different types of
salespeople. These are people persons who know how to close a deal and build relationships at
the same time.. Consultants have superior listening skills and tend to be patient with customers
when necessary, but aggressive when necessary also.

Role of the sales force

Kotler describes six main activities of a sales force:

• Prospecting - trying to find new customers

• Communicating - with existing and potential customers about the product range

• Selling - contact with the customer, answering questions and trying to close the sale

• Servicing - providing support and service to the customer in the period up to delivery
and also post-sale

• Information gathering - obtaining information about the market to feedback into the
marketing planning process

• Allocating - in times of product shortage, the sales force may have the power to decide

Evaluation Roces

i. Establishing performance standard

ii. Communicating the standard
iii. Measuring the actual performance
iv. Comparison
v. Discussing the appraisal result
vi. Decision making

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Qualities…

• Driven: Has a sense of urgency and a need to accomplish the task at hand

• Confident: Believes in own abilities and can handle rejection

• Outgoing: Projects a great first impression and is energized by social interactions

• Assertive: Effectively controls interactions and doesn’t cave in easily

• Funny: Engages customer emotions, is likeable and memorable

• Structured: Leads the customer through the process, is organized and follows through

• Relational: Cares about the person, not just the sale; effectively identifies customer
needs

• Focused: Doesn’t get sidetracked; knows the final destination

Types…

• Manufacturer’s salesman, • Specialty salesman,

• Wholesaler’s salesman, • Industrial salesman, and

• Retail salesman, • The exporter’s salesman.

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Rural Marketing

Rural marketing involves the process of developing, pricing, promoting, distributing rural
specific product and a service leading to exchange between rural and urban market which
satisfies consumer demand and also achieves organizational objectives.

It is a two-way marketing process wherein the transactions can be:

1. Urban to Rural: It involves the selling of products and services by urban marketers in rural
areas. These include: Pesticides, FMCG Products, Consumer durables, etc.

2. Rural to Urban: Here, a rural producer (involved in agriculture) sells his produce in urban
market. This may not be direct. There generally are middlemen, agencies, government co-
operatives, etc who sell fruits, 'vegetables, grains, pulses and others.

3. Rural to rural: These include selling of agricultural tools, cattle, carts and others to another
village in its proximity.

Characteristics of Rural Marketing

Mostly, major part of rural market holds a very divergent pattern of reacting to marketing. So,
marketer needs to design a specific marketing mix for the rural segments. For rural market, a
marketing manager has three options – one is, to design marketing programme common for all
types of customers; the second is, to design marketing programme purely for rural customers;
and the third is, to design marketing programme for customers residing in rural but reacting as
if they were global. Excepts some villagers of some progressive states like Kerala,
Maharashtra, Gujarat, Haryana, etc., most rural customers are poor, backward, illiterate, and
orthodox. They vary significantly in terms of preference and habits. They are to be treated in
different patterns.
1. More Prospective: With the initiation of various rural development programmes, there has
been an upsurge of employment opportunities for the rural poor. One of the biggest cause
behind the steady growth of rural market is that it is not exploited and also yet to be explored.
2. Size: The rural market in India is vast and scattered, and offers a plethora of opportunities in
comparison to the urban sector. It covers the maximum population and regions, and thereby,
the maximum number of consumers. Rural market is account for about 74% of total Indian
population.
3. Nature: The social status of the rural regions is precarious (uncertain) as the income level
and literacy is extremely low along with the range of traditional values and superstitious beliefs

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that have always been a major impediment (obstacle) in the progression of this sector.
4. Response to Products:
Product-related features of rural segment are:
i. Rural markets (buyers) believe in product utility rather than status and prestige. However,
they like novel products with distinctive features.

ii. Most village customers consider tastes rather than usefulness in long run.
iii. They like simple and long-life products. They are interested in immediate results. Products
must offer immediate benefits.
iv. They respond to those products that suit their religious faith, and social norms and customs.
v. They ask for such products which can assists in their traditional occupations and life style.
vi. They have minimum urge for individuality. They prefer family-used products than personal-
used products.
vii. They strongly prefer such products that can change and improve their life-style.
viii. They are less concerned with product services associated with products like after-sales
services, guarantee and warrantee, home delivery, and other similar services. Branding,
packaging, and labeling have less influence compared to urban segments.
5. Response to Price:
Price-related features of rural segments include:
i. Rural customers are price-sensitive and highly influenced by level of pricing. Price is the
strongest factor that affects their buying decision.
ii. They buy those products which are low in price and medium in quality.
iii. They are easily attracted by price discounts and rebates.
iv. They prefer credit facility. They normally have strong desire to postpone payment for
certain period.
v. Some middle-class rural customers are attracted by installment and loan facility.
6. Response to Promotion:
Promotion-related features of rural segment include:
i. Rural customers are highly attracted by local and regional promotional efforts.
ii. Their reference groups consist of educated and non-educated family members and relatives
living in urban areas and foreign countries as well.
iii. Personal selling seems more influential to convince rural mass.
iv. They are attracted by such sales promotional tools or articles which are useful in their
routine life such as knife, gas lighter, rings, key-chains, caps, photos of local actors, calendars
and cards with religious impression, etc.

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v. They have a strong faith on local religious and spiritual leaders. Such leaders are among the
most influential reference groups.
vi. Publicity efforts related to local vocational and agricultural activities can impress them.
vii. They can be appealed by visual or pictorial advertisements published in local and regional
languages.

7. Response to Distribution:
Distribution-related features of rural segment include:
i. Normally, they buy from familiar retailers and salesmen. They are hesitant to buy from big
shopping malls or departmental stores. However, situation is changing gradually.
ii. Rural customers strongly favour relations. They continue buying from known and
established retailers who maintain close family relations with them.
iii. Mostly they buy from retail outlets situated in rural or sub-urban areas. However, some
rural customers like to buy products from nearby cities also.
iv. Normally they place frequent orders of small in size. They lack storage facilities.
v. They are not interested in home-delivery. They want immediate possession. They lack
patience. They are found eager to possess and use the products immediately.
vi. Caste, religion, political party, relations, etc., play important role in selecting the retailers.
vii. Online and direct marketing are not much popular in rural areas. Sometimes, a few of them
are interested in network marketing.
8. Predictability:
Unlike urban markets, the rural markets are difficult to predict, and possess special
characteristics. The featured population is predominantly illiterate, have low and irregular
income, lack of monthly income, and flow of income fluctuating with the monsoon winds.
They don’t have a stable pattern of reacting due to income factors.
9. Role of Government:
Demand of products depends on availability of basic facilities like electricity, transportation,
schools, hospitals, etc. The steps taken by the Government of India to initiate proper irrigation,
infrastructural developments, prevention of flood, grants for fertilizers, and various schemes to
cut down the poverty line have improved the condition of the rural masses. Rural market
depends on government’s contribution to the rural sector.
10. Rigidity:
Most rural customers are illiterate, backward, and orthodox. It is very difficult to convince
them to buy the products. They believe in the present and lack ambitions.
11. High Level of Heterogeneity:

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We find different types of buyers in rural areas. Some are simple, while some are sophisticated;
some are extreme rich, while some are extreme poor; some are highly educated, while some
are complete illiterate; some are dynamic and modern, while some are very rigid and orthodox;
some believe in quality and status, while some believe in availability and price.

Rural customers are gradually transforming into urban, metropolitan, and even cosmopolitan
customers. Improved education, rapid means of transportation, access to advance
communication, raised living standards, craze to follow modern (even ultramodern) life
pattern, and many similar factors have drastically changed rural consumer behaviour. The gap
between urban and rural segments tends to be notably narrow. Sometimes, rural and urban
customers exhibit no difference at all.

Agricultural Marketing

Agricultural marketing is inferred to cover the services involved in moving an

agricultural product from the farm to the consumer. It is also the planning, organizing, directing
and handling of agricultural produce in such a way as to satisfy the farmer, producer and the
consumer. Thus agricultural marketing is a series of inter- connected activities involving:-
planning production,-growing and harvesting,-grading,-packing,-transport,- storage,-agro- and
food processing,-distribution and sale.

Agricultural marketing refers to all those processes which relate to taking the agricultural
product from the farmers to the consumers. Agricultural marketing includes gathering the
agricultural produce, their standardization and grading, their storage, sending them to the
market through various middlemen, selling in the market and arranging the required finance
etc.
DEFECTS/ PROBLEMS OF INDIAN AGRICULTURAL MARKETING
Even though India is an agricultural country, still its agricultural marketing has been defective.
The Indian farmers are unable to get reasonable price for the products even after their hard
work and are fully exploited by the middlemen.
1. Too Many Intermediates
The one main defect of the Indian Agricultural marketing is the presence of too many
middlemen and exploitation of farmers by them. On one hand these middlemen exploit the
farmers by purchasing the produce at lower prices and on the other hand they exploit the
customers by demanding higher prices from them. The only aim of a number of commission
agents, brokers etc. is to derive a higher income from the middle processes. These
middlemen take undue advantage of the poor former on the basis of their financial
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resources.

2. Defective Weights and Scales

One of the biggest defects of agricultural marketing arises due to weights and scales.
Usually, in rural areas bricks, etc. are used as weights and in urban markets also defective
weights are found. Thus, the grain of the farmer is weighed by a heavier weight for their
own gain. Most of the traders keep separate weights for purchase and sale of grain.

3. Illiteracy and Lack of Unity among Farmers

The Indian farmers are illiterate who are easier be fooled by the money lenders, traders,
middlemen, due to their simple nature. Similarly, lack of unity among farmers also
causes their exploitation because Indian farmers are spread in distant areas in rural
places. They are unable to meet with each other and resolve their problems, as a result
they do not get a fair price for their produce.

4. Lack of Financial Resources

In the rural areas there is lack of financial resources, due to which even their emergency
requirements are not fulfilled. In such conditions the farmers sell their produce before its
ripening. Similarly, some financial facilities, like, installments on loans for pumping-set,
tractor, thrasher etc. have to be paid on monthly or quarterly basis due to which they have
to sell the product as soon as possible. Thus, as the lack of financial assistance, is a
problem for the farmers; so does the receipt of loan also puts them in problem.

5. Lack of Organised Marketing System

The agricultural marketing is also very defective in India because here organised
marketing is not in vogue, like, cooperative societies, government marketing activities,
regular markets etc. As a result, the farmer remains entangled In exploitation. Thus, lack
of organised marketing system is harmful for the farmers. That is -why; the farmer sells
his product personally to different people. The middle take full advantage of the
unorganized farmers.

6. Lack of Transport Facilities

The roads from Villages to cities are usually unmade which are not capable of transport
during the rainy season. The bullock carts can take the product only up to a limited area.
During lack of transport facilities the farmer is unable to take his produce to the
appropriate market and is unable to receive a fair price for his product.

7. Lack of Store Houses

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An important deficiency of Indian agricultural marketing is lack of store houses. Due to

lack of this facility the farmer is unable to keep his product safely until it can fetch a fair
price, and he is forced to sell his product at a low price. The insufficient and unscientific
facilities of shortage which are available, waste large quantities of grains. Approximately
20% to 30% grains are lost due to rats, insects etc. and the farmers have to bear crores of
loss due to lack of these facilities.

8. Lack of Standardization

The lack of standardization and grading is clearly visible in the Indian Agricultural
marketing, due to which fixing a deal in relation to these products becomes difficult. Due
to lack of proper standardization and grading the customers have problem in purchasing
the product.

9. Lack of Awareness of the Market

The Indian farmer has no knowledge about marketing. He believes on information

acquired from the businessmen and money lenders of the village. Mostly, the Indian
farmers are illiterate so they cannot read the newspaper. Thus, they do not have sufficient
knowledge about the market. Now, government transmits the rates of the market on the
ratio, which has definitely benefited them.

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