{"id":9984,"date":"2020-06-15T09:00:11","date_gmt":"2020-06-15T07:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/passodue.flywheelsites.com\/2020\/06\/15\/promotions\/"},"modified":"2020-12-09T14:47:35","modified_gmt":"2020-12-09T13:47:35","slug":"promotions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/diariodiunconsulente.it\/en\/2020\/06\/15\/promotions\/","title":{"rendered":"Promotions: what they are, what they are used for and when to launch them"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-size: 18px;\">by <a href=\"https:\/\/diariodiunconsulente.it\/en\/about-us\/\">Alberto Aleo<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 18px;\">January and July are usually the best months for<strong>\u00a0promotions<\/strong>. However in this &#8220;strange&#8221; market period it is not uncommon to see \u201c<strong>sale<\/strong>\u201d signs in the shop windows, or to come across <strong>discount offers<\/strong>,<strong> 3<\/strong><strong>\u00d72 deals<\/strong> or similar reductions \u2013 which are all aimed at supporting demand and restarting the markets. This is why I\u2019ve decided to propose an article on this matter, in order to explain <span class=\"text-highlight\">why, when and how to use <\/span><strong><span class=\"text-highlight\">promotions<\/span>.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-18334 size-full\" title=\"Promotions\" src=\"https:\/\/diariodiunconsulente.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/t-shirt-promozioni.jpg\" alt=\"Promotions\" width=\"1050\" height=\"591\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 12px;\">Photo Jeff Sheldon by UnSplash<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-size: 32px;\">Promotion strategy<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 18px;\">Strategic business plans are including more and more chapters dedicated to <strong>promotions<\/strong>. Let\u2019s try and analyse how this special <strong>marketing <\/strong>tool works. <span class=\"text-highlight\">First of all it is clear that <strong>promotions<\/strong>, as well as any other business initiative, have their pros and cons<\/span>. Therefore, in order to assess the expediency of a discount <strong>campaign<\/strong>, you need to consider the\u00a0advantages and disadvantages, opportunities and threats. <span class=\"text-highlight\">What are <strong>promotions <\/strong>for?<\/span> They serve several purposes,<\/span><\/p>\n<ul class=\"check-list\">\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 18px;\">such as increasing sales volumes,<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 18px; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif;\">clearing out the warehouse,<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 18px; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif;\">maintaining the production level in particular seasons,<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 18px; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif;\">launching new products, and so on.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 18px;\">These &#8220;advantages&#8221; are usually counterbalanced by a series of <span class=\"text-highlight\">disadvantages<\/span>, as for example<\/span><\/p>\n<ul class=\"check-list\">\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 18px;\">profit margin loss,<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 18px;\">lack of goods<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 18px;\">or unexpected peaks of production.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 18px;\"><span class=\"text-highlight\">You also have to take into consideration the opportunities and threats which can arise within the market<\/span>:\u00a0undercutting your competitors by anticipating the sales can certainly represent an opportunity, but it might also become a threat if the consumers are disoriented by these unexpected off-season promos. My advice is therefore to carry out a proper <strong style=\"font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif;\">SWOT<\/strong> <strong style=\"font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif;\">analysis<\/strong><span style=\"font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif;\"> of your promotion project \u2013 for more information go back to our post &#8220;<\/span><a style=\"font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif;\" href=\"https:\/\/diariodiunconsulente.it\/en\/2018\/05\/21\/swot-analysis\/\">What is a SWOT<\/a><span style=\"font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif;\"> analysis and what is it used for&#8221;<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-size: 32px;\">When to run a promo<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 18px;\">Our clients often ask me &#8220;is it better to launch a promotion when sales are successful or when they are low?&#8221;. To be able to answer this question I need to introduce the concept of <strong>elasticity of demand<\/strong>. What kind of results can you expect from a promotion on beachwear in December? Probably very poor results, as in this particular time of the year the consumer demand for this kind of product is so low that not even a discount might have an impact. In other words: if I don\u2019t need a swimming costume at Christmas, then I probably won\u2019t buy one even if the shop offers me a 70% discount. Similarly, if you offer a 3&#215;2 deal on dishwashers you\u2019ll find it difficult to increase your sales!\u00a0But be careful because the same campaign can work very well if applied to different products (for example 3&#215;2 on toothpastes) or in different times of the year (i.e. discounts on beachwear in May).\u00a0This behaviour depends on what in economics is known as &#8220;<strong>elasticity of demand<\/strong>&#8220;, an indicator which varies according to the product considered. <span class=\"text-highlight\">The more elastic is the demand for a certain product in a specific time of the year, the more successful the promotions will be<\/span>. <\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"font-size: 21px;\"><em>Before starting your <strong>promotional activity<\/strong>\u00a0consider whether it is the right season and if your customers have a need that can be satisfied, Ask yourself if the demand for a specific article can be increased through a <strong>discount campaign<\/strong>.<\/em><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<hr \/>\n<figure id=\"attachment_18343\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-18343\" style=\"width: 1024px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-18343 size-full\" title=\"Elasticity of demand\" src=\"https:\/\/diariodiunconsulente.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Slide-Elasticity.001.001.jpeg\" alt=\"Elasticity of demand\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-18343\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The product represented by the light blue line has lower elasticity then the one represented by the black line because it requires a higher discount rate to increase sales by the same amount.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-size: 32px;\">&#8220;Made in USA&#8221; promotions<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 18px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-18345\" title=\"discount campaigns\" src=\"https:\/\/diariodiunconsulente.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/discount.jpg\" alt=\"discount campaigns\" width=\"295\" height=\"354\" \/>In the <strong>United States<\/strong> business activities are free to decide regarding their\u00a0<strong>discount campaigns<\/strong> at different times of the year. Some of the most effective ones are those connected to particular holidays, such as Labour Day, or to specific days of the week as for example Mondays, which normally register a lower affluence of buyers. I find that Americans have a real ability to link their promotions to clear meassages which put the focus on the customers: during the above-mentioned Labour Day the slogan was &#8220;we celebrate the fruits of your labour with you&#8221;. <span class=\"text-highlight\">In the United States the main aim is to build <strong>customer loyalty<\/strong>, i.e. to establish a relationship based on\u00a0&#8220;<strong>frequent attendance<\/strong>&#8220;<\/span>. For this reason discounts &#8220;rotate&#8221; weekly and are applied to different products, so that clients are enticed to visit the stores regularly, browse the websites or call the sales agents. When I\u2019m in Boston I go to my favourite shop almost every week and check on new offers: this has led to a solid relationship and has turned me into a <strong>loyal customer<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 18px;\"><span class=\"text-highlight\">Whatever decision you will make regarding your <strong>promotions<\/strong>, my advice is to monitor the <strong>results<\/strong> of your campaigns<\/span>. Check all the figures, i.e. what you have earned and what you have sacrificed \u00a0through your promotion: how much has the <strong>revenue increased<\/strong>? What <strong>kinds of products<\/strong> or services have been affected the most? How many new <strong>customers<\/strong> has it acquired? Have you lost or earned in terms of general <strong>marginality<\/strong>? These and other questions will help you understand if the campaign you have run can be repeated or if you should reconsider some aspects. <span class=\"text-highlight\">Figures \u2013 not opinions \u2013 are the only way to objectively assess marketing actions<\/span>: if you don\u2019t believe me read our post &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/diariodiunconsulente.it\/en\/2018\/07\/02\/data-analysis\/\">Do you think or do you know?<\/a>&#8220;. Take a look also at the article we have dedicated to customers&#8217;\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/diariodiunconsulente.it\/en\/2018\/03\/19\/requests-ethical-discount\/\">discount requests<\/a><\/strong> and how to handle them effectively without disappointing your clients, yet avoiding to turn your relationship into a race to\u00a0lower prices.<\/span><\/p>\n<pre><span style=\"font-size: 18px;\">| partem claram semper aspice |<\/span><\/pre>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>January and July are usually the best months for\u00a0promotions. However in this &#8220;strange&#8221; market period it is not uncommon to see \u201csale\u201d signs in the shop windows, or to come across discount offers, 3\u00d72 deals or similar reductions \u2013 which are all aimed at supporting demand and restarting the markets. This is why I\u2019ve decided to propose an article on this matter, in order to explain why, when and how to use promotions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":295,"featured_media":9989,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[95,85],"tags":[297,233,231,232,296,239],"class_list":["post-9984","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-best-of-price","category-abilities","tag-costumers","tag-customer","tag-marketing-en","tag-price","tag-promotions","tag-sales","entry","has-media"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v15.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Promotions &bull; Passodue<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Strategic business plans are including more and more chapters dedicated to promotions. But what are promotions for? How and when to use them?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/diariodiunconsulente.it\/en\/2020\/06\/15\/promotions\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Promotions &bull; Passodue\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Strategic business plans are including more and more chapters dedicated to promotions. But what are promotions for? How and when to use them?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/diariodiunconsulente.it\/en\/2020\/06\/15\/promotions\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Passodue\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/passodue\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-06-15T07:00:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-12-09T13:47:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/diariodiunconsulente.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/pexels-photo-264636.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"690\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@passodue\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@passodue\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/diariodiunconsulente.it\/en\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Passodue\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/diariodiunconsulente.it\/en\/\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/passodue\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/passodue\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company-beta\/10017842\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCbxyw6anbCWhBzUaNayFTMA\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/passodue\"],\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/diariodiunconsulente.it\/en\/#logo\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/diariodiunconsulente.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Passodue.png\",\"width\":401,\"height\":112,\"caption\":\"Passodue\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/diariodiunconsulente.it\/en\/#logo\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/diariodiunconsulente.it\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/diariodiunconsulente.it\/en\/\",\"name\":\"Passodue\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/diariodiunconsulente.it\/en\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":\"https:\/\/diariodiunconsulente.it\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\",\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/diariodiunconsulente.it\/en\/2020\/06\/15\/promotions\/#primaryimage\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/diariodiunconsulente.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/pexels-photo-264636.jpg\",\"width\":1920,\"height\":690},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/diariodiunconsulente.it\/en\/2020\/06\/15\/promotions\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/diariodiunconsulente.it\/en\/2020\/06\/15\/promotions\/\",\"name\":\"Promotions &bull; Passodue\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/diariodiunconsulente.it\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/diariodiunconsulente.it\/en\/2020\/06\/15\/promotions\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2020-06-15T07:00:11+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-12-09T13:47:35+00:00\",\"description\":\"Strategic business plans are including more and more chapters dedicated to promotions. But what are promotions for? How and when to use them?\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/diariodiunconsulente.it\/en\/2020\/06\/15\/promotions\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/diariodiunconsulente.it\/en\/2020\/06\/15\/promotions\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/diariodiunconsulente.it\/en\/2020\/06\/15\/promotions\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"item\":{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/diariodiunconsulente.it\/en\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/diariodiunconsulente.it\/en\/\",\"name\":\"Home\"}},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"item\":{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/diariodiunconsulente.it\/en\/2020\/06\/15\/promotions\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/diariodiunconsulente.it\/en\/2020\/06\/15\/promotions\/\",\"name\":\"Promotions: what they are, what they are used&hellip;\"}}]},{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/diariodiunconsulente.it\/en\/2020\/06\/15\/promotions\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/diariodiunconsulente.it\/en\/2020\/06\/15\/promotions\/#webpage\"},\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/diariodiunconsulente.it\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/bedd532bcdb7b6f68b1b4bd5928d953f\"},\"headline\":\"Promotions: what they are, what they are used for and when to launch them\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-06-15T07:00:11+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-12-09T13:47:35+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/diariodiunconsulente.it\/en\/2020\/06\/15\/promotions\/#webpage\"},\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/diariodiunconsulente.it\/en\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/diariodiunconsulente.it\/en\/2020\/06\/15\/promotions\/#primaryimage\"},\"keywords\":\"Costumers,customer,marketing,price,Promotions,sales\",\"articleSection\":\"Price,Professional abilities\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/diariodiunconsulente.it\/en\/2020\/06\/15\/promotions\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/diariodiunconsulente.it\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/bedd532bcdb7b6f68b1b4bd5928d953f\",\"name\":\"Alberto Aleo\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/diariodiunconsulente.it\/en\/#personlogo\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7d28a64414ff44a1afcc034ef396492b00f974709aa67e492e6316c8b7b5881f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Alberto Aleo\"},\"description\":\"Un percorso accademico non convenzionale insieme ad una carriera manageriale che \\u00e8 durata pi\\u00f9 di un decennio nel ruolo di responsabile marketing e di direttore vendite per note aziende italiane, mi hanno trasformato in un \\u201carchitetto\\u201d di strategie di mercato. Nel 2011 ho fondato insieme a mia moglie Alice lo studio di consulenza e formazione Passodue il che mi ha permesso di poter mettere a disposizione dei clienti un bagaglio di esperienze e conoscenze molto vario, che spazia dall\\u2019economia, al marketing, alla gestione di reti commerciali.\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/diariodiunconsulente.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/pexels-photo-264636.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/diariodiunconsulente.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9984","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/diariodiunconsulente.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/diariodiunconsulente.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diariodiunconsulente.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/295"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diariodiunconsulente.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9984"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/diariodiunconsulente.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9984\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diariodiunconsulente.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9989"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/diariodiunconsulente.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9984"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diariodiunconsulente.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9984"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diariodiunconsulente.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9984"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}