HOW TO START A SALES PROMOTION

Step 1: Sales promotions begin with a product that you would like to promote
and offer to your customers or clients. That’s especially true of one-time
marketing concepts, such as you might use to start or expand your business or to
boost your short-term revenues. Your ideal promotional offer should be
something that offers value to your customers, and is very relevant to your
business. It should also be very pertinent to your competitive edge. Sometimes,
the easiest promotional offer is a discount, but there are usually more creative
ideas that you can come up with through brainstorming with your peers or
business associates. What does your "competitive edge" consist of? It's basically
something that sets you apart from your competition.

Step 2: How can your promotion outshine your competitive edge? Other
common promotions can include bonus products and/or services. Such
promotional tools will not only bring in additional business, but it will give your
customers a chance to “sample” your other products or services that you have
made available to them.

Step 3: Once you have your promotional offer set in motion, you must begin to
promote your sales promotion! This is where many businesses fall short in their
advertising and marketing efforts. This failure happens in two ways: First, they
don’t promote their promotion to their existing or potential customers; or they
communicate the wrong marketing message. When it comes to business
marketing, the first thought is usually advertising; but advertising adds expense.
Between the cost of buying advertising media and the cost of the promotion
itself, you may find that your returns don’t justify the expense. In addition,
advertising for a promotion tends to attract price-sensitive shoppers who may
not return.

Step 4: There are definitely smarter and cheaper ways to begin promoting your
sales promotion. If you own a store, you can do an in-store promotion--place in-
store signs at appropriate places like at the entry, near relevant sale products and
at the checkout counters. Have your employees mention the promotion to all the
customers that come in. A great way to advertise with little to no money is to
have your employee’s wear buttons, tags or stickers that promote the product
you are trying to sell. Another way is to place promotional flyers in the bags at

2.1 STRIKING FEATURES OF FMCG INDUSTRY

 Critical operating rules in Indian FMCG sector

 Heavy launch costs on new products on launch advertisements, free samples

and product promotions.

 Majority of the product classes require very low investment in fixed assets

 Existence of contract manufacturing

 Marketing assumes a significant place in the brand building Process

 Extensive distribution networks and logistics are key to achieving a high.

 level of penetration in both the urban and rural markets.

 Factors like low entry barriers in terms of low capital investment, fiscal
incentives from government and low brand.

 Awareness in rural areas have led to the mushrooming of the unorganized

sector.
2.2 INDIAN COMPETITIVENESS & COMPARISON WITH