Introduction
Each organization aims at coordinating its promotional mix, which helps to communicate a compelling, consistent, and clear brand message. These elements are blend to help reinforce, persuade, inform, remind, as well as persuade the consumer's perception or attitude effectively at every contact with the brand. A cigarette is a product that the target market is well aware of, but the competition among the different cigarette companies requires the application of a promotion mix to help boost the sales of one's products. The three communication channels that can be used in the advertising of cigarettes include digital marketing, personal selling, and broadcast advertising.
Digital Marketing
This refers to a marketing component utilizing the internet and online digital technologies like mobile phones, computers, etc. Digital marketing is a good choice for the sale of cigarettes since it will reach out to a larger number of people. Today, almost everyone from all over the world uses the internet, which makes it an ideal place to market the products. The target market of the cigarette product is most likely using the internet at their workplace and at home.
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Digital marketing is advantageous in communication efforts since it makes it possible to reach out to the target audience in a measurable and cost-effective manner. Using digital marketing helps to reduce costs through automation and also the use of electronic media (Tiago & Verissimo, 2014). The digital marketing of cigarettes also ensures that the end-users and the marketers respond faster in case any issues arise. The digital marketing channel also has its drawbacks. The sale of cigarettes using digital marketing poses privacy and security issues for the brand. Due to the high dependence on technology, the company producing cigarettes might face issues with privacy involving hackers, or even employee unconscious release of information. Technology is also evolving over time, which results in maintenance costs as the environment constantly evolves (Tiago & Verissimo, 2014).
The types of digital marketing which will be effective in the sale of cigarettes are content advertising an social media marketing. Content marketing will help consumers get a clear idea of the brand of cigarettes. Videos will be vital in engaging the target market while answering any questions pertaining to the product.
Personal Selling
This communication channel was a good choice since it involves a personal presentation by the sales force of the firm, which is aimed at not only making sales but also building customer relationships. It is a good fit for the target market since it helps engage the buyers one on one, thus covering the population of older people who purchase the product but are not frequent users of the internet.
The advantages of personal selling include the building of buyer preferences where the buyer can choose the specific type of cigarette from a variety. It also helps to build a personal interaction between the company and its customers. One of the disadvantages of personal selling is that the sales force will need a long term commitment as compared to some of the promotion channels, such as advertising (Paesbrugghe et al., 2018). Personal selling is also a relatively expensive promotional tool.
The aspects of personal selling which will be used include cross-functional team selling, ales engineer, and missionary salespeople. The cross-functional selling will involve the incorporation of a team of professionals who will sell as well as service the main clients. The professionals will help to communicate directly and deliver important information to the clients. The sales engineer will be the customer sales support person who will specialize in analyzing, identifying, and solving the problems the customers have. Solving the problems posed by the customers is an important step towards maintaining and getting more customers. The missionary salespeople will also help to perform promotional activities while also introducing the company's new or modified products. They are important as they will help increase sales by gaining trust with the customers through one on one interaction.
Broadcast Advertising
Broadcast advertising can also be used to make cigarette advertisements on TV and on the radio. This form of advertising will help draw more people to the specific brand of cigarettes. It will also help to warn young people who should not use it on their effects on one's body. Broadcast advertising is good for the target market in this case since most people watch TV or listen to the radio, thus offering them an opportunity to see the product.
Advantages of broadcast advertising include its ability to cover a wide range as radio and TV has the widest coverage, and can thus reach each household. The advertisement is made in the middle of a program for the specific target market. For instance, cigarettes can be advertised in the middle if programs meant for adults. This makes it easy to target a specific market. However, broadcast advertising has its disadvantages, which include overcrowding advertisements, which leads to a decrease in interest among listeners and viewers (Geraci, 2017). Broadcast advertising is also very expensive as the radio and TV channels need to get paid for the services.
The aspect of the broadcast advertising that will be used include the use of sound and image elements. The sound element will be used with a radio advertisement, which will help reach out to people who do not have access to Television. Cigarettes are not expensive, and even those earning a low or average income are a target market. The image element will be used with the Television advertisement as it will help with the visual element.
Conclusion
Marketing is vital in each business, and communication channels play a vital role in ensuring that promotion is enhanced. Communication channels effective in the case of cigarettes include digital marketing, personal selling, and broadcast advertising, all who have an important role in increasing sales, which also building customer relationships in the process.
References
Geraci, C. A. (2017). U.S. Patent Application No. 15/378,027 .
Paesbrugghe, B., Sharma, A., Rangarajan, D., & Syam, N. (2018). Personal selling and the purchasing function: where do we go from here?. Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management , 38 (1), 123-143.
Tiago, M. T. P. M. B., & Veríssimo, J. M. C. (2014). Digital marketing and social media: Why bother?. Business horizons , 57 (6), 703-708.
