Cambridge Business Association
How to Sell More Stuff
Book

How to Sell More Stuff

Promotional Marketing That Really Works

Steve Smith and Don E. Schultz
Kaplan Publishing, 2004
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8

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Recommendation

Readers instinctively understand that every topic is not equally adaptable to narrative treatment. You could read about Tiger Woods for a month, for example, and not improve your golf game by a stroke. In promotional marketing, however, the opposite is true. The marketer’s tool kit only holds so many tricks, and many are careworn from repetitive use. That means you can learn tons about executing a sales promotion by reading a book, if you find the right one. Good news: this is that tome. Combining their many years of experience, Steve Smith and Don E. Schultz adroitly blend the practical with the strategic. Their book is packed with budget tips, planning advice and execution checklists. getAbstract.com recommends this comprehensive, insightful review even for battle-scarred veterans of the promotional wars. For new arrivals, here’s the marketer’s promo tool kit, ready to go.

Summary

Welcome to Promotional Marketing

Your boss calls in a panic. Sales are off 15% as you head into your third quarter; heads are about to roll. The boss expects you to put the company back into the mix, and fast. The answer is promotional marketing, formerly known as sales promotion. Managers used to think of sales promotions simply as cutting prices to spur sales. However, promotional marketing can accomplish a number of strategic objectives, including targeting specific market segments, extending brand images, supporting strategic initiatives and increasing sales.

Promotional marketing uses motivational tactics to shape the actions of distributors, sales reps and customers or end users. The beauty of sales promotions is that they generate immediate, often measurable results. Promotion is inherently tied to encouraging people to buy a product, participate in a sweepstakes or clip a coupon.

Before you call your boss back and offer a solution to the firm’s woes, remember that the success of any promotion depends on the quality of execution. If retailers don’t understand how the point-of-sale kit works, your best efforts could fall flat. A good sales promotion plan...

About the Authors

Steve Smith is the founder of Creative Marketing Services, a consulting firm serving many major brands. His career spans 25 years of marketing on behalf of Fortune 500 brands. Don E. Schultz is professor of Integrated Marketing Communication at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, and president of Agora, Inc., a marketing consultancy. He is the co-author of 13 books including Essentials of Sales Promotion.

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