Promotion is how a business tells customers about its product and persuades them to buy. A good answer matches the method to two things: what the business wants to achieve, and who it wants to reach.
Check your Cambridge syllabus page for the promotion terms your course uses, because Business Studies 0450 and Business 0264 may name methods or categories differently. The matching logic here stays the same. This lesson belongs to marketing choices and uses the audience you named in defining a target segment.
How do you match promotion to objective and audience?
First, name the objective in plain words: awareness, trial or keeping customers. Next, say who the audience is and where they pay attention. Then choose the method that reaches that audience at a sensible cost.
When the case gives numbers, work out the cost per target person reached. A method that reaches many people may still reach few of the right ones.
Worked example
Cendana Fitness Studio in Johor Bahru is launching a weekday morning class for people aged 55 and above. The objective is to make this group aware of the class in the first month. The budget is RM300 for either of two methods.
| Method | Cost | Reach given in the case |
|---|---|---|
| Social media advert | RM300 | 6,000 people see it, and 5% are aged 55+ |
| Flyers handed out at a community hall | RM300 | 2,000 flyers, and 1,200 go to people aged 55+ |
Step 1, name the objective and audience. The objective is awareness. The audience is people aged 55 and above.
Step 2, find the target reach. For the advert, 5% of 6,000 = 0.05 × 6,000 = 300 people aged 55+. For the flyers, the case gives 1,200.
Step 3, find the cost per target person. Advert: RM300 ÷ 300 = RM1.00. Flyers: RM300 ÷ 1,200 = RM0.25.
Step 4, judge. The flyers cost a quarter as much per person aged 55+, and reach four times as many of them (1,200 ÷ 300 = 4). They also suit an awareness aim, because the hall is where the group already meets. The case does not say the group uses social media much, so the advert is the weaker fit.
Step 5, add a limit. Flyers are easy to throw away, and the studio cannot measure who reads them. It could add a sign-up sheet for a free first class to see how many respond.
The mistake to watch for
A common slip is to choose a method because it is popular, without checking the audience.
Mistaken answer: “The studio should use social media because everyone uses it now and it reaches many people.”
The student ignored the audience of people aged 55 and above and the cost per target person.
The correction is to start from the audience and objective, then pick the method. “Flyers at the community hall reach 1,200 people aged 55+ for RM0.25 each, compared with RM1.00 each for the advert, so they suit the awareness aim better.”
Check yourself
Try each on paper before opening the answer.
1. A cafe wants to keep its current customers coming back. Would a loyalty stamp card or a large roadside billboard fit better? Give one reason.
Show answer
A loyalty stamp card fits better. The objective is keeping current customers, and the card rewards repeat visits. A billboard mainly builds awareness among passers-by, which is a different aim.
2. A school bulletin ad costs RM250 and reaches 500 parents, all of whom are the target. A social media ad costs RM400 and reaches 8,000 people, of whom 10% are the target. Find the cost per target person for each.
Show answer
Bulletin: RM250 ÷ 500 = RM0.50. Social media: 10% of 8,000 = 800 target people, so RM400 ÷ 800 = RM0.50. The cost per target person is the same, so the choice should depend on other points, such as how many people each method reaches in total.
3. Why is “it is cheaper” a weak reason for choosing a promotion method?
Show answer
A cheaper method may reach few people in the target audience, so the cost per target person could be higher. It may also suit the wrong objective. Cost matters, but only compared with who and how many are reached.
Where this leads next
Once customers know about the product, they need a way to buy it. Next, evaluate distribution choices using cost and access. The marketing choices practice set brings all the lessons together.
If you can state the objective and audience but struggle to turn them into an argument, our teachers can practise that with you in online one-to-one Business tuition.