Promotional services are a key component of marketing and can be divided into above the line (direct ads in media) and below the line (other forms of promotion). Below the line services are becoming increasingly innovative, with interactive games and contests being popular. Marketing specialists are often brought in to develop comprehensive below the line campaigns.
Promotional services are those services that help spread the word about a product, service or company. Along with the actual marketing of the product, distribution of the product, and pricing of the product, promotional services are one of the four main components of marketing. There are two main branches of promotional services: those that occur above the line and those that occur below the line. Both types are important for effectively informing consumers about a product or line, but they both work in very different ways.
Above the line promotional services are those direct ads seen in the media. Above-the-line promotions are generally placed by an advertising agency, chosen by the advertiser to best represent their product or company. Above the line promotional services may use television, newspapers, the Internet or radio as an avenue of instruction, but are almost always very intentional and overt about their promotional nature.
Under the line of promotional services are all other forms of promotion that a company can use to inform the public about their product or company. In many cases, below the line services may not even be recognizable as forms of promotion, making them a form of covert advertising. Consumers can see this type of marketing hidden away and not realize it’s associated with the same company, which often makes the message it’s conveying all the more impactful.
Some examples of below the line promotional services include direct mail campaigns, individual selling, job fairs, sponsorships, coupons, product placement, brand tie-ins, sponsorships, sales and merchandising. Each of these forms of promotion has an associated cost, and it’s up to the marketing team to determine whether the value of the education ultimately outweighs the cost of the strategy. Developing a comprehensive below the line promotional campaign is complex work and usually professionals will bring in marketing specialists specifically to do it.
In recent years, below-the-line promotional services have become increasingly innovative, in an effort to differentiate themselves in a world filled with constant marketing messages. Some marketing companies specialize in particularly bold or covert forms of marketing, sometimes referred to as guerrilla marketing. These companies typically employ a number of highly creative people who keep up with the latest technologies to discover ways to leverage them as effective promotional vehicles.
For example, the use of interactive games and contests has become a very popular form of promotion in recent years, especially with the growing popularity of the Internet. Various Flash-based games often lure consumers with the prospect of a fun time, and a product or brand is shown multiple times throughout the game, helping to build recognition among consumers. Interactive contests have also become popular, in many ways replacing older sweepstakes-style promotions. These contests require some form of consumer engagement, such as creating a video, photography, or writing something about the product or brand. This not only engages the consumer on a much deeper level than a sweepstakes, but also generates future marketing materials for the business.
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