Difference Between IMC and Promotional Mix

calendarMay 30, 2023 · 4 min read  ·
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The key difference between IMC and promotional mix is that IMC refers to conveying the brand message to create a positive and strong impression on customers while promotional mix refers to the blend of marketing elements to promote business.

IMC and promotional mix are very important concepts in marketing. Both concepts will help business organizations to interact with customers.

CONTENTS

1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Promotional Mix
3. What is IMC 
4. Similarities Between IMC and Promotional Mix
5. Side by Side Comparison – IMC vs Promotional Mix in Tabular Form
6. Summary

What is IMC?

IMC stands for Integrated Marketing Communications. It is a strategic, collective and promotional business approach in which a targeted audience feels constant influential and strong brand messaging. It delivers a lot of benefits even though it may require a lot of effort. Moreover, IMC can create a competitive advantage over its competitors, enhance sales and profits while saving money, time and stress. IMC helps buyers in various stages of the buying process.

Difference Between IMC and Promotional Mix

Businesses simultaneously combine its image, develops a dialogue and nurtures its relationship with customers through IMC. Basically, a consistent crystal clear image will convey a powerful message to targeted customers instead of thousands of other commercial voices. Also, this will help to increase profits through increased efficiency of communication. Further, images shared in advertising and direct emails will lift both product awareness and uses of buying. Therefore, IMC can increase sales by widening messages across several communication methodologies to create more opportunities for customers to become aware, provoked, and ultimately to purchase the product or service. Moreover, consistent communication with the customer will make long-lasting relationships and create customer loyalty.

Promotional mix refers to several promotional tools used by a business to create, maintain and grow the demand for goods and services. Promotion mix is the amalgamation of advertising, personal selling, sales promotion, public relations and direct marketing. These are known as elements of the promotion mix. Hence, businesses can use any tool of the promotion mix based on the nature of the product or service as well as the overall objective of the business. Moreover, it is a series of organized activities conducted to interact with buyers. For instance, giving a presentation to raise awareness of the product specification will help the company to interact with the customers.

Furthermore, to have the right mix, marketing consultants should have an idea about several things. They include an effective way to inform the audience, marketing method, promotion efforts and marketing budget.

  • IMC and promotion mix are closely related to marketing concepts.
  • Both concepts will help business organizations to interact with customers.
  • Furthermore, the primary aim of both is to inform or remind the customer about the product or service and finally to make a purchase.
  • Moreover, IMC involves co-ordinating the firm’s promotional mix (communication elements – advertising, sales promotions, personal selling, public relations (PR) & direct/online marketing) to communicate a crystal clear, consistent brand message.

The key difference between IMC and promotional mix is that IMC refers to conveying a brand message to its targeted audience to lure customers for purchases whereas promotional mix refers to the integration of advertising, personal selling, sales promotion, public relations and direct marketing to lure target audience for purchases. Further, IMC does not involve in selling, whereas promotion mix may involve selling through sales promotion.

Moreover, effective selection of promotion method is important in the promotional mix, whereas effective communication is important in IMC. Also, effective IMC will create long-lasting relationships with customers than a promotional mix. Besides, IMC is more concerned with delivering product or service awareness while promotion mix is more concerned with selling products or services using a valid mix.

Difference Between IMC and Promotional Mix in Tabular Form

Summary – IMC vs Promotional Mix

The primary objective of both concepts is to inform and remind the customer about the product or service and to make a purchase. The key difference between IMC and promotional mix is that IMC can be introduced as a strategic, collective and promotional business approach in which a targeted audience feels constant, influential and strong brand messaging whereas promotional mix can be introduced as integration of advertising, personal selling, sales promotion, public relations and direct marketing to lure target audience for purchases.

Reference:

1. “Integrated Marketing Communications.” Multimedia Marketing, 18 July 2019, Available here.
2. Blunt, Lanee’. “What Is the Difference Between a Marketing Mix & a Promotional Mix?” Small Business – Chron.com, 21 Nov. 2017, Available here.

Image Courtesy:

1. “3 Marketing Strategies You Have Never Heard Of” By Joe The Goat Farmer (CC BY 2.0) via Flickr

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