A company’s total promotion mix—also called its marketing communications mix—consists of the specific blend of advertising, public relations, personal selling, sales promotion, and direct marketing tools that the company uses to engage consumers, persuasively communicate customer value, and build customer relationships. The five major promotion tools are defined as follows:2

• Advertising. Any paid form of nonpersonal presentation and promotion of ideas, goods, or services by an identified sponsor.

• Sales promotion. Short-term incentives to encourage the purchase or sale of a product or service.

• Personal selling. Personal customer interactions by the firm’s sales force for the purpose of engaging customers, making sales, and building customer relationships.

• Public relations (PR). Building good relations with the company’s various publics by obtaining favorable publicity, building up a good corporate image, and handling or heading off unfavorable rumors, stories, and events.

• Direct and digital marketing. Engaging directly with carefully targeted individual consumers and customer communities to both obtain an immediate response and build lasting customer relationships.

Each category involves specific promotional tools that are used to communicate with customers. For example, advertising includes broadcast, print, online, mobile, outdoor, and other forms. Sales promotion includes discounts, coupons, displays, demonstrations, and events. Personal selling includes sales presentations, trade shows, and incentive programs. Public relations includes press releases, sponsorships, events, and webpages. And direct and digital marketing includes direct mail, email, catalogs, online and social media, mobile marketing, and more.

At the same time, marketing communication goes beyond these specific promotion tools. The product’s design, its price, the shape and color of its package, and the stores that sell it—all communicate something to buyers. Thus, although the promotion mix is the company’s primary engagement and communications activity, the entire marketing mix—promotion and product, price, and place—must be coordinated for greatest impact.