Marketing Strategy—Promotion (Essay Sample)

Marketing Strategy—Promotion Student’s Name Institution Course Instructor Date Marketing Strategy—Promotion Introduction IMC refers to the coordinated application of communication strategies to promote a particular product or service. IMC involves media advertising, public relations, direct marketing, and social media, among others, with the vision of passing a coherent message to the targeted consumers. This aspect helps promote the brand and makes the stakeholders more receptive to the brand's communication attempts. This paper focuses on the IMC strategy for Microsoft's new product offering, HealthGuard, a hi-tech health monitoring device that will ride on Microsoft’s technology and innovation to tap into the rising healthcare technology market. Promotional Objective Therefore, the main business goal of Microsoft HealthGuard’s promotional campaign is to attain market dominance of the health monitoring device in the initial year of its release. Targets include reaching 15 % market share among the target segments, making five million users within two years, and achieving 80% brand recognition by the last year. The advertising objective is to get a favorable ROI on advertising investment and expected sales of $500 million for the first three years. Target Market Analysis The target market for Microsoft HealthGuard comprises individuals aged 40 and above with chronic health conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, and lipid disorders. These consumers are health-conscious and technology-savvy and seek reliable health monitoring solutions to maintain their well-being (Camilleri, 2019). Demographically, they are typically located in well-developed regions with access to advanced healthcare facilities. Psychographically, they value convenience and accuracy in health data monitoring and are willing to invest in cutting-edge health technologies. The cost per customer to reach them involves targeted advertising efforts to educate about HealthGuard's benefits, estimated at $50 per customer acquisition. Promotional Mix Strategy Advertising Advertising for Microsoft HealthGuard will include all the major advertising media and integrate both offline and online media. In print media, The New York Times and similar newspapers will place monthly full-page ads at $ 25000 per publication (Camilleri, 2019). Television commercials will air on countrywide TV channels at rush hour for $350,000, while radio commercials will be aired on national radio stations for $350,000. In online advertising, critical areas like Facebook and Instagram will be targeted every year, with an annual budget of $500,000 set aside for the purpose. Sales Promotion The Sales promotion for Microsoft HealthGuard shall focus on discounts and offers as the targeted group is best appealed to through these avenues. In the first weeks of the launch of Microsoft's online store, consumers will receive a 10% launch discount to try HealthGuard without delay (Sundas et al., 2022). Moreover, specific promotions for the products and accessories will be launched for the general healthy awareness months, offering special promotions such as 'buy one get one free' and promotional rates (Camilleri, 2019). These strategies are in sync with consumer value and encourage the first purchase or subsequent usage of HealthGuard. Public Relations Therefore, sales of Microsoft HealthGuard will require personal selling to distribute our distribution effectively. If implemented, it targets the preferred health-conscious population of people with an average age of 40 and above living with chronic conditions. Qualified representatives will only plan selling campaigns for primary distributors, focusing on HealthGuard’s artificial intelligence and compatibility with current healthcare systems (Sundas et al., 2022). This tactic can be incorporated within our overall IMC approach since it reminds customers of the specific product benefits and establishes trust through one-on-one communication, enhancing loyalty. Direct Marketing Some of the direct marketing strategies employed by Microsoft HealthGuard are email campaign initiatives. They will target the identified demographic of health-conscious individuals (Camilleri, 2019). Using customer data from our online channels will showcase HealthGuard’s intelligent health tracking and discounts. At the same time, starter voucher coupons will be distributed to households in wealthy districts with available hi-tech healthcare amenities (Sundas et al., 2022). These direct marketing efforts will create a consistent path for a customer to go from awareness to the final point of purchase. Personal Selling Personal selling for Microsoft HealthGuard will involve targeting authorized dealers who will reach potential customers for Microsoft HealthGuard by directly selling products through controlled online outlets. In-store demonstrations will involve the trained sales representatives presenting HealthGuard’s highly sophisticated AI functions to the healthcare systems. It aligns with the distribution strategy and goes well with our over-arching IMC plan (Sundas et al., 2022). They are incorporating personal selling to complement the digital marketing strategy, such as emails to share HealthGuard's value proposition with health-conscious consumers over forty years of age. Internet and Social Media Strategy Developing a solid internet and social media marketing plan is the best approach to target the right audience for Microsoft HealthGuard. The consumers are tech-savvy, health-conscious consumers. We will consider Facebook and LinkedIn as they are relevant to the demography of people aged 40 and above. The main focus of the content strategy will be educational blog posts about HealthGuard and how the product can help cope with chronic diseases, as well as videos showcasing features (Sundas et al., 2022). Sponsored content shall further enhance the reach. The posting frequency will be adjusted by the various statistics of the platforms, with the planned posting of three posts per week during the hours with the highest activity of our target audience. Execution Plan A calendar has been set for each promotional activity covering the entire year for Microsoft HealthGuard marketing. Print advertis...