How does a business tell customers about its products and persuade them to buy?
Describe common ways to promote a product - advertising, special offers, displays and social media - and explain how a business chooses a method
A simple guide to promoting a product. Advertising, special offers, displays, social media and word of mouth, and how a business chooses a method, with Singapore examples.
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What this dot point is asking
You need to describe common ways to promote a product - advertising, special offers, displays, and social media - and explain how a business chooses a method. Promotion is how a business tells customers about a product and persuades them to buy. Keep your answer practical and tied to a real business, and be ready to explain that the best method depends on the customers, the cost, and the product.
The answer
What promotion is
Promotion is how a business tells customers about its products and persuades them to buy. It is one of the four Ps of the marketing mix. Good promotion gets the right message to the right customers so they choose this business over others.
Common promotion methods
Advertising. Paying to spread a message, for example a poster, a flyer, a newspaper advert, or an online ad. Advertising reaches many people but can cost money.
Special offers. Deals that get customers to buy:
- A discount (for example 20 percent off for a limited time).
- A buy-one-get-one-free or buy-five-get-one-free deal.
- A free sample to try the product.
Offers attract customers quickly and can get them to buy more.
- Displays
- An attractive shop window or in-store display that catches the eye and draws passers-by inside. Good displays make products look appealing.
- Social media
- Posting photos, videos, and updates online. This is cheap, reaches many people fast, and is good for younger customers.
- Word of mouth
- Happy customers telling friends and family. This is free and very trusted, and good service is what creates it.
How a business chooses a method
A business chooses a promotion method by thinking about three things:
- The customers - where they are and what they notice. Young customers may be reached best on social media; passing shoppers by a window display.
- The cost - what the business can afford. A small business with little money may pick cheap methods like social media and good displays.
- The product - what suits it. A new snack might use free samples; a sale might use discounts.
The best method reaches the right customers at a cost the business can afford.
Examples in context
Example 1. A bubble-tea shop's social-media launch. To launch a new flavour, the shop posts a bright photo and a short video online, offers a one-week discount, and puts a poster at the counter. Because its customers are young and online, social media reaches them cheaply, and the discount persuades them to try the new drink. The methods fit the customers and the budget.
Example 2. A supermarket's weekly offers. A supermarket promotes through flyers in letterboxes, big in-store displays of discounted items, and buy-one-get-one-free deals. These suit a wide range of shoppers and a larger budget, and the displays and offers tempt customers to buy more once inside. This shows promotion scaled to a bigger business.
Try this
Cue. State what promotion is, and describe two low-cost ways a small cafe could promote itself. Remember promotion is telling customers and persuading them to buy, then pick cheap methods such as social media, a window display, or word of mouth.
Cue. Describe two ways a shop could use a special offer to promote a product. Think discounts, buy-one-get-one-free, or free samples, and link each to attracting customers or getting them to buy more.
Cue. Explain how a business decides which promotion method to use. Link the choice to the customers (where they are), the cost the business can afford, and the product, so the promotion reaches the right people affordably.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of SEAB exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
Original4 marksA small bakery wants more customers to know about its products. (a) State what is meant by promotion. (b) Describe two low-cost ways the bakery could promote its products.Show worked answer →
(a) Promotion is how a business tells customers about its products and persuades them to buy.
(b) Two low-cost ways: post photos of the bakes on social media so people nearby see them; and put an attractive display and a sign in the shop window to draw passers-by inside. A special offer such as buy-five-get-one-free, or encouraging word of mouth, is also accepted.
What markers reward: a correct meaning of promotion (telling customers and persuading them to buy), and two realistic low-cost methods suited to a small bakery.
Original5 marks(a) Describe two ways a business can use a special offer to promote a product. (b) Explain how a business decides which promotion method to use.Show worked answer →
(a) Two special-offer ways: a discount, such as 20 percent off for a limited time, to attract customers quickly; and a buy-one-get-one-free or buy-five-get-one-free deal, which gets customers to buy more and come back. A free sample to try the product is also accepted.
(b) A business decides by thinking about its customers (where they are and what they notice), the cost it can afford, and the product. For example, a business with young customers and little money may choose social media, which is cheap and reaches them; a shop with passing trade may use window displays. The method must reach the right customers at a cost the business can afford.
What markers reward: two clear special-offer methods (discount, BOGOF, free sample), and a sensible explanation that links the choice to the customers, the cost, and the product.
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