Marketing Mix means combination of promotions, products, places (distribution channels), and prices you chose for your business. Including both short term and long term strategies in marketing mix can make for a more profitable business.

Long term strategies build brand/company awareness and give sales revenue a permanent, gradual boost. Short term strategies create a temporary, immediate revenue boost by giving buyers an incentive to purchase.

By implementing both long and short term strategies, you can attend to immediate sales goals while building your business reputation and goodwill. Some examples of both types of strategies are below.

Long Term Strategies

Branding. General advertisements and other high profile activities contribute to your company's image. These points of contact with your target customer help mold your image, which in turn can create loyalty from your customers.

Philanthropy. Donating money, services, and/or time can build trust and a positive image for your business. Philanthropy contributes both toward your branding efforts and your company's internal well being.

New Product Pipeline. New products in development represent your future sales. If you get feedback from your customers or potential target market then design new products (or change existing ones) to meet their needs, you are ensuring a demand for your products in future.

Short Term Strategies

Reduced Price Sales. Limited time sales encourage customers to act. You likely have customers intending to buy but have not "gotten around to it". Holding a sale will give them incentive to purchase.

The fact that owner was going around passing out free promotional pens to patrons impressed me. I stop at car washes all time and never get free stuff. In fact, if “cleaning wand” removes most of dirt and spot-free rinse is actually spot-free, I’m pretty happy.

You may be thinking to yourself, “That’s a nice gesture, but is it really very effective as a marketing tool?”

Absolutely.

Not only are promotional products effective marketing tools, but they can actually foster goodwill toward your company or organization and its salespeople or representatives.

In fact, a study conducted by Baylor University suggests that customers who receive a promotional product with a sales letter will view your company and its sales reps 52% more favorably than customers who receive a sales letter without a promotional product.

What’s more, study revealed that when compared to customers who did not receive a promotional product with their sales letter, customers who did receive a promotional product with their sales letter perceived company’s sales reps as being 16% to 34% more competent.

Did you catch that?

Despite fact that none of customers who received sales letter and promotional product actually talked to or met with a sales rep, customers receiving promotional product actually perceived sales reps as being more competent.