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As market competition becomes increasingly fierce, terminal promotions have become a common practice. Companies of all types are pulling out all the stops at the retail end, with a dazzling array of promotional methods: special price promotions, free tastings, gift-with-purchase, on-site lucky draws—one after another! However, in the actual execution of promotional activities, many companies focus only on the pre-promotion preparation and the execution process, while paying insufficient attention to the post-promotion summary. After a promotion ends, few companies conduct detailed and in-depth analysis of whether the promotion achieved its expected results, what the input-output ratio was, and what shortcomings occurred during execution. Instead, they hastily move on to the next promotion. Marketing expert Liu Jie believes that only by conducting thorough and detailed analysis of each promotion can companies effectively improve the level of their promotional activities and maximize the effectiveness of each campaign. How should one conduct a summary analysis of promotional activities? The author provides the following analytical model:

I. Whether the Purpose of the Promotion Was Achieved

Every promotional activity is launched with a specific purpose in mind. Therefore, after the promotion ends, the first thing to analyze is whether the promotion achieved its intended purpose. Whether the basic purpose of the promotion was realized is one of the key factors in measuring its success! Generally speaking, promotional activities have the following purposes: brand promotion, sales increase, countering competitors, and enhancing terminal customer relations. For example, if a promotion's basic purpose is to counter competitors, and it fails to achieve that purpose, then even if sales increased during the promotion period, the promotion is still unsuccessful!

II. Whether the Basic Requirements of the Promotion Were Met

Depending on the purpose of the promotion, there are corresponding requirements that must be met. Were these requirements met? If not, why? Which links had problems? After the promotion ends, we must also conduct systematic analysis and summary of these issues. Specifically, there are several analytical dimensions:

1. Did the sales of the promotional items meet the targets?

A promotion may target a single item or multiple items. Analyzing a single item is relatively easy, while analyzing multiple items is more complex. For example, Company Y launched a promotion on its candy, snack, and chocolate products simultaneously at the retail end, offering a gift worth 20 yuan for every 100 yuan spent. The purpose of this promotion was to increase product sales, and the company set overall sales targets as well as sales targets for each promotional item. In the summary analysis of this promotion, we cannot simply look at whether the overall sales target was achieved; we must further analyze whether the sales targets for the candy, snack, and chocolate products were each achieved. Even if the overall sales target was met, if the sales targets for two of the items fell far short, the effectiveness of the promotion is greatly diminished.

2. Were the display requirements met?

Successful promotional activities often require support from the terminal in the form of specific displays, such as bulk snack promotions requiring special displays like bulk goods cabinets or floor stacks. Companies typically set detailed terminal display plans and requirements before the promotion begins, but during actual execution, were the display requirements met? If not, why? These issues must be given sufficient attention in the post-promotion summary analysis, after all, the display effect of a 1-square-meter floor stack is vastly different from that of a 4-square-meter floor stack!

3. Were the store count requirements met?

Terminal promotions often need to be carried out simultaneously in multiple retail stores, and companies determine the required number of stores before the promotion starts. Similarly, in the post-promotion summary, we must analyze whether the actual number of stores that executed the promotion met the expected target and identify the reasons for any gaps.

4. Was the input-output ratio reasonable?

Planning and implementing terminal promotions require companies to invest certain resources, but in actual execution, companies often neglect to analyze and control the input-output ratio! Many times, a promotion may seem to achieve its sales target, but the cost input is seriously high, sometimes even exceeding actual sales. Of course, when analyzing the input-output ratio, we must also consider the main purpose of the promotion. If the main purpose is to promote the brand or enhance terminal customer relations, we cannot only consider sales factors but must look at the overall benefits obtained from the promotion.

5. Were the promotional staff's qualifications up to standard?

In most cases, terminal promotions are accompanied by on-site promotional staff. The image, sales pitch, and promotional skills of these staff greatly influence actual sales achievement. The role of promotional staff is like the "final shot" in a football match! Therefore, in the summary analysis of each promotion, we must give sufficient attention to the promotional staff. For those whose sales pitches and skills are not up to standard, targeted training should be provided to improve their performance in the next promotion.

6. Were various detail requirements met?

At the level of basic requirements for promotions, in addition to the five points mentioned above, companies should also pay attention to whether various detail indicators during execution are met. For example, are the promotional items consistent with the terminal's brand image publicity? Are price indicators conspicuous? Are the props needed for the promotion complete? Are promotional gifts sufficiently prepared? And so on.

The author believes that for terminal promotional activities, companies can only effectively improve the overall level of their terminal promotions by continuously analyzing and summarizing the shortcomings of each promotion during actual execution and identifying the reasons for the gaps between results and plans. Only then will the input-output ratio become increasingly reasonable, and the achievement rate of promotional purposes gradually improve!

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