---
title: "Dealer's Routine and Non-Routine Promotions"
description: "Dealers prefer promotions to ensure quick sell-through of terminal products, but they aim for high returns with low investment. Routine promotions are common but often fall into traps like over-reliance on frequency, while non-routine promotions require careful planning and resource allocation."
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published: "2018-06-20"
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# Dealer's Routine and Non-Routine Promotions

> Dealers prefer promotions to ensure quick sell-through of terminal products, but they aim for high returns with low investment. Routine promotions are common but often fall into traps like over-reliance on frequency, while non-routine promotions require careful planning and resource allocation.

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Currently, there is a wide variety of marketing activities. When it comes to ensuring quick sell-through of terminal products, dealers prefer using promotions as a marketing tool.
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When dealers conduct promotional activities with minimal support from manufacturers or even entirely on their own, pursuing sales volume is one reason. However, if the input-output ratio of the promotion is too low, making it unprofitable, it obviously fails to achieve the merchant's original intention. **Thus, with an operational mindset of "low input, high output," many dealers exhibit distinct characteristics in terminal promotions: small scale, low cost, single form, and high frequency.**
Forms of Dealer Promotions
In terms of promotion forms, dealers generally like to follow trends. If another merchant's activity is effective, they immediately suggest it to the manufacturer or simply imitate it. Looking at various promotional activities currently on the market, most are quite similar. If classified by form and model, they can be broadly divided into routine promotion models and non-routine promotion models (i.e., thematic promotions).
Routine promotions are a common model adopted by dealers, with content that never strays far from the basics: discount sales, free samples, and buy-one-get-one offers. Of course, the forms and variations can be constantly changed. How to create novelty is the highest level of routine promotion.
**Characteristics of routine promotions are summarized as follows:**
1. Long-term or periodic. Routine promotional activities generally last a long time, such as Shuanghui ham sausage's buy-one-get-one-free campaign for a year when launching calcium-added products in Shandong.
2. Fixed. Fixed location and fixed time are the most prominent features of routine promotions; some companies and dealers even call them "weekend promotions."
3. Quick effect. The effect of routine promotions is often "immediate results," with sales rising, but the long-term effect and influence are poor.
4. On-site announcement. Routine promotions generally rely on POP displays, display boards, posters, and staff explanations to announce the promotion content, rather than public media.
**Application scope of routine promotional activities:**
**Suitable operating groups:** Small and medium-sized enterprises with weak economic strength, as well as small and medium-sized agents and dealers.
**Suitable products:** New product launches or old products responding to competition from similar products.
**Suitable terminals:** Stores with trained staff or stationed promoters and high customer traffic.
Non-routine promotion models (also known as thematic promotions) are also promotional activities that dealers frequently participate in. Such activities are usually first defined by the manufacturer in terms of plan, theme, scale, and form, and then executed by the dealer or implemented independently. Non-routine promotional activities are fewer in number, larger in scale, leave a deeper impression on consumers, and can have a profound impact on long-term market sales trends. Therefore, once a manufacturer presents a feasible operational plan, many dealers are willing to follow and take a chance.
**Characteristics of non-routine promotions:**
1. Guidance. When operating non-routine promotional activities, the proposer of the activity plan usually provides comprehensive guidance to the dealer on plan operation, procedures, scale, media communication, etc.
2. Thematic. Non-routine promotional activities generally aim to leave a deep impression on consumers' minds. Therefore, the operator will propose an attractive theme and slogan throughout the activity to attract more attention. For example, a manufacturer's theme activity proposed "Calcium supplementation needs 'calcium insurance'."
3. Timeliness. Non-routine promotional activities have a certain time limit. The timeliness of "first come, first served" is also an important feature that attracts the audience's attention.
Application scope of non-routine promotions:
Suitable operating groups: Large, medium, and small enterprises and agents or dealers at all levels.
Suitable operating cycle: Suitable for phased promotional activities with a certain interval, usually monthly, quarterly, semi-annually, or annually.
Suitable venues: Mainly large outdoor areas or hypermarkets, or can be laid out in the form of promotional outlets.
Misunderstandings and Key Points in Routine Promotions
Although routine promotions have proven effective for dealers with their "short, flat, fast" approach, in practice, there are also many examples of improper operation or inappropriate method selection that lead dealers into the vicious cycle of "sales rise with promotion, fall without it" and "chronic suicide." When conducting routine promotions, dealers should pay attention to several misunderstandings:
Misunderstanding 1: Promotion guarantees sales. If the promotion method is wrong or the promotional gimmicks are outdated, these "hard injuries" of routine promotions still exist. Even with the best promotional staff, the effect will only be half the result with twice the effort.
Misunderstanding 2: Daily promotions are always good. Routine promotions are most prone to "fatigue syndrome." Many dealers think that daily promotions and daily discounts will surely win consumers over, but the reality is that promotional costs increase while sales remain lukewarm.
Misunderstanding 3: Imitation is the key. Observing effective and popular promotional methods in the market and then adopting a follow-up approach is a common tactic for dealers. This method has some market basis, but if it is only mechanically copied without innovation or adaptation, the result will be merely following in others' footsteps with vastly different effects.
From the above three misunderstandings, it can be seen that operating routine promotional activities also requires considerable skill and strategy. Only by using rich techniques and appropriate promotional strategies can dealers make their routine promotions "not routine" and achieve the effect of small investment with large returns. Based on past market experience, the following key points are summarized for sharing.
**1. Terminal construction is the foundation of routine promotions**
Market terminals are like the base for routine promotions. If the base is not solid, promotions will certainly be counterproductive. Before conducting routine promotions, dealers need to do three things well.
Hard terminal construction: Package all product sales points well to form a unified color vision. A product that did this well and was once popular is Kecai Eye Mask, a model of hard terminal construction.
Soft terminal construction: Training terminal staff and maintaining customer relationships are often aspects that dealers easily overlook. Dealers need to establish a relatively complete terminal training system with the support of manufacturers to improve the sales capability of the frontline team.
Fixed-point construction for sales and promotion staff: Making salespeople or promoters fixed-point is also a way to propose management innovation for dealers. In the marketing system of the company I served, the "stronghold management system" was promoted, becoming a highlight of the "building nests to attract phoenixes" strategy in market management: market sales increased, promoters' incomes rose, and excellent promoters quickly gathered together.
**2. Routine promotions need to combine points and areas**
When conducting routine promotions, dealers first need to consider appropriate promotion points. If everyone promotes and every store has promotions, it will only disperse energy, materials, and financial resources. Dealers should select promotion points only from effective terminals, and never unilaterally think that a store's sales are not rising or there are no sales, so they go and promote. "Dead water cannot support live fish" is also a market lesson. After having appropriate promotion points, dealers can analyze information such as promotion arrangements and execution, effect evaluation, sales statistics, and experience exchange involved in all promotion points through a detailed routine promotion schedule. This allows dealers to have a general understanding of the entire market level and make timely promotional adjustments and overall arrangements.
**3. Grasp the timing and cycle**
Some dealers, when launching new products, start routine promotions from the beginning, quickly introducing buy-more-get-more discount measures. A slight analysis shows that the results will be quite different from the dealer's original intention. The dealer's idea is to let consumers quickly accept the new product through buy-more-get-more offers and achieve a breakthrough in sales, but in reality, consumers not only remain indifferent to such activities and fail to try purchasing, but they will also question the price and quality of the newly launched product. This is clearly a case where the dealer did not consider the timing of the promotion when conducting routine promotions. Choosing the right timing, promotion reason, and promotion cycle are the three key points that dealers should grasp when formulating routine promotion strategies.
Issues to Note When Dealers Participate in Non-Routine Promotions
From practical operations, only a very few dealers can independently operate non-routine promotional activities, while the vast majority complete such market activities with manufacturer support or under the manufacturer's assistance and guidance. Since non-routine promotions (thematic promotions) require a significant investment of financial, human, and material resources in a short period, the operational risks are not only on the manufacturer's side; dealers also bear many risks in future market development, team management, capital investment, and after-sales service. Therefore, when dealers receive a non-routine promotion notice or plan from the manufacturer, they should not be overjoyed but must rationally analyze the following points.
**1. Feasibility and practical significance of the non-routine promotion plan**
When executing non-routine promotional activities, there is usually a relatively complete and detailed operational plan. However, since such plans often consider universality too much, they may lack consideration of regional differences and market characteristics. When dealers receive the promotion plan, they should not simply apply it. First, they need to recognize that there will be differences when operating this plan in their region, and they should anticipate where these differences may occur. Second, dealers should also focus on the practical significance of this non-routine promotional activity. Will this promotion generate more sales, or is it a "image project" to enhance the brand? Is it to let more new consumers try, or to let existing consumers "stock up" more?
**2. Resources matching the non-routine promotional activity**
The procedures for conducting non-routine promotional activities are relatively more complex than routine promotions. Dealers also need to comprehensively consider costs, negotiation for venue selection, promotional team, after-sales service, media interaction, and promotional material support.
Promotional costs: Spend according to your means. Dealers cannot overestimate the later benefits of the promotional activity and ignore the early promotional expenses.
Venue selection: A suitable venue greatly affects the effect of non-routine promotional activities. Dealers must complete this work in the early stage of the promotion.
Promotional team: Non-routine promotional activities require higher quality promotional staff. Do not have the mindset of "if there are not enough people, make do temporarily." There should be special training for non-routine activity promotions.
After-sales service: Many non-routine promotional activities come with certain after-sales service sequelae. Dealers must have certain psychological preparation and response plans.
Media interaction: Creating news highlights and allowing the promotional activity to interact with news media is a huge potential of an excellent promotion plan.
Promotional material support: Whether the required promotional supplies and related promotional materials are complete is also a key point that dealers need to pay attention to.
**3. Research on consumer psychology**
Before conducting non-routine promotional activities, dealers need to understand what consumers are thinking recently, what purchasing preferences they show, and what consumer and promotional information they accept.
Based on what consumers think, proposing promotional themes that suit their tastes can be more touching.
Based on purchasing preferences, formulating promotional offers with added benefits that satisfy consumer preferences and likes can win a long-term trusting heart from consumers.
Based on current popular or similar promotional information, innovating in promotional forms and thematic content can form a new communication force.
**4. Possible competitive responses and solutions**
When conducting non-routine promotions, dealers should also observe market dynamics and competitor dynamics at all times, and launch countermeasures based on competitors' promotional interceptions.
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