Effective promoters require a special set of skills
Apart from the product, the key element in the success of a promotion is the promoters themselves. Every weekend, across South Africa, you can see unenthusiastic and ill-equipped promoters standing around with an ineffectual mouthful of teeth. Here’s how to ensure you hire the right promoter for the job.
Look for enthusiasm
This is the most important requirement, because without enthusiasm you have nothing to build on. Promoters must be excited about doing the job, keen to be with people and eager to push the product or service they have been tasked with. Above all, they must be able to smile at all times and have the willingness to approach people ‘cold’.
Are they presentable?
Yes, it’s ‘Promoting 101’ but far too often this aspect seems to be overlooked! A promoter must be properly groomed, suitably attired and look neat and tidy at all times (even at the end of a gruelling 12-hour shift). Anything less shows disrespect to the product, the company being represented, and to the public they’re interacting with. But use common sense. A funky young guy with a Mohawk hairstyle and a pin through his nose is certainly ‘presentable’ at a nightclub promotion – but possibly less so at promoting a new range of jams in a supermarket.
Stamina and a ‘can do’ attitude
Promotions can seem like fun from a distance – and that can also be true for the first few hours – but it’s a different matter when you’re on your feet for 12 hours a day during a busy week-long exhibition. So successful promoters need stamina, a sense of humour and the ability to ignore sore feet! Those who expect constant smoke and toilet breaks, as well as frequent visits to the canteen, can be more of a hindrance than an asset.
Compatibility with the audience
It’s surprising how often marketers get this one wrong! If you’re promoting baby products to mothers, someone who looks like a ‘homely’ mum or gran herself is obviously a far better fit as a promoter than a teenage girl or a male bodybuilder. By contrast, a promotion for power tools would be better served by employing males who look like handyman-types, particularly if the job involves doing product demonstrations and/or giving advice. And – despite what gender activists and the politically-correct would have us believe – the reality is that ‘sex’ still sells in the right circumstances. If you’re promoting a new hot-rod magazine to a young male readership, for example, then attractive young females remain the obvious choice as promoters.
Are they trainable?
Promoters typically need to have some knowledge of the product/service they’re endorsing. So ideally you need to hire promoters who can quickly absorb new information and appear knowledgeable on the topic. This may sound simple, but bear in mind that today they could be extolling the virtues of a new washing machine and tomorrow an exotic holiday destination.
Do they have empathy?
A promoter in a store like Makro could, in the space of an hour, deal with a bewildering array of nationalities, races, creeds, religions, cultures and age groups. So it’s vital that the have the ability to empathise with people from vastly different backgrounds to their own, and can adjust their approach and ‘product pitch’ accordingly. After all, the way you deal with a granny from the townships requires a different style to a hard-charging company CEO in his mid-40s
Multilingualism
In South Africa’s multi-cultural environment, promoters who can converse effectively with a variety of different consumers in their mother tongues are almost priceless. Cherish and nurture them!
