Explain the components of the communication mix and provide a brief description of each.

The communication mix, also known as the promotional mix, comprises several tools companies use to communicate with customers and other stakeholders. These elements include advertising, which is any paid form of non-personal presentation and promotion of ideas, goods, or services by an identified sponsor. Public relations involves building good relations with the company's various publics by obtaining favorable publicity and building a good corporate image. Personal selling is the personal presentation by the firm's sales force for the purpose of making sales and building customer relationships. Sales promotion consists of short-term incentives to encourage the purchase or sale of a product or service. Finally, direct marketing involves direct communication with carefully targeted individual consumers to obtain an immediate response and cultivate lasting customer relationships.