A promotion (also called promo) is a marketing strategy used by Members to inform and convince the site visitors to purchase a listing. It might be a short-term price reduction, contest or sweepstakes, package giveaway, or free sample offer. Like Members, the Site Manager can also create or edit a promotion, and associate it with a listing.

The Promotion feature is only available for Showcase listings.

A promotion appears in the directory front as follows:

It shows up in the directory front in two manners:

• Within the Promotion section, the area where site visitors can find all on-going promotions
• Within the Listings section. Under a Showcase listing’s Detail and Summary View (example shown below), you will see a clickable “promotion” text. This lets the site visitors know that your listing is currently offering a promotion.

To create a promotion, do the following:

1. In the left navigation panel, click on Promotions (under Modules). After doing this, a page will appear like the one shown below:

   

2. Click on the Add sub-menu on the top of this page.
3. In the Account area (image shown below), look for the Member who will own the promotion. You can do this by hitting the Click here to select an account link.

   

   In this same area, do the following:

   1. In the Username box, type the login ID of the Member. Then, click on Search button.
   2. Choose the Member by clicking on the Select button.
4. In the Information area (image shown below), do the following:

   

   1. In the Headline box, type the name of the promotion that you are adding. The headline is the text that will appear on the top most part of your promotion. Be sure to make it descriptive and catchy.
   2. In the Offer (English) box, type the general description of the promotion. Do this also for all the languages you have enabled on your directory.

      We advise you to have it available in all enabled languages so when a visitor browsing the directory changes the site language, the offer will also change in accordance with it the selected language.

5. In the Description area (image shown below), do the following:

   

   In the English textarea, provide the scope and limitation of the promotion. Do this also for all the languages you have enabled on your directory.

   We advise you to have it available in all enabled languages so when a visitor browsing the directory changes the site language, the description will also change in accordance with it the selected language.

6. In the Condition area (image shown below), do the following:

   

   In the English textarea, provide the parameters that the customers should observe for a promotion to take effect. Do this also for all the enabled languages in the directory. The default text that you see there is the Promotional Condition Text that you set in the top navigation panel’s Settings > Promotions.

   We advise you to have it available in all enabled languages so when a visitor browsing the directory changes the site language, the condition will also change in accordance with it the selected language.

7. In the Keywords for the search area (image shown below), do the following:

   

   In the English textarea, type the keywords with which the promotion will be indexed for a search. Add one keyword/keyword phrase per line. Do this also for all the languages you have enabled on your directory.

   
   We advise you to have the keywords available in all enabled languages. This will allow the site visitors to search using keywords in foreign languages.

8. In the Promotion Date area (image shown below), do the following:

   

   In the Start Date and End Date boxes, input the exact date when the promotion will be valid. Do this by clicking on the icon.

9. In the Promotion Layout area (image shown below), do any of the following:

   

   1. If you want to incorporate all the details you provided above into a ready-made layout, select the Our HTML template based promotion option. Then, click on the Browse button to select the image that you want to use for the promotion.
   2. If you want to use a customized image with your own promotion details embedded on it, select A promotion provided by you instead option. Then, click on the Browse button to select the image that you want to use as your promotion layout.

      If you select the A promotion provided by you instead option, the details you provided above such as the Offer (Step 4b), Description (Step 5), and Condition (Step 6) will be disregarded.

10. Click on the Submit button.

After creating the promotion, the next thing to do is to associate it with the showcase listing that will use it. If you do not proceed to this process, the promotion that you have created will be useless.

A showcase listing can only have one promotion at a time. When the Site Manager deletes a listing with promotion, the promotion can be re-associated with the other listings created by the same Member or those with No Owner.

To associate a promotion with a showcase listing, do the following:

1. In the left navigation panel, click on Listings (under Modules). After doing this, a page will appear like the one shown below:

   

2. Click on the icon of the corresponding item. After doing this, a page will appear like the one shown below:

   

3. In the Promotion dropdown list, select the promotion that you have created earlier.
4. Click on the Submit button.

   
   A promotion automatically appears in the directory front once associated with an activated and paid showcase listing.

Setting Up Your Promotional Condition Text