In the context of marketing, is largely concerned with communication techniques aimed at informing, influencing and persuading customers to buy or use a particular product (or not to in the case of certain public sector objectives eg to reduce smoking). It can also involve communication with other key stakeholders / interested parties. For example, it might involve communicating with existing and / or potential shareholders in order to persuade them to invest further in the business, or communicating with potential employees in order to attract job applicants for a vacancy. It is one of the four ‘P’s of the marketing mix. The most common method of promotion is advertising, but this is just one method of many. Others include: public relations, branding, merchandising, sales promotion, personal selling and direct marketing (direct mail, telemarketing, email marketing, and text message marketing)