Promotions can come in many shapes and sizes. Odds are that
as a business person you have already tried at least one of
the many types of one-off sales offers that are commonly
used. Broadly speaking, promotions may be price driven or
they may be aiming to raise the profile of a new company or
product.
As the price of your product is key to your success, it is
little wonder that price promotions are amongst the most
popular form of advertising that we see in today's market.
Decide on the ideal price point for your promotion by
looking at your competition as well as your costs. You want
to make the customers feel that they are getting a good
deal, but you do not want to be out of pocket.
Resist the temptation to base your promotion purely on price. You want people to
feel that they are also getting a good product. Very low prices can cause
suspicion that your product is of a poor standard. Price-based offers should be
used on a one-off basis and not as a regular promotion otherwise customers will
come to expect them.
Those companies that do rely heavily on discounts are treading a dangerous path.
Customers quickly become dependent on these discounts and will be reluctant ever
to pay full price. Over-using discounts is one of the main promotional pitfalls
that should be avoided.
Consider your pricing carefully; it must appeal to your audience but not leave
you out of pocket. Will you be offering this promotion to existing customers as
well as new customers? Will there be any limits on the numbers that people can
buy at this special price? How long will the promotion last?
How are you going to distribute these discounts? Are you going to send out
coupons or are you going to issue codes that people can use online? Will these
offers be restricted to new or existing customers?
You also need to plan for your redemption rates. This is the percentage of
people who want the coupon and this can be a little tricky to figure out. But
you can look in records, your past data and also comparisons to others to help
you decide on your redemption rate.
Promotions are extremely effective, but you must do your homework and use them
sparingly. Take some time to plan them properly and you will get much more
success.
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About the author:
Scott F. Geld is the Controller of
Marketing Blaster
Inc, a pay-per-click traffic source that continually
beats the major search engines in ROI and Conversion
Ratios. Stop by and see for yourself at:
www.marketingblaster.com |
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