What are the Most Trending Sales Promotion Programs? How are They Affecting the Businesses?
For any brand or company when it comes to sales promotion there is always some form of confusion going on as to how to approach the audience and how to strategize the sales promotion activities. If you browse the market you can observe that brands are opting for almost similar sales promotion, or incentive programs which have eliminated the surprise element from the entire process. This predictability of the program is causing the customers to opt out from such programs, however, with leading loyalty program providers such as RewardPort you can ensure that your sales promotion program is different.
Why Incorporate Sales Promotion Program?
Before you dive into selecting a suitable sales promotion program for your brand, understand why you even need the sales promotion program in the first place, what are its benefits.
- Generate New Leads
By introducing certain forms of sales promotion activities or incentive programs a brand can easily generate new leads and customers. These promotion activities include rewards for new customers including free rewards or vouchers.
By incorporating a leader in loyalty programs such as RewardPort you can integrate several activities such as CineRewards for free movie tickets, or Scratch2Win for offering them scratch cards & offering them a chance to win a prize.
- Retain Old Customers
Brands often tend to forget their old customers once they have reached a certain milestone, but by incorporating exciting consumer program they can retain the old and loyal customers and recognise their loyalty towards the brand.
This can be done by rewarding them with different prizes or rewards which can develop a sense of belonging and build trust among the customers, urging them to stay loyal to the brand.
- Increase Brand Awareness
In order to generate brand awareness, certain brands can indulge in various sales promotion activities such as giving BOGO offers, cashbacks, free vouchers, or discount coupons. This helps to create a buzz about the brand in the market, pushing people to buy more of the brand.
You can integrate these activities by integrating a loyalty program provider such as RewardPort and ensure your sales promotion activities are seamless. With RewardPort you can leverage its different programs such as Sweepstakes, Subscription Nation, or Digiflix.
- Introducing New Product
Brands can also use sales promotion activities while they are introducing a new product in the market. This strategy includes either clubbing the new product with an already existing product with a BOGO (Buy One Get One) offer or providing cashbacks, scratch cards or discount coupons on these new products.
RewardPort is one such leader in the industry to offer such promotion programs using Scratch2Win, Freebucks or other products.
- Selling Old Stock
When the old stock is not selling, brands often start sales promotion activities on such non-selling or old stock products to remove them from the shelf. These strategies can be integrated with leading loyalty program providers such as RewardPort and integrate their products such as Sweepskates and Scratch2Win.
- Increasing Revenue
Any form of sales promotion activities when integrated in a brand eventually increases the revenue of the brand and helps them gain more and more recognition in the market. Further, recognising the old customers also builds the trust among them and hence, increased sales.
Trending Sales Promotion Activities
With each passing day, there is a new trend in the industry for different aspects of business, be it sales or marketing. When it comes to sales promotion activities there are new strategies coming out everyday that brands are integrating in their plans. Some of these strategies are successful and some fail due to certain reasons.
Here are some of the most common sales promotion strategies being incorporated by different brands that are helping them gain heights in their business.
- Cashbacks
Consists of a certain amount of cashback on purchase of targeted products which provides customers with a sense of satisfaction and hence, urges them to make more purchases.
- Free Trial Products
Allows customers to explore the new products being launched by the brand and hence, creates a buzz about the upcoming product in the market. It also helps brands to gather a form of feedback on the products.
- Rewards
These rewards can be in the form of gift cards or a free product along with the product that the customer made. These rewards allow customers to feel special and urges them to make more purchases with the brand. For this you can integrate loyalty programs from RewardPort such as CineRewards or Sweepstakes.
- Gamification
It includes programs such as spin the wheel which makes the customer more involved in the entire process of making the purchase and hence, develops a bond with the brand. For more information you can browse the gamification program by RewardPort.
- Discount Coupons & Vouchers
Offering customers a form of discount coupon or free voucher that they can redeem on their next purchase ensures a long term relationship as this is a never ending cycle. This allows the customer to build their loyalty to the brand and further refer the same to their peers as well.
- Subscriptions
For this you can incorporate the Subscription Nation program by RewardPort and offer your loyal customer subscriptions to different OTT platforms or other platforms for a time period of 3, 6, or 9 months depending on the brand.
Transforming Businesses
The above mentioned consumer program ensures that there is a trust and bond developed between the customer and the brand. Further, this bond helps brands to gain profits and based on this already established loyal customer base brands launch new products, catering to the needs of the customers.
These sales promotion activities and incentive program are helping the brands to generate awareness and develop brand loyalty among the customers. This is transforming businesses as the brands are now having a reliable customer base and a solid relationship with them which helps them to generate more revenue, and recognition in the market.
Additionally, brands as a form of recognition offer various benefits to its customers in form of lower price products, enhanced quality and wide range of products for their different needs. Here brands can partner or integrate with loyalty program providers such as RewardPort and let them handle the process of creating a sales promotion program that caters to their needs.
Sales Promotion by RewardPort
Companies such as RewardPort consist of different loyalty programs and solutions that can be implemented into different clients and their varying needs of sales promotion activities. RewardPort’s programs such as CineRewards, Subscription Nation, Gamification, Freebucks, or Scratch2Win are designed in such a way to cater to different clients and offer them enhanced sales promotion activities.
Furthermore, RewardPort is one of the leading loyalty programs provider and has been catering to a plethora of clients in different segments such as FMCG, health & lifestyle and other. Hence, can understand the needs and requirements of your brand and offer suitable solutions.
Frequently Asked Questions: -
The most common approach of sales promotion are Rewards, gamification, discount coupons, vouchers, point-based promotions, referral points.
Sales promotion is incorporated into the brand strategies to increase sales, customer loyalty, expand customer base, and generate more revenue.
Sales promotion is strictly for promoting the brand products and increasing the sale of the brand. However, public relations is mainly to focus on developing and building better customer relations, creating brand awareness and brand recognition among the customers in the market.
Effective Consumer Sales Promotion: How it can transform your business
The fight for customer attention is very tough, and every company in the market is fighting over the chance to grab customer’s attention. The question here is- how many of them are successful in doing so? Are they achieving what they had targeted for?
For some the answer is yes, while for others it’s a big no. The reason being that the competition out there is neck-to-neck, and when it comes to sales strategies there is no holy grail or set standard procedure. However, there still are certain tips and tricks to help you increase and elevate your company’s sales.
Tips for Better Sales Strategy
- Selecting the right target audience
- Rapidly changing customer needs
- Best experience makes the sale
- Selling a solution to problems
- Devise a good sales promotion strategy
Decoding Sales Promotion
A consumer sales promotion or sales promotion is a marketing strategy often used by different brands to create awareness for their products and boost their sales. These promotional activities or campaigns are available for a limited time which creates a sense of urgency among the customer and influences them to make the purchase.
These strategies are valid for both B2B or B2C companies, the only difference is the target audience and the process of promotion. Below we have listed various sales promotion activities often used by different companies.
- Free Samples
Companies often distribute free samples when they are launching a new product in the market. This strategy offers dual benefits to the brand, first they are creating awareness about the coming product.
Secondly they are creating a trust bond with the target audience by handing them the products. These free samples encourage customers to try and even offer their feedback and reviews on the product.
- BOGO Offers
Buy one get one offer is used by various companies for one major reason, clearing out the stock of the product that has not been selling great. This is an added advantage for the customers as they are getting a good deal of two products at the price of one.
Additionally, this combo offer attracts more customers to your product and brand, eventually increasing the sales.
- Free Trails
Allowing one time, 15 days or 30 days free trial is a very common practice that we have seen usually in certain gyms, mobile applications, automobiles and OTT platforms. This allows the customers to try your product, gain some confidence and then make the purchase.
This strategy allows customers to build trust in the brand before making a purchase and offers the brand to provide the best experience to ensure the sale.
To offer clients with this service RewardPort has designed Subscription Nation. With this you can send gifts or free trials for a limited period of time 3,6, or 9 months as per your convenience.
- Free Gifts
When we shop from a particular store or brand quite often, at times we have received certain free gifts. These are loyalty programs run by the brand to reward the customer loyalty toward the particular brand.
However, at times free gifts are also distributed to customers in a random selection process. These free gifts provide a sense of recognition and bonding between the customer and the brand which ensures more purchase by the customer.
- Cashbacks
From a customer’s perspective getting a cashback because you just spent some amount of money on a purchase feels rewarding. It is exciting to receive money because you spent some money.
These cashback offers allow customers to make purchases of a certain amount which is one of the most common consumer sales promotion strategies being used by different brands.
- Contests
Often there are different contents running in stores offering certain prizes, or a discount to customers. This creates a sense of attachment with the brand as you get involved in these contents, be it in the offline store or on the websites.
These contests can be categorised as spin the wheel, scratch & win, lucky draw, or first ten customers. This consumer sales promotion strategy is built to engage the customer with the brand and feel the connection between the two.
Scratch2Win by RewardPort can be integrated into your brand for introducing the factor of gamification and offering rewards to your customers. With Scratch2Win customers can scratch the cards and will be awarded with some gifts, making it more exciting for the customers.
- Coupons
Discount coupons are one of the most common approaches to consumer promotion. On purchase of a certain product or amount, customers are given discount coupons to be availed on the next purchase. This ensures that the customer is engaged with the brand for a longer period of time.
Availing these coupons ensures customer loyalty and makes it simpler for the brand to target further consumer sales promotion strategies for such customers, offering additional benefits.
RewardPort’s My Choice of Gift is an electronic gift voucher that can be redeemed by the customer for purchasing any online products. With this customers can make purchases of products of their own choice.
- Referral Rewards
Referral bonuses or discounts are the strategies used by the majority of online stores. In this approach, there is a certain reward for the customer if they refer their friends or family members to either install and register on the store or make a certain purchase.
This also allows brands to expand their business beyond the regular customers, and spread awareness about their products and brand.
CineRewards by RewardPort offers movie vouchers for customers which can be integrated in your brand’s referral rewards and lure more customers to refer your brand to their peers. This will enhance the marketing of your brand, making it appear more customer centric and appealing to them.
- Free Shipping
Most online stores are now offering free shipping either on the purchase of a certain amount or on select items. With this consumer promotion strategy brands are encouraging their customers to make purchases from online stores.
This allows brands to mark their presence in the digital world as well, further enhancing their customer base and increasing the sales.
How can it Transform Businesses?
For any business be it B2B or B2C, without customers there is no business. Businesses are adopting various consumer promotion strategies to enhance their business, increase sales and generate more revenue. These consumer promotion techniques can vary as per the requirements of the business and target audience.
The above-listed are some of the most common consumer sales promotion strategies to be adopted. These methods have been performing well in the market and have helped businesses grow further.
With digital marketing and other social media channels being available, consumer sales promotion strategies are becoming more aggressive. Majority of the brands have an online presence and can direct their promotion strategies on these channels for better results.
Moreover, involving customers in a digital channel becomes easy as the customers are present online most of the time and can be easily involved in the promotion activities.
Consumer Promotion Activities by RewardPort
RewardPort is a leading loyalty solution provider in the industry, with various solutions available from consumer promotion to loyalty solutions. Embedding these consumer promotion activities becomes easier with RewardPort because of the experienced team it consists of and the diverse portfolio of customers.
RewardPort is the right partner for you if you are looking to involve consumer promotion techniques for your marketing strategy.
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15 Sales Promotion Ideas & What You Should Understand About Them
Consumers sales promotions have become an essential component of every business as these are the strategies that help a brand attract new customers, retain the existing ones, and boost the overall sales. If you want to boost sales or build a larger customer base for your business, an effective sales promotion program is what can help you achieve these goals. To get the best out of a sales promotion program, you need to plan and implement it wisely keeping in mind all your business requirements. Here are some great sales promotion ideas that work for almost every business:
1. Discount Coupons
Discount coupons are one of the most common sales promotion strategies used by businesses these days. Don’t confuse discount coupons with general discount offers here. Discount offers are the general offers that all shoppers can avail of. But, discount coupons create a sense of exclusivity. Only the customer having a discount coupon can access the offer and get the respective product at a discounted price. You can either offer discount coupons after a customer makes a purchase or get the coupons distributed by your partner brands. Using both these strategies can help you attract new customers and encourage the existing ones to make repeat purchases.
2. Flash Sales
In flash sales, brands offer their products or services at heavily discounted prices. You can run flash sales to boost the sales for selected items, clear out old inventory, or simply increase your overall sales. For the best results, flash sales should be run only for limited periods of time. When a great discount offer is valid for a limited period, it creates a sense of urgency among your customers. If the items under sale are relevant to your customers’ interests, they will definitely try to make a purchase before such a good deal ends.
3. Rebates
Rebates are just like cashback offers and work amazingly well when it comes to customer satisfaction and retention. It is a form of refund that you offer to your customers after they make an eligible purchase. For example, suppose a brand is offering a 12% rebate on all purchases worth Rs. 10,000 or more. Now, if a customer makes a purchase worth Rs. 20,000, he/she gets a cashback or cheque, or refund of Rs. 2400. This is how rebates work. When customers receive such a great deal after making a purchase, they are highly encouraged to come back to your store again.
4. Gift Vouchers
Gift vouchers are physical or digital cards that a customer can exchange with a product or service of the respective brand. You can offer gift vouchers for discounts or for your products or services. These vouchers are valid for a limited period and to avail of their benefits, customers need to make a purchase before they expire. Now, if you are trying to understand the difference between a voucher and a discount coupon, here it is.
Vouchers often allow customers to get a product without paying even a single rupee. On the other hand, discount coupons can be used by customers only to reduce the bill amount and not to get a product for free. For example, if you offer a voucher worth Rs. 1,000, your customer can get any product worth up to Rs. 1,000 free using it. On the other hand, using a 50% discount coupon, a customer can purchase a product worth Rs. 1,000 for Rs. 500.
5. Free Samples & Trials
By offering free samples or trial products, you can attract many potential customers who would have never looked at your product otherwise. The best way to introduce a new product in the market is to distribute its free samples to your target customers. If you have an offline store, you can also offer free trials instead of distributing sample products. Customers are often afraid of spending on something that they are not very sure about. You can eliminate this risk by offering free samples and allowing your customers to buy a product only if they like it.
6. Bundles
The strategy of selling bundle products also works amazingly well and hence can be listed among the top consumer sales promotions. Under a bundle product offer, you provide your customers with a combined discount on purchasing a bundle of multiple products. The products in the bundle can be the same or different based on the type of your brand. For example, if you run a beauty brand, you can offer a combo pack of 5 different makeup products at a discounted price. If you run a clothing brand, you can offer a combo pack of three t-shirts at a lower price than the actual combined price of the three.
7. BOGO Deals
‘Buy One Get One’ deals are also among the great sales promotion ideas of all time. From a survey conducted on various consumers, it was found that most customers prefer a ‘BOGO’ deal over a 50% discount offer, though both are the same. To boost sales for some specific products or to clear out old inventory fast, a BOGO offer is the best strategy you can use. Customers get tempted to make a purchase when they get two products for the price of one.
8. Exclusive Offers (‘Only For You’ Offers)
If you want to make your customers feel special, the exclusive ‘only for you’ offers can work the best. Instead of running a general discount offer or flash sales that everyone can access, provide your customers with exclusive offers that are only valid for selected consumers. You can randomly choose any consumers and offer them a 50% discount on all products they purchase within 24 hours. In another 24 hours, you can choose other random customers and offer them a BOGO deal. This is how exclusive offers work and encourage customers to make a purchase.
9. Referral Discounts
Referral discount offers are a great way to attract new customers while improving the experience of existing ones. If you want to expand your customer base without spending much on advertising and marketing campaigns, you can simply go for referral discounts. Provide your existing customers with a good discount when they refer a friend and the friend becomes your customer. Word of Mouth marketing works more effectively than other types of marketing. A consumer is more likely to purchase a product recommended by his/her friend than the one they have seen in an advertisement.
10. Seasonal Sales
Both seasonal and end-of-season offers are great marketing strategies used by businesses to boost their sales. You can run discount offers or sales based on the current season. For example, a clothing brand can offer a 30% discount on the new summer arrivals at the beginning of the summer season, a beauty brand can offer summer skincare products at a discounted price, and so on. Similarly, at the end of a season, you can offer discounts to clear out the inventory.
11. Social Media Giveaways
As the number of internet users is constantly increasing, social media has become a powerful platform for marketing and advertising. To boost customer engagement, you can run giveaway contests on your social media accounts. You can even run a top spenders offer and giveaway some free products to the top spenders of the week or month or the specific offer period. Such offers trigger the customers’ wish to get listed in the top spenders’ list and win a free gift.
12. Sweepstakes
Sweepstakes are like lucky draw offers where customers do not even need to register separately. All the customers of an offline store or an online website are considered the participants and any random winners are selected. The winners then get some free products, vouchers, or discount coupons as a gift. Along with encouraging your customers to spend more or engage more with your brand, sweepstakes contests also help you catch the attention of new potential customers.
13. Same-Day Delivery
It is an underrated but powerful sales promotion strategy that can help you take your brand to another level. You would be surely aware of how some grocery brands have come to the top by offering delivery within a few minutes after order placement, Similarly, you can make it to the top of your industry by providing same-day delivery options to your customers.
14. Free Shipping & Returns
If you do not want to miss out on thousands of potential customers, you will have to offer free shipping and returns on all your products. Many customers who like a product often change their minds when they see a shipping fee levied on it. Similarly, offering free returns becomes important to allow your customers to try your product without any risk. If they don’t like it and want to return the product, they can easily do it without any additional charges. However, very few consumers return a product after purchasing it, and that too only when the product really disappoints them. If your product is quite worthy and suitable to their needs, your customers will definitely keep it.
15. Birthday Discounts
Customized offers like birthday discounts are very effective in making your customers feel valuable. By offering special discount offers on birthdays, you can let your customers know that you really value them and appreciate their contribution towards the success of your brand. Such offers not only encourage your customers to make a purchase on their birthdays but also help you boost brand loyalty.
Gamify Your Sales Promotion Program with RewardPort
RewardPort is one of the top sales promotion companies providing its services across 6 different countries and several industries. The team of experienced marketing professionals at RewardPort analyzes all your business details and comes up with the most suitable sales promotion strategies that work for your business. By combining sales promotions programs with gamification techniques, RewardPort makes consumer sales promotions even more interesting and exciting for your customers.
Frequently Asked Questions: -
Yes, sales promotion services companies like RewardPort can also help you increase customer loyalty by implementing effective consumer promotions that encourage your customers to keep coming back for more offers.
Yes, both online and offline businesses can use sales promotions to achieve their business objectives faster. However, the planning and strategies should be different based on the type of business and customers’ interests.
The ideal duration for a sales promotion program to run is 8-12 weeks. However, that can be longer or shorter depending on the business requirements.
11 Consumer Sales Promotion Techniques Every Business Can Use
With the rapidly increasing competition in the market, brands have become more conscious about attracting and retaining their potential customers. The marketing strategies of businesses are not just limited to advertising now, but they also use different sales promotion techniques to achieve their objectives. Studies have shown that most consumers try a new product only when they see an offer running on that. This is how powerful consumer promotions can be. Many consumers would have never tried a product if they didn’t get an offer on it. You might be missing out on many potential customers if you don’t run a sales promotion offer.
What is Consumer Sales Promotion?
Consumer sales promotions are the marketing strategies businesses use to boost their sales and achieve other short-term business goals in a limited time frame. The goal of a sales promotion program can be to increase sales, improve customer engagement, boost brand awareness, or anything that benefits a business in any manner. Almost every brand now uses sales promotion strategies to attract new customers and increase sales of their products. Some of the most effective consumer sales promotion techniques are listed below:
1. Free Samples
Offering free sample products especially works when your goal is to introduce a new product in the market or to promote a less popular product. It is a great way to make your potential customers try your products by eliminating the risk. Consumers are often afraid of spending their hard-earned money on something that they are not very sure about. This is why offering free samples or free trials is the best way to make them try a product that they might have never considered otherwise.
2. Early Bird Discounts
Early bird offers are the discounts that brands provide their customers on making a purchase or booking in advance. This sales promotion strategy is generally used by airlines, premium hotels, and other travel-based companies. These are very short-term offers under which a brand offers an additional discount on booking a flight or a hotel in advance.
Even e-commerce businesses can run early bird discount offers by providing additional discounts on specific purchases in the first few days of an offer. For example, if you are running a 20% discount offer for a month, you can provide a 30% discount to those customers who make a purchase (above a certain amount) within the first 5 days of the offer.
3. Gift Coupons
Offering gift discount coupons for future purchases is another sales promotion technique that doesn’t only help you boost sales, but is also effective in retaining customers. After your customer makes a purchase, you can send them a discount coupon code via email, text message, or you can even give it to them physically. The percentage of discounts may vary depending on the amount your customers spend. The more a customer spends now, the higher discount they will receive for their next purchase. Make sure that you keep these discount coupons’ validity short to make your customers come back more often.
4. Gift Products
Another great idea is to gift free products to your customers on making purchases above a certain amount. This strategy is most widely used by supermarkets where customers get free products on achieving the required spending threshold. The higher a customer spends, the more valuable free product they receive. For example, you can offer a product worth Rs. 100 free on purchases above Rs. 1,000, a product worth Rs. 500 free on purchases above Rs. 5,000, and so on. This sales promotion technique is not only effective in motivating customers to spend more but also allows you to make your customers try less popular products from your store.
5. Lucky Draws
This is a less popular, but highly effective sales promotion strategy to boost your sales or increase brand awareness in a short span of time. Launch a lucky draw offer and make as many customers as possible aware of it before the offer starting date. In such offers, a brand generally comes up with a minimum spend threshold that the customers need to achieve in order to enter the lucky draw contest. Out of all the participants, winners (generally three, five, or ten) are randomly selected and offered premium gifts.
For example, you can run a lucky draw contest with specific conditions, such as a minimum spend of Rs. 10,000, a short pre-specified offer period, a limited number of winners, and a prize for each winner. Every customer who spends above Rs. 10,000 within the offer period becomes eligible for the lucky draw. If running a lucky draw contest, make sure that you select winners randomly through a transparent process.
6. Happy Hour Sales
Happy hour sales are very often run by e-commerce businesses. These are flash sales valid only for a short duration, generally a few hours. Under a happy hour sale, you can offer specific products at heavy discounts for a short duration. When an offer is valid for a short period, it creates a sense of urgency among your customers. No customer wants to miss such a great deal and hence, they are motivated to make a purchase before the offer ends. When running happy hour sales, you must ensure that you offer really good discounts that can encourage your customers to make a quick decision without having a second thought in mind.
7. Cashback
Cashback-based sales promotions are one of the most traditional yet successful strategies to keep your customers coming back. When you offer your customers some cashback after every purchase, they feel like they are receiving something in return for their purchase. Getting something, even if it’s a little amount, is always better than getting nothing. So, if you are offering a small percentage of cashback on all the purchases your customers make, you are giving them a reason to prefer your brand over your competitors. You can even offer cashback in the form of store credits that they can use against future purchases.
8. Free Shipping & Returns
By offering free shipping and returns on your products, you can encourage your customers to buy your products at zero risk. If they don’t like it, they can always return it (though within the pre-specified time period only). However, only a few consumers return a product after purchasing it. By offering free returns, you can eliminate your customers’ fear of wasting their money on a new product.
9. BOGO Offers
Under a Buy One Get One deal, you can either offer one product for free with another product or provide one product at a discounted price with another item. When customers see a BOGO deal running, they are tempted to avail of its benefit as they don’t want to miss out on the opportunity to get two products at the price of one. You can use a BOGO deal to boost sales for a specific product or to clear out old inventory. Also, make sure to keep the offer validity short in order to create a FOMO among your customers.
10. Sweepstakes
Sweepstakes are just a different type of lucky draw contest where the winner is selected completely at random. Generally, there is no minimum spending requirement to enter a sweepstakes contest. All the customers who have made a purchase during the specified period, or simply all the registered users on an e-commerce website are eligible to participate. Any customer can be selected at random and provided with a pre-specified gift.
11. Loyalty Points
Almost every business is now having a loyalty program under which they offer a fixed percentage of loyalty points to their customers after every purchase. Customers can later redeem these loyalty points against several options available, such as discount coupons for future purchases, gift vouchers for other brands, and other products. Offering continuous loyalty points is an effective sales promotion strategy to boost brand loyalty and encourage repeat purchases in your business.
Choose RewardPort As Your Sales Promotion Partner
RewardPort, being one of the top sales promotion companies in India, can execute a consumer promotion program exclusively for your business taking every small detail into consideration. The team of marketing experts at RewardPort analyzes your business requirements carefully and comes up with a sales promotion plan that works well for your brand. With plenty of reward and redemption options, RewardPort becomes a great option to consider when looking for sales promotion companies.
Frequently Asked Questions: -
Consumer promotion is important for businesses to attract new customers and make them buy products at discounted prices. Studies suggest that many consumers like to try new products only when offered at discounts and not otherwise.
To measure the effectiveness of your consumer promotion offers, you can use several metrics, such as the profits before and after promotions, increase in sales after promotions, increase in the rate of repeat purchases, etc.
Social Media has become a powerful tool used for sales promotions by businesses. Social media platforms can be very effectively used for boosting brand awareness. The social media contests run by brands are often much more successful than other types of sales promotions.
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5 Reasons Why You Need Consumer Sales Promotion Programs as a Mid-Size Business
Consumer sales promotion programs can drive an immediate boost to the sales and revenue of a business. Be it a large business or a small to miz-size one, correctly implemented sales promotions are extremely advantageous for every type of business. If you are running a mid-size business and want to take it to a higher level, it is important to attract new customers while making sure that the existing ones stay loyal. This is what consumer sales promotion programs help you achieve. These programs are the set of strategies that businesses use to achieve short-term business goals, like boosting revenue and increasing brand awareness within a short period of time.
Boosting sales is generally the primary reason for running sales promotion programs. However, that is not the only reason. There are various benefits of running promos like sweepstakes, free gift with purchase, consumer loyalty programs, etc. The following are some most significant reasons why you must run a consumer sales promotion program for your mid-size business:
1. Generating New Leads
Running consumer sales promotions is one of the greatest ways to generate new leads and acquire new customers. By offering products under heavy discounts, free trials, buy one get one deals, etc, you can encourage your target audience to try your product. Studies suggest that consumers are more likely to buy a new product when they are getting it at a lower price.
By providing discounts or running free gift with purchase offers, you can encourage many potential buyers to try your product who would have never bought it at the original price. Consumers don’t like to spend on something they are not sure about and this is why offering good discounts on the first purchase is always a great idea.
2. Clearing Out Old Stock
It is not a desired situation, but it happens sometimes that you overstock certain items. Selling the overstocked products within your targeted time frame becomes challenging in such cases. However, consumer sales promotions are a great solution to this as well. You can offer these products at a 50% discount or under a Buy One Get One deal. Such offers trigger your customers to buy discounted items before the deal ends.
Though it might sound a bit less profitable to offer items under such heavy discounts, this is the best way to clear out old inventory and make space for new ones. This doesn’t only help you clear overstocked items but is also an effective way to make new potential customers buy your products.
3. Introducing New Products in the Market
Even the largest brands have to build a strategy for introducing new products in the market in order to ensure that it seems worth trying to the customers. As a mid-size business, the greatest way to introduce a newly launched product in the market is to align it with a consumer sales promotion strategy. Consumers are often afraid to spend on a product that they are not very sure about. This is where promotional strategies, such as free samples, sweepstakes contests, etc, can be very effective.
You can offer free samples of the newly launched product with your bestselling products, so that it reaches maximum target customers. Another idea is to run a sweepstakes contest to make the announcement of your new product exciting. For example, you can choose a winner randomly from the buyers of your new product and offer a free electronic item (like a TV, Mobile Phone, Laptop, etc) to the winner.
4. Boosting Loyalty in Current Customers
Your efforts should not end after customer acquisition because customer retention is even more important. Studies have shown that loyal customers spend much more than new buyers. Also, the cost of managing loyal customers is less than that of acquiring new ones. Running effective sales promotions and loyalty programs can help you boost loyalty among your existing customers and constantly encourage them to spend on your brand.
One way to do this is to offer discount coupons for future purchases. Every time your customer makes a purchase, give them a discount coupon that they can use in their next purchase. When customers have an opportunity to save on their purchases, they are very much likely to come back to your brand rather than switching to something else. Make sure that these discount coupons are valid only for a certain period of time so that you can make your customers come back more often.
5. Boost Sales and Revenue
All the above factors ultimately lead to a boost in the sales and revenue of your business. If you run interesting sales promotion programs, your customers will most likely talk about it with their friends and relatives. This is how word-of-mouth marketing works and more people become aware of your brand even without any extra effort made from your end.
With sales promotion programs, your customers are encouraged to spend more and it ultimately brings more sales to your business. Consumer sales promotions help in increasing brand awareness, boosting customer loyalty, and acquiring new customers, which further increases sales and revenue.
Run Effective Consumer Sales Promotions With RewardPort
If you are still trying to figure out the best sales promotion strategy for your mid-size business, you must connect with RewardPort. RewardPort is one of India’s top loyalty and reward solution providers. The team of experienced marketing professionals at RewardPort takes every detail of your business into account and plans sales promotions accordingly. If you want your consumer sales promotion strategy to be aligned with your business objectives, RewardPort can help you find the best solution.
Frequently Asked Questions: -
Consumer sales promotion is important to keep up with the competition and give your customers an additional reason to spend on your brand.
A consumer sales promotion is a strategy used by businesses to attract new customers, retain existing customers, encourage them to spend more and achieve other short-term business goals.
Some most significant benefits of running consumer promotion programs are:
- Attracting new customers
- Boosting loyalty in existing customers
- Clearing out old inventory
- Introducing new products in the market
Got a Marketing Challenge at Hand?
What is Web3 & How Is It the Next Frontier in Sales Promotion Programs
A sales promotion agency can help you achieve your business goals faster with the right strategies and technologies. Web3 or Web 3.0, emerging as the new face of the internet, promises more transparency and higher security of user data. From static Web1 and then dynamic Web2 to the decentralized Web3, the way the internet works has changed. Businesses also use continuously evolving technologies to grow at a faster pace. Web 3 allows businesses to make new innovations in their marketing strategies by providing them with access to a global marketplace.
When looking for a sales promotions company, you must ensure that the platform is using the latest technologies and tools to provide you with the best results. Talking about Web3 and its impact on businesses’ sales promotions, you first need to understand what Web3 is and what are its key features:
What is Web3?
Web3 refers to the next evolution of the World Wide Web, which includes concepts such as blockchain technologies, decentralization, token-based economics, etc. Putting it in simple words, Web3 defines the next generation of the internet. It provides users with better control over data and improves the way they interact with the internet. Web3 allows users to get rid of intermediaries and aims to provide a more secure and transparent online experience.
The idea of decentralization lies in the heart of Web3. It means that data and the power to handle it are not in the hands of a central authority, but are distributed among more participants. This is exactly opposite to Web2, i.e. the current web, where market leaders like Facebook, Google, etc, have a lot of control over the data that users consume.
Key Features of Web3
The definition of Web3 is still evolving. Being fully decentralized, it aims to put content creation in the hands of creators and not the owners of the platforms. The key features of Web3 include:
1. Decentralized systems running on blockchain technology:
Decentralization of data and power is the core principle of Web3. The idea refers to a system where no central authority is controlling the data and the flow of information. It is instead distributed among many node networks.
Decentralized systems like blockchain technology are being used to build Web3. This technology provides a transparent, secure, and user-centric ledger to record transactions and track assets.
2. Interoperability, which allows different systems to work together:
Web3 is designed to create an open and inclusive online environment. It allows users to access different technologies and systems across different chains together. It gives the freedom of mobility to users and also maintains the security that users expect from blockchain technology.
3. Secure Communication between users:
Web3 allows users to communicate with each other securely while keeping their communications private. With this, users get greater control over their personal information. Moreover, it also reduces the risk of cyber attacks on user data.
4. Semantic Web & AI:
The semantic web makes use of AI technologies to understand the intention of customers in order to improve their overall experience. Web 3 aims to improve the technologies to generate, connect, and share the content by understanding the searches more accurately based on their meaning, and not on the keywords.
5. 3D Graphics and Spatial Web:
Earlier, the graphics of websites were slow, primitive, and use to fail often. However, the advancements like 3D graphics, virtual reality, etc, aim to provide a more realistic online experience to users. Various industries are already using 3D graphics to promote their products and services.
Best Web3 Marketing Strategies
The following are some best strategies that businesses can use for Web3 marketing:
1. Digital Strategy
Web3 allows businesses to develop a comprehensive digital strategy by looking at the latest trends and technologies. The strategy includes a clear understanding of business objectives, target audience, and goals that a brand intends to achieve. This digital strategy must include the following:
- Search Engine Optimization
- Paid Promotions to get more traffic
- Content Marketing
- Boosting engagement to social media channels, websites, or apps.
2. NFT Marketing
NFT (Non-Fungible Token) refers to a unique e-identifier that is used as a certification of ownership and authenticity. The unique token is recorded in the blockchain and can not be substituted or copied. Web3 allows businesses to develop a marketing strategy and showcase its unique benefits and features through NFTs. With this, brands can target the most relevant audience and make the most out of their marketing tactics.
3. Token Distribution Strategy
Tokens in Web3 are like digital assets that businesses can use to represent specific values in a particular ecosystem. Businesses can build a transparent and clear token distribution strategy that includes allocation, total supply, and vesting schedule of the tokens. This helps them ensure fairness and attract more potential investors.
4. Decentralization Applications (dApps) Marketing
Another great practice for Web3 marketing is dApps marketing. dApps allow you to create content, become its owner, and share the value between different platforms that you use. You can promote your dApps through targeted online and offline marketing techniques. Some of the effective marketing efforts include community building, influencer marketing, and sponsoring events.
Web3 For Businesses and Their Sales Promotion Programs
The biggest impact of Web3 on businesses is going to be higher transparency and a greater user-oriented approach. The way businesses use and handle user data will change and customers will have a higher control over their data. With tokenization techniques like NFT marketing, businesses can develop marketing strategies and showcase their unique features to set their brand apart from their competitors.
The open interconnectivity of Web3 makes it easier for businesses to understand and meet the high expectations of their customers. With this, the sales promotion strategies of businesses become more effective and are likely to be successful. Web3 can also help businesses in strengthening relationships with their customers. With the decentralized blockchain technology, every transaction is recorded, which all the involved parties can see.
This makes companies directly accountable to the customers, increasing transparency among them. This transparency helps businesses in building trust and long-lasting relationships with their customers. This is how sales promotion techniques become more meaningful with the advent of Web3.
Run Powerful Sales Promotions with RewardPort
A sales promotion program that aligns with the needs of your business can help you achieve your business objectives. It is important to consider every single detail of a business and its customers while implementing sales promotion techniques. RewardPort, being the best sales promotion agency in India, has a team of experienced marketing experts who can plan the best sales promotions based on your business requirements.
With deep expertise in Web3 technologies and blockchain, RewardPort creates innovative solutions to help brands achieve their goals.
Frequently Asked Questions: -
A Sales promotion is a technique used by businesses to boost sales or achieve other short-term business goals. For example, a company can launch a flash sale offering a 50% discount on all products to boost sales or to clear out the old stock.
Generally, the main objectives of sales promotions include boosting overall sales, attracting new customers, improving customer satisfaction, clearing out old stock, increasing brand awareness, and boosting sales for a particular product.
A sales promotion strategy is a plan made by businesses to achieve sales objectives or to stay ahead of the competition in order to attract more customers.
Got a Marketing Challenge at Hand?
How to Use Sales Promotion Tools to Scale Your B2B Sales Funnel
Sales promotion tools can smoothen your marketing efforts by allowing you to market your products or services in a creative way. The B2B market is highly competitive today. To beat such high competition in the market, most businesses are using sales promotion techniques. Sales promotions are the strategies followed by businesses to boost their sales, increase revenue, or achieve other short-term goals. If implemented well, these strategies can take any business to the next level in a very short time period.
If you are facing challenges in generating leads or converting them, you first need to understand the four stages of B2B inbound marketing. Using the right sales promotion tools in each of these stages can help you achieve your business objectives faster. Before that, let us help you understand what sales promotion tools mean and how you can use them to scale your B2B business:
What are Sales Promotion Tools?
Sales Promotion Tools are the resources or methods that businesses use to achieve their short-term sales objectives. These tools help brands in encouraging their customers to buy specific products. The sales promotion tools can be consumer-oriented or trade oriented based on the type of business. Moreover, the objective of sales promotion programs can also be different. Some most significant benefits of sales promotions include an increase in sales, greater brand awareness, better customer engagement, etc.
Many businesses use sales promotions to increase the awareness of their newly launched products or to boost sales for a particular set of products. Some brands use these strategies to clean old stock and make space for new inventory. Whatever the goal is, sales promotion methods work best when you make the use of right sales promotion tools.
Tools for Complete Inbound Funnel Marketing
Inbound marketing is the process where businesses make their potential leads choose them over their competitors. The process consists of four stages, including attract, convert, close, and delight stage. From attracting potential buyers to converting and strengthening relations with them, the inbound marketing funnel covers every single phase. Here is a detailed explanation of all four stages included in the inbound marketing funnel:
1. Attract
‘Attract’ is the first stage of inbound funnel marketing. In this, you need to create engaging content and optimize it to attract your target audience. As a B2B business, your goal might be to attract more dealers, channel partners, or wholesalers. In this phase, you need to majorly focus on increasing brand awareness and finding potential partners who are not familiar with your brand. A great way to identify your target audience is to look at your current customer base and understand patterns among them.
You have to reach out to strangers who can become your potential buyers. After this, you must focus on building interest and excitement among your target audience through social media content, blogs, paid search advertisements, etc. To create engaging content, it is essential to understand buyers’ personas. Understanding buyers’ personas mean finding out their interests, requirements, and behaviors.
In this first stage, you can perform the following activities to attract customers:
- Strengthen the relationships with potential buyers via social media or other channels.
- Use SEO strategies and keyword research to target the right audience.
- Create engaging content to show your target audience that you have the solution to their problems.
Tools You Can Use to ‘Attract’ Your Customers
The following are some great tools that you can use to make the most out of the ‘attract’ stage in your inbound marketing strategy:
1. SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
As the number of internet users is increasing every day, it has become important for businesses to have an online presence. Writing engaging content and publishing it on your website is not enough. You also need to ensure that the content is well-optimized to rank higher on the search engines like Google. If your content is not SEO optimized, it will hardly be visible to your target audience.
2. CRM (Customer Relationship Management)
CRM is the process of managing business relationships and interactions with your existing and potential customers. As per research, over 62% of marketers use some sort of CRM tool to strengthen communication with their potential clients. Zoho CRM, Zendesk, and Hubspot CRM are some most popular tools used for customer relationship management.
2. Convert
The next stage in complete inbound funnel marketing is ‘Convert.’ As suggested by the name, this stage is all about making efforts to convert your visitors into qualified leads. These can be your social media followers, website visitors, blog readers, or any audience that you have access to. Some most common elements that you can use for conversions include case studies, gated content, webinars, ebooks, resource libraries, etc.
Engaging and valuable content is the heart of inbound marketing for B2B businesses. This content should educate your target audience about your brand and the products/services you offer. Make sure that your content is well-researched. Also, avoid writing it in a too promotional tone.
Gated content is one of the powerful tools to convert visitors into leads. This is the content that users can access only after providing their information, such as name, email, mobile number, etc. Gated content doesn’t only help you boost engagement on your website, but also allows you to collect the data of your potential customers. Though these leads have not yet made a purchase on your website, they become a regular visitor of your website once they sign up.
Tools You Can Use To ‘Convert’ Visitors into Potential Leads
The process of conversion is indeed challenging. The following are some best tools for sales promotion that are effective in encouraging your target audience to become your qualified leads:
1. CTA (Call to Action)
As the name suggests, CTA refers to the strategies planned by businesses to encourage their audience to take action. You can add links and buttons to your content that motivate your customers to download a file, fill out a form, or visit a specific page. You can add such links to your landing pages.
2. Lead Capture & Conversion tools
Some popular tools that you can use in this stage include TypeForm, Optinmonster, and Sumo. TypeForm allows you to create surveys without writing any code. Optinmonster is a WordPress plugin for lead generation, which is used by over 1 million websites.
3. Lead Generation Tools
Lead Generation tools like Leadpages, Unbounce, Instapage, etc, can help you find prospects. Leadpages is an online software that allows you to publish landing pages quickly to convert clicks into customers. Unbounce allows businesses to create attention-catching landing pages with minimal effort. The third tool, Instapage, is useful for creating landing pages for your marketing and promotional campaigns.
3. Close
The ‘Close’ stage is the most important and exciting one for businesses as this is where your leads turn into your customers. This is the point where your potential leads trust your brand. They must feel that the products or services you offer are the best potential solutions to their problems. Email marketing is one of the most effective ways to make your leads become your customers. Though this stage is not very easy to deal with, this is where all your hard work or attracting and converting customers might pay off.
Tools You Can Use To ‘Close’ The Deals
The following are some best tools for sales promotion that are effective in helping businesses convert leads:
1. Email Marketing
After collecting the email addresses of your potential customers in the ‘convert’ stage, it becomes easier to directly communicate with them. You can send them emails related to your products, about your new launches, sales, ongoing offers, etc. Sending relevant emails to your customers is the best way to gain their trust. But make sure not to spam their inbox.
2. Marketing automation tools
Marketing automation tools allow you to relax and just observe the processes while they perform their tasks. With these tools, you can reach out to your customers with the most relevant content at the most suitable time. Moreover, these tools score your customers based on their chances of making a purchase. Some popular marketing tools, include Drip, LeadsBridge, and Marketo.
4. Delight
Even after attracting a generating leads and transforming them into customers, your task is not over. You need to make every possible effort in order to make sure that the customers stay loyal. The ‘Delight’ stage is all about building stronger relations with your customers and encouraging them to make repeat purchases. Loyal customers not only purchase more often, but they can also help you generate more leads by recommending your products and services to their friends.
Make sure to engage with your customers on a regular basis via social media or other channels. Your customers must not feel that they are getting valued only until they make a purchase.
Tools You Can Use To ‘Delight’ Your Customers
Converting your leads into customers and thinking that you are done is not a good idea. Retaining your existing customers is much more important than acquiring new ones. The following tools can help you with the same:
1. Social Media Management Tools
Social Media is the best way to stay connected with your customers and engage with them on a regular basis. Some most powerful social media management tools include BuzzSumo, Buffer, and Sprout Social.
2. Loyalty Programs
Running continuous loyalty programs is another great way to keep your customers coming back. By offering them rewards for every purchase, you can make them feel appreciated for their purchase. It helps you boost repeat purchases as well as customer satisfaction.
Create an Effective Sales Promotion Strategy with RewardPort
An effective sales promotion strategy is what aligns with your business goals and takes your customer needs into consideration. RewardPort is one of the top sales promotion solution providers in India. The team of marketing experts at RewardPort can execute the best sales promotion programs for your business, keeping in mind every detail of your business.
Frequently Asked Questions: -
The four most popular tools used in sales promotions are:
- SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
- CRM (Customer Relationship Management)
- CTA (Call to Action)
- Email Marketing
The 4 P’s of a marketing promotion strategy are: Product, Place, Price, and Promotion.
An example of a sales promotion strategy is the flash sales or heavy discount offers that brands launch several times. By launching such heavy discounts, brands aim to boost their sales at a particular period or to clear out older stock. There are various other benefits of sales promotions that companies use to achieve different objectives.
Got a Marketing Challenge at Hand?
11 Consumer Sales Promotion Tactics to Generate More Business Faster
Consumer sales promotion tactics are the strategies that businesses use to boost their sales during a particular time. The only way for a business to succeed is by gaining more customers and selling products or services. You must inform them about it and increase sales with the appropriate consumer sales promotion techniques.
Successful companies use sales promotions to boost sales, increase brand awareness, and improve customer satisfaction. All these factors are critical and ultimately drive more sales. You can find several examples of sales promotions that different businesses use. However, not all of them might be suitable for your business.
First, you can identify your business goals and plan sales promotion strategies accordingly. Here are some most effective consumers sales promotion strategies to drive more sales faster:
1. Discount Coupons
Offering products at discounted prices is one of the oldest yet most effective sales promotion techniques. The end-of-season sales are great examples of such discounts. Customers wait for end-of-season sales to purchase the products they couldn’t afford to buy during the season. Discounts are beneficial both for customers and retailers. Customers can buy more for less price, and retailers can clear their stock faster.
Apart from running seasonal discount offers, you can provide discount coupons to your customers for their next purchase. If customers have your discount coupons, they are more likely to return to your store before they expire. This is how you can drive repeat business and encourage customers to purchase more often.
2. Free shipping/returns
Consumers do consider the shipping cost while making online purchases, especially when it’s their first purchase from a brand. They are most likely to change their purchasing decision if high shipping costs are associated with a product. If your brand is charging a shipping fee on its products, you might be missing out on many potential customers.
Most customers don’t want to spend money on a product if they doubt its quality, usage, life, etc. With high shipping costs and no guaranteed returns, the overall price of the product becomes expensive, and the purchase seems riskier to the customer. Offering free shipping and guaranteed returns with a 100% refund reduces the customers’ fear of wasting money on the wrong product.
3. Contests & Giveaways
Running prize contests online or offline is one of the simplest and most efficient ways to increase brand awareness and boost sales. These contests create healthy competition among your customers, making it interesting for them to participate. Social media contests can be very powerful and bring unexpected results. Some common examples of social media contests include:
- ‘Top Spenders Offer’ under which the top spenders of the week or month are awarded. These contests aim to boost the overall business revenue.
- ‘Purchase to Win’ contests under which a brand chooses random buyers of a particular product as winners. These contests are focused on boosting the sales of the product.
- ‘Like, Comment, and Share to Win’ contests under which the participants are rewarded for sharing your brand’s official social media page with their friends. These contests are aimed at increasing brand awareness.
4. Buy 1 Get 1 Free
BOGO deals are the most popular consumer sales promotion tactics for retail businesses. The idea of getting two items for the price of one seems amazing to the customers. Businesses generally run BOGO offers to clear the stock or to encourage customers to purchase a newly launched product.
It also increases brand awareness as many customers share the free product with their family or friends. Though it is the same as a 50% discount, calling it a BOGO deal is more impactful as freebies attract more customers.
5. Free Samples
If you allow your customers to try your product for free, most of its buyers would have never bought it without trying it. Customers don’t want to spend money on a product without knowing whether it works for them or not. You can offer free samples of the new product with a popular product that most of your target audience knows about.
This has dual benefits. It boosts the sales for your main product and introduces your new product in the market. After trying the free sample product, many customers may buy it.
6. Flash Sales
Big discount offers become more effective when combined with limited periods. The duration can be anything between 24 hours to 30 days depending on your stock availability and customer interests. Flash sales develop a fear of missing out among your customers. Under these sales, products are offered at heavy discounts for a limited duration.
You can build excitement ahead of time by announcing the sale launch date. This creates a sense of urgency, and your customers buy their favorite products as soon as the sale is live.
7. Bundle Products
Bundle products or combo offers discounts on related products when you buy them as a bundle. For example, a combo of shampoo (priced at Rs 150) and a conditioner (priced at Rs 120) can be offered at a combined price of Rs 230.
This encourages customers to buy combo packs instead of buying only one product to save some money. Bundle offers can move your inventory faster as you sell more products with a low discount.
8. Loyalty Reward/Cashback Programs
Research has shown that gaining a new customer can be five times more expensive than retaining an existing one. This is why customer loyalty is important for every business. Running a continuous loyalty program is one of the best ways to motivate customers to stay loyal to your brand.
Loyalty programs can be of different types:
- Rewards-based programs
- Cashback-based programs
- Tier-based programs
Under these programs, your customers get rewarded every time they make a purchase. For successful loyalty programs, you need to make sure that you offer interesting redemption options against these reward points. These programs can retain customers only if the rewards you offer are valuable and useful for them.
9. Referral Discount
Referral discounts help you increase your market reach by encouraging your customers to recommend your brand to their friends. You can offer discounts to your customers and their referral friends when they purchase your products. The referral program becomes more efficient when you give a higher discount for more referrals.
You can also offer them incentives for sharing their experiences with your product on social media. Consumers believe in user-generated content more than a brand promoting itself.
10. Scratch Cards
Scratch Cards are like mystery offers. You can offer scratch cards with different discounts, such as 5%, 10%, and 25% discount. The customers only know their reward after they purchase and scratch the gift card. Human minds are curious, and curiosity makes them participate in the offer to see what they get inside the scratch cards. Once they get a discount, they will most likely purchase before the discount coupon expires.
11. ‘Spin to Win’ Contests
‘Spin to Win’ contests are one of the best ways to include gamification in your sales promotion and make it interesting for your customers. You can run a ‘Spin to Win’ contest on your website or offline store. Provide your customers with an opportunity to spin the wheel once every day. You can include reward points, cashback, discounts, and a few big prizes in this wheel.
Make sure that they win something most of the time. If not discounts and rewards, they should at least get a few reward points for spinning the wheel. They can redeem these rewards once they have collected significant points.
This motivates them to visit your website at least once every day. These contests also help you increase your brand awareness through word of mouth.
How Can RewardPort Help?
RewardPort is a reward and loyalty solutions providing company. RewardPort can help you plan and run a sales promotion strategy that works for your business and aligns with your customer interests.
The marketing experts at RewardPort take every business detail into account and run sales promotions exclusively for your business. Your marketing campaigns are not restricted to one or two platforms with RewardPort but are executed on multiple platforms, including on the web, offline, SMS, etc.
Frequently Asked Questions: -
Sales promotions aim to attract potential customers by reducing the prices of products. These techniques encourage customers to purchase a product they would not have bought at their original price. Sales promotions help you acquire new customers, boost sales, retain customers, increase brand awareness, and ultimately increase gross revenue.
Some most common mistakes to avoid when implementing consumer sales promotions are:
- Not defining your target audience
- Not being consistent
- Spending a lot on promotions without proper research
- Not tracking results to optimize future campaigns
Consumer sales promotions aim to increase your sale and volume of inventory churn. You may need to use sales promotion tactics to clear old and aging inventory, move stores, renew your stock, and counter similar challenges. All these activities can result in higher revenue, however, may reduce your profit margin.
Got a Marketing Challenge at Hand?
Three Rs of Effective B2C & B2B Consumer Sales Promotion
Effective consumer sales promotions can provide rapid growth to your business. Studies suggest that 90% of consumers make their first purchase after receiving an offer from a new brand. Also, more than 90% of consumers prefer to repeat purchases from a brand that offers good discounts on the first purchase. This data shows how important it is to plan and execute sales promotion strategies to acquire customers.
Not every sales promotion works for every business. To make the most out of sales promotion, you need to understand your business goals and customer interests first. Apart from this, there are a few factors you should consider to drive a successful sales promotion campaign.
Here are the three important Rs of effective consumer sales promotions:
1. Risk Aversion
Sales promotions must be focused on risk aversion, especially when the aim is to attract new customers or launch a new product. By allowing your customers to try your products for free, you can get them out of fear of wasting their money.
Customers who purchase your product after a trial may not even consider buying it without the experience. Most consumers avoid spending on a product that they are not sure about. Here is how you can include risk aversion in your sales promotions:
- Offer free samples under giveaway contests.
- Offer free sample products with other popular products.
- Offer free shipping and returns.
2. Reciprocity
The principle of reciprocity deals with human nature that expects a mutually beneficial relationship. An ideal sales promotion strategy benefits the brand as well as the customers.
Sales promotion techniques like discount coupons, loyalty programs, etc., are based on reciprocity. You can make your customers feel that they are getting something in return for their purchase with these benefits.
3. Reward
Rewarding your customers for every purchase can bring them back to your brand. Though one part of the reward is covered under reciprocity and risk aversion, you should have a separate program that accepts everyone.
These rewards aim to identify potential customers, attract them, and motivate them to stay loyal to your brand. Examples of such reward programs include gift promotions, giveaway contests on social media, etc.
Examples of B2C Sales Promotions
Sales promotions in B2C businesses are critical for business growth. The B2C sales promotions can be very effective in:
- Boosting sales
- Increasing brand awareness
- Building brand trust
- Driving repeat business
Discounts and other offers motivate consumers to make prepone their purchase decisions. Here are some most effective sales promotion techniques for B2C businesses:
1. Discount Coupons
Offering discount coupons for the next purchase is one of the most effective ways to drive repeat business. Whenever your customers make a purchase, you can provide them with a discount coupon for their next purchase.
These coupons must be valid only for a specific period, like one month or two months. It encourages your customers to keep shopping at your store more frequently.
2. Giveaway Contests
Giveaway contests work best for introducing a new product to the market or attracting new customers. You can run these contests on social media. Ask your followers to like and share your product launch post to win the product.
The more they share, the more their chances of winning. With this, you can make more and more people aware of your new product and gain more followers.
3. Flash Sales
Flash sales are short-term deals under which a brand offers some specific products at huge discounts. Flash sales will offer attractive discounts for a short period creating a sense of urgency for the customers.
As the deals are amazing, customers want cash on these discounts. They tend to prepone their purchases to benefit from the sale.
4. BOGO Deals
A ‘Buy One Get One Free’ deal is among the most widely used sales promotion techniques in B2C businesses. Though offering a 50% discount on a product is the same as a BOGO deal, the word ‘free’ has a greater impact on the human mind.
Combining these offers with certain limits makes them more effective. For example, you can run BOGO offers only on a particular day of the week or choose different days to run BOGO deals on different products.
5. Free Shipping/Returns
If your business is majorly online, you might be missing out on many customers by charging a shipping fee. Products with free shipping and return seem to be risk-free to the customers. Many customers change their minds at the time of final payment when the shipping cost is added to the price of the product.
The idea of offering free shipping and returns can be much more powerful than it seems to be.
Examples of B2B Sales Promotions
Sales promotions in B2B are different from B2C sales promotions. However, the impact can be equally good in B2B as well. Sales promotions can attract potential dealers and channel partners to your brand. Also, promotional offers can encourage your partners to give preference to selling your products and drive more sales. Here are some most popular B2B sales promotion strategies
1. Trade Shows
Trade shows are events where different businesses from a particular industry showcase their products to attract potential buyers. You can use brochures, displays, and other promotional materials to identify prospects and make your customers aware of the existing as well as new products.
The trade shows also allow you to gather information about your competitors. You can observe how your competitor businesses are presenting, selling their products, which offers they are running, etc.
2. Conventions
Participating in conventions or meetings with your industry professionals is also an effective B2B sales promotion technique. You can display your products and market them to the right audience.
For example, a textile convention allows you to display your sewing machine and its unique features. You can contact the market leaders in your industry and sell your products to them.
3. Advertising Allowances
You can give your channel partners trade allowances to encourage them to push a product. You can offer different incentives at all levels, i.e., to your wholesalers, distributors, and retailers, to boost the sales of a particular product.
Advertising allowance is a popular trade allowance you can offer to your partners and encourage them to advertise your products.
4. Sales Contests
Sales contests are incentive programs that businesses use to motivate their sales representatives to drive more sales. These contests generally focus on boosting sales for high-profit-making products. The more sales representatives sell, the higher incentives they receive.
The salesperson making the highest number of sales wins the contest. The winner can be awarded exciting prizes, such as a free vacation, monetary bonuses, a promotion, etc.
5. Free Merchandise
Free merchandise refers to a free product offered by the manufacturer to a partner or retailer to push a particular product to the market. For example, the manufacturer of formal clothing can gift a set of clothes to the staff of a high-performing retail store.
These gifts can be linked to the sales targets. The retailer can receive free items for selling a particular number of products within a pre-specified time.
Gamify Your Sales Promotions with RewardPort
You can attract more customers and retain the existing ones by offering discounts, rewards, etc. Including gamification in sales promotion builds healthy competition among your customers, making it more interesting for them to participate.
With RewardPort, you can plan and execute a sales promotion strategy with the latest tools and methods of consumer engagement. Whether it’s B2B or B2C, your sales promotion strategy should include rewards that modern customers value.
Frequently Asked Questions: -
Effective consumer sales promotions are the strategies that help a business - attract more customers, boost sales, and achieve other short-term business goals.
You can judge the success of your consumer sales promotions by comparing the sales figures before and after the promotional campaign. Another metric to measure the success of your sales promotion is customer satisfaction before and after the promotions.
Some common types of consumer sales promotion strategies are:
- Flash sales
- Discount coupons for future purchases
- Giveaway contests
- Buy One Get One Free deal
- Free shipping and returns
Got a Marketing Challenge at Hand?
9 Consumer Promotion Strategies for the New Online Business
Consumer sales promotion is an essential part of your e-commerce business. With thousands of e-commerce retailers competing for consumers’ attention, it’s increasingly difficult to build your customer base without a promotion strategy.
Starting a new online business is an exciting but challenging process. One of the key components of a successful online business is a strong consumer sales promotion strategy. Consumer sales promotion is the use of incentives and other promotional tactics to encourage consumers to purchase a product or service.
Or, more specifically, to purchase the product/service from you.
Consumer Sales Promotion Strategies
In this blog, we will discuss nine consumer promotion strategies for new online businesses using the keyword consumer sales promotion:
1. Discount Codes and Coupons
Offering discount coupons is a classic promotion strategy that has been used by businesses for decades. Online businesses can create discount coupons that customers can use to get discounts on their purchases. These coupons can be distributed through various channels such as social media, email, or through the website itself.
2. Free Trials
Offering free trials is a great way to encourage customers to try your products without any commitment. This strategy works particularly well for software and subscription-based services. By offering a free trial, you can convince customers to try out your product, and if they like it, they are more likely to purchase it in the future.
3. Buy-One-Get-One-Free (BOGO) Offers
BOGO offers a popular sales promotion strategy that is particularly effective for products that are bought in pairs or multiples. For example, if you sell socks or shoes, you can offer a BOGO promotion where customers can get one pair free when they purchase two or more pairs.
4. Free Shipping
Shipping costs can be a major barrier for online shoppers. By offering free shipping, you can encourage customers to purchase more products and increase their overall satisfaction with your brand. Some businesses offer free shipping for a minimum purchase amount, while others offer it for specific products or as a limited-time promotion.
5. Loyalty Programs
Loyalty programs are a great way to reward customers for their loyalty and encourage them to make repeat purchases. By offering exclusive discounts, early access to new products, or other perks, you can build a loyal customer base that will be more likely to continue buying from your business in the future.
6. Referral Programs
Referral programs are a great way to tap into the power of word-of-mouth marketing. By offering incentives to customers who refer their friends and family to your business, you can generate new leads and expand your customer base. Referral programs can take many forms, such as discounts, free products, or other rewards.
7. Flash Sales
Flash sales are limited-time promotions that create a sense of urgency and encourage customers to make a purchase quickly. By offering a steep discount or another incentive for a limited time, you can generate a surge of sales and create excitement around your brand.
8. Social Media Contests
Social media contests are a great way to engage with your audience and generate buzz around your brand. By asking customers to share your products, tag their friends, or create user-generated content, you can create a fun and interactive experience that encourages customers to engage with your brand and increase their loyalty.
9. Bundling Products
Bundling products is a great way to increase the average order value and encourage customers to try new products. By offering a bundle of complementary products at a discounted price, you can encourage customers to make a larger purchase and increase their overall satisfaction with your brand.
Consumer Sales Promotion with RewardPort
Consumer sales promotion is an effective way to encourage consumers to make a purchase and build brand awareness. There are many consumer promotion strategies that new online businesses can use to boost their sales and establish themselves in the market.
By offering incentives, discounts, and other promotions, businesses can attract and retain customers, encourage them to try new products, and increase their overall satisfaction with the brand. You can avail the best strategies in your marketing plan with RewardPort’s team of dedicated marketers, you can create a powerful and effective sales promotion campaign that will help your business succeed.
Frequently Asked Questions: -
A flash sale makes your consumer base feel compelled to make a purchase right away. Flash sales may therefore be one of your best options for sales marketing, especially if your company does a significant portion of its business online.
The main objective of promotion is to raise consumer knowledge of the available goods and services as well as the reasons why they are valuable. Although encouraging quick purchases through incentives, sales promotion also tries to market goods and services.
Encourages new clients: Sales incentives provide prospective clients with a risk-free opportunity to try something novel. Increases awareness: By running advertisements alongside your sales campaign, you'll attract more customers and raise your brand's visibility.