What promotion can you think of? We come up with and carry out promotions in the online store

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From time to time, websites run advertising promotions to attract customers. Even if a company offers the consumer some kind of discount, it is not at all a fact that this promotion will attract the customer’s attention. Why? How do stores usually reason when giving a customer a discount? A simple example. Gave a 10-15% discount to visitors and sit, sip coffee and don’t forget to count the money from sales. But it was not there.

In fact, if you follow this principle, store sales will tend to zero. Competition is growing every day. And there is less and less creativity, and advertising campaigns are no exception. Everyone gives a 10-15% discount for selection and waits for something, working at a loss. But there is a discount! What promotions are needed then to increase sales?

Promotions to attract customers

1. Express savings as a percentage and in rubles

Let's consider an example: the company decided to hold a promotion to attract attention: “Gives a 15% discount on a product that costs 7,590 rubles.” It may seem that the prospect of saving 15% will help attract a client and increase sales.

What really? The client does not see his benefit: 15% is how much in rubles? Correct answer: 1138.50 rub. But do you think customers will calculate this themselves to understand how much they are saving? Most won't bother with this. Rather, they will look for another store where it is clearly and specifically indicated how much they can save. Fortunately, there is a lot of choice now.

The solution is obvious: To attract, indicate exactly how much the client saves when purchasing a product in the store. Agree, “savings - 1138.50 rubles.” sounds clearer and more interesting than “some 15% discount.”

2. Short deadline

The shorter the duration of your promotion, the better for increasing sales. What does the client think when the company decides to hold a promotion that is valid for 1-1.5 months? “I’ll have time, what’s the hurry. I have a whole month ahead of me.” It’s not hard to guess that the client will simply forget about the interesting promotion. And the company will wait for him to remember about the excellent offer and hurry up to place an order.

Promotion to increase store sales

This promotion is very popular among car sellers to increase sales. An example of an attraction method: On the last day of the month, car buyers can receive a RUB 5,000 discount. True, there are no cheap cars available, but there is one in a more expensive configuration. With a discount it will cost the same as a cheap one without a discount.

And another interesting condition of the promotion: the sale must be completed today, before the last day of the last month ends. Many customers are aware of the tricks of sellers, but still fall for these promotions.

Example of a promotion: Today is SALE! TODAY ONLY... Bring this car home in time for dinner. The keys are in the ignition, the tank is full, she's waiting for you!

Time is a tool for creating scarcity. Phrases like “Offer valid for a limited time” create the effect of time pressure. This helps attract customers to the store.

3. Prepayment

Does the company provide prepayment services? A client who is ready to pay 100% immediately should be given a discount.

4. Pre-order

Another situation: soon some new goods or services should go on sale in the store. But you can start actively promoting them now. Warm up your customers' interest in upcoming new products, including through interesting promotions. Example: take and provide a discount to those customers who placed an order for a new service/product before the start of sales.

5. Rationale

Any promotion launched by the company must be “transparent”. “What’s the point of such generosity,” the buyer might think. Perhaps they are selling him another product that has been left behind or is not in demand? And no one wants to be a donkey.

To prevent this from happening, it is important to justify your interesting promotions. Example: “In honor of a holiday”, “For the company’s birthday”, “Store opening”, “Seasonal discounts” or something else.

6. Gift

A discount is good, but a gift is better. It is more tangible and understandable for the client.

Marketing campaign for stores

Example: “When purchasing in our store for an amount of 6,900 rubles. one of four exclusive shower gels as a gift” (Fig. 1)

Fig. 1 A discount is good, but a gift is better

7. Club cards

Pamper your regular customers. Don't forget about them. They are your loyal fans, cheerleaders. They need to be treated with care. Come up with some special, interesting promotions for them. Available only to them. Show that they belong to a privileged, exclusive club.

8. 1 purchase = 10 gifts

Be more creative in your sales. Come up with new formats for promotions.

Promotions for stores

Example: Provide a discount when purchasing a larger volume (Fig. 2). Or make not one gift, but several - a kind of set. “For any purchase over 3,000 rubles. in the period from June 1 to June 10, you receive 10 gifts."

Fig. 2 A discount for the volume of a one-time purchase encourages buyers to purchase a larger “batch” of goods

9. Cumulative discounts

This type of promotion will help attract new customers and form a base of regular ones. It will be more difficult for the client to leave and make a purchase from someone other than you. You thereby “softly” tie him to your company.

10. Related products

Make an interesting promotion not for the main product, but for some related product. Thus, the sale is no longer just one product, but a complete set. At the same time increasing store sales.

11. Only one pair left in your size

An artificial shortage in a store is created very simply. When we see the phrase “Only one pair left in your size” or “Last set left in stock,” we subconsciously feel that we better hurry up and make a purchase. Artificial scarcity is good for attracting attention and increasing sales.

Example of a promotion for travel agencies

“Buy now! Only 2 tickets left at this price!

Thus, if there is a shortage of any product, its value in our eyes increases and we want to get it even more. The product becomes more valuable and desirable to us.

12. Expensive things can’t be bad.

The promotion is that the more expensive the product (and therefore less accessible), the higher its quality. We subconsciously prefer expensive goods. Our subconscious tells us: expensive means good!

13. Sorry, but you can't have it.

Another promotion is to introduce restrictions from time to time. When something cannot be obtained, then real scarcity begins. The more inaccessible the goal, the stronger the desire to achieve it. As a result, the stricter the prohibitions in stocks, the more we will strive to circumvent them.

Bottom line: The value and desirability of any thing often depends on how difficult it is to obtain. Limited products or promotional periods create a subconscious fear among visitors that they may be late. And this forces them to act.

Promotions to attract customers: 3 important rules

The promotion must justify your costs. Don't work at a loss.
Don't sell discounted items en masse. On the one hand, you will get more attracted customers, but you are sure that they will buy your product without a discount. Introduce promotions proportionally - only for a limited set of goods.
Make new promotions on different products at different periods of time. And watch the reaction of buyers.

Efficiency of the actions carried out

Take a look at your stocks and adjust them based on the recommendations outlined. Using the 13 examples of the best options outlined in the article.

Successful promotions to you!

P.S. Do you want to increase sales without increasing your advertising budget? Then this is the place for you - Increase conversion

The article was written for the magazine “Marketer”

Read other useful articles

Bag as a gift

As everyone has known for a long time, the engine of trade is advertising. Of course, advertising should not be “anyhow”, but one that engenders in the souls of potential buyers the seeds of demand for a product of a certain brand or store, and in addition, diligently and carefully cultivates these seeds right up to the moment of making a purchase. Advertising must also maintain the buyer’s loyalty to its product, so that, other things being equal, he chooses the advertiser’s product. All over the world, to create and maintain “love” and customer commitment to their product, clothing stores and boutiques conduct promotions, and these promotions can be either standard (simple, but working) or quite original. Let's consider both those and other options.

When opening a new clothing store, of course, it is simply necessary to conduct an advertising campaign with the goal that your potential customers will simply found out about availability such store. In this case, the simplest promotions that a newly opening clothing store can carry out are all kinds of discounts, gifts, and discount cards for new customers.

Two for the price of one

You can run promotions such as “two for the price of one”, “three for the price of two”, “discount on things with a red price tag”, “discount of so many percent for buyers, for example, with a green bag” (while selling these same green bags at attractive prices), “prices without extra charge for certain goods”, “we trade at a loss, offering you prices 2 times lower than the purchase price for such and such a product”, “fill out the form at the checkout and receive a discount card as a gift” , “happy hours in the store - a discount of so many percent, for example, from 11 to 12,” etc. In fact, there are a lot of options for promotions. A standard promotion would be attractive promoters handing out flyers with a discount coupon for your store. We talk about “standard” promotions, meaning they are simple and effective. That is, you can adopt any of the above options and get positive effects. Of course, it is worth carrying out advertising campaigns using the support of well-known media in your region (radio, newspapers, television, Internet portals).

Unusual promotions

Now let's look at the option of how you can conduct an unusual advertising campaign that would attract the largest number of potential and actual customers to a clothing store or boutique.

An example of a short-term and effective advertising campaign is a promotion held in one of the large Vilnius stores of expensive denim clothing. Having announced in advance that customers who came to the store without pants at a certain time would have the opportunity to choose stylish jeans for free, the store management received the result in the form of a queue of young boys and girls in only shorts, lined up at the store doors at the right time. Since the promotion lasted only 10 minutes, the store didn’t really lose out on free jeans, but more about this promotion and the store itself there were long conversations, and the “wave” of buyers for “paid” jeans was quite long. By the way, does this incident remind you of anything? Many years ago, the Euroset mobile phone store held an even more shocking promotion: customers who came to the store completely naked gave me a brand new mobile phone.

People are sometimes ready for madness

Thus, we can conclude that “people are ready to do a lot for free,” they are even ready to do crazy things. Start an original, even crazy, flash mob advertising campaign, connect the media to this event, especially the Internet, television, so that this campaign is written and talked about beforehand and subsequently, so that there are photographs and videos - and about your clothing store for a long time they will talk. Word of mouth works clearly and effectively; as experience shows, people trust rumors even more than openly presented information. Loud and scandalous advertising campaigns eventually become urban legends, and the name of the store that staged a grandiose flash mob becomes recognizable and attracts the attention of visitors.

Promotions are another tool for winning over consumers. As a rule, as part of the promotion, a potential client gets the opportunity to evaluate and test the company’s products and services free of charge or at a lower price.

How to come up with a promotion and attract customers

Entrepreneurs must learn to come up with effective promotions. How?

1. Decide on the participants of the action. The success of a promotion depends on three factors. The first is buyers who come to the store under the impression of advertising. The second factor is sellers. It is important to remember that advertising only gives the buyer an idea of the product, and the seller carries out the transaction. And if he recommends to the client a product from a competing company in a confidential tone, it will work. The effectiveness of an advertising campaign depends mainly on the seller.
The third participant in the action is considered to be the store director (administrator, top manager) - in other words, the person who manages the sellers of the department (store, region) entrusted to him. The manager’s task is to stimulate the advertising campaign, that is, to control the display of goods, give recommendations to sellers, and show interest in the progress of sales. The more interested the manager is in the success of the promotion, the higher the likelihood that it will be successful.
2. Find out what motivated the participants in the action. Each participant pursues his own interests, which means everyone has different motives.
The buyer comes to the store with the hope of purchasing a quality item at a reasonable price and with a guarantee. A bonus (a nice accessory or service) will not be amiss for him.
The seller, in fulfilling his duties, is guided by material benefits. If the fact of a successful transaction guarantees him some kind of reward, he will be interested in the work. Material incentives in this case are a bonus based on sales results or a bonus for a unit sold. Sales help him make a career, but a career is too abstract a concept, but a bonus is quite specific.
As for the store director, he must think more globally than the seller. As a rule, the role of administrator is usually a white-collar employee who works for hire. He is interested in the success of the business he is a part of. He strives to rise to the top steps of the career ladder, but this is only possible if the plan is fulfilled, sales volume increases, and salespeople are competently managed. The greater the manager’s success, the greater the material reward he expects.
3. Take the buyer's interests into account. All marketing is built on knowing the interests of a potential client, understanding the psychology of the buyer and revealing his motives. Few managers can say with confidence what their clients want, because they have no idea about their hobbies, lifestyle, and income. All these things need to be studied. An advertising campaign will only be effective if it is planned taking into account the specific characteristics of the target audience.
4. The target audience may be heterogeneous. A student, the head of a family, or a housewife can come for the same washing machine (computer, headphones, and so on). And all these people, remarkably, have different priorities. A couple of packages of washing powder, even if free, will not cause much enthusiasm in a man who has never washed his own clothes. And a ticket to a football match is unlikely to be useful to a woman who is not a fan. Therefore, it is worth providing several incentive options. Of course, there are also universal bonuses. For example, a large flash drive will certainly please all laptop buyers.
Focusing on the preferences and tastes of different people is troublesome and expensive, but in a competitive environment it is necessary. An effective advertising campaign is a well-thought-out event.
5. Relevance is paramount. For an action to make a splash, it needs to be launched at the right moment in the right place. This point is easiest to explain using the example of holidays or changing seasons.
A few weeks (days) before the New Year, sweets, champagne or a box of fireworks will be a good addition to any major purchase. The gender, age, income of the buyer and the geographical location of the store in this case do not matter much.
Here's another option, less traditional. A travel agency, advertising tours to warm countries, can offer potential clients free certificates to a gym or beauty salon. They may turn out to be extremely relevant on the eve of a beach holiday.
6. Modest bonuses work better than super-expensive gifts. Let's say that a company is running a promotion in which the winner will receive a car or a trip to Hawaii. Clients are not very interested, because they understand perfectly well that they will not see a super prize: the company is well-known, it has a large audience, which means that the chances of winning something tend to zero. Besides, where is the guarantee that the super prize really exists? And if it does exist, it will most likely be played out between “close associates,” so what’s the point of joining the game?
But if every buyer of a product or service participates in a lottery with a guaranteed (even “penny”) win, interest in the campaign increases. As you know, a bird in the hands is better than a pie in the sky. The opportunity to get some little thing for free, even if it’s not particularly necessary in the household, is a serious incentive. A new printer may come with a pack of high-density paper, a bicycle may come with gloves or a flask, and a mobile phone may come with a case of your choice. You can go the other way: in addition to the TV, offer a blanket or a case of beer, and in addition to the microwave oven, offer a coupon for the delivery of pies or pizza.
In other words, giving small gifts to all store customers is preferable to making the only winner happy with a super prize. It is through small bonuses that customer loyalty is formed. Practice has repeatedly confirmed the correctness of this approach.
7. No need to be clever. Advertisements about promotions should be as accessible and understandable as possible to all members of the target audience. A potential client should not puzzle over what is being offered to him, especially since he reads advertisements, as a rule, casually (for example, in transport). The advertising text must clearly state what the buyer must do to receive the bonus. Of course, some entrepreneurs love intrigue (and this technique sometimes works great!), but clear directions are always preferable.
8. Claiming a prize should be easy. It happens that in order to receive an incentive, a client needs to:
Purchase a product.
- Fill out the form.
- Get a unique number.
- Save the receipt.
- Register on the site.
- Enter a unique number.
- Wait for the lottery results.
Needless to say, this path is too difficult? If “the game is not worth the candle,” the buyer is unlikely to go beyond saving the receipt, and this is understandable. Nobody likes to make unnecessary movements.
Therefore, it is advisable to conduct the prize draw as quickly as possible, ideally immediately after the client makes a purchase. If you still intend to fill out a questionnaire or flyer for a subsequent drawing, then the technology of this process should be simplified to the maximum. Asking a buyer to fuss with paperwork is indecent, especially considering the fact that he has already done a favor to the store (company) by purchasing a product or service. Therefore, the manager (seller) must deal with the red tape.
9. You need to be friends with the staff. First of all, “staff” means sales people. It is these people who are always aware of what is happening, both in their store and in their competitors. They know why things are the way they are and why some new products are in demand and others are not. Even if the leading manager has attended dozens of seminars on successful sales, a good salesperson will still find something to surprise him with. Sellers know more about buyers than anyone else, and their advice and recommendations should not be neglected.
10. ...and follow the buyer!...In the literal sense: having studied the interests, passions and hobbies of the target audience, the entrepreneur must “force himself” to share their tastes and from time to time appear in the thick of things: at sports competitions, music festivals, holidays in shopping centers. People trust more those they know by sight and those who do not distance themselves from them. Therefore, on the eve of the next advertising campaign, a little publicity will not hurt.

Interesting promotions to attract customers

“Buy one product and get the second one free.” There are simple, without pretense of originality, marketing recipes that have brought and continue to bring profit. These are promotions from the series “three for the price of two”, “special price for goods with green price tags”, “discount in the morning”, “Birthday discount”, “red price tag: the price is lower than the purchase price”, “buy goods for a certain amount – get a free discount card”, “get a discount coupon for every 500 rubles” and so on. Any such promotion, supported by the distribution of leaflets and a video broadcast on TV, guarantees an increase in sales (if the mechanism of the transaction is clear to everyone). There is no need to deny the possibilities of the Internet (radio, print media) for disseminating information about an advertising campaign. Distributing flyers by promoters on the streets closest to the store also works great.
Unconventional solutions. As you know, they work well in business. A striking example of an effective advertising campaign is the offer of one of the denim clothing stores in Vilnius. The promotion lasted no more than ten minutes, during which people who came to the store without pants could choose free jeans from famous brands. In such a short time, the store did not manage to suffer large losses, but the line of half-naked people on the street aroused the well-founded curiosity of passers-by. Conversations began and passions began to boil. The company's management reaped the benefits of fame: the flow of people wanting to buy jeans for money did not dry up for several months.
Euroset carried out an even more shocking action: every client who came to the salon completely naked received a phone for free. And such people, of course, were found.
The more provocative the action, the greater the public response it causes. Consumers are greedy for the word “free!” (“free!”) in the ad and for the sake of a “freebie” they are ready to do a lot. Therefore, the most incredible flash mob, beneficial for the consumer, will be received, if not with delight, then with curiosity. Involving the media and publishing the announcement online ensures that the information spreads quickly. And if videos and photographs are taken during the action, users will discuss it on forums for a long time. A properly organized, legal, but scandalous campaign will not only help increase sales, but will also ensure brand (store) recognition. It is possible that over time it will become perceived as an urban legend.

It is clear that entrepreneurs should not be afraid to innovate in the advertising field. Each campaign requires careful study of the needs of the target audience; Moreover, not every promotion performs as expected. But sooner or later, an active and courageous leader will definitely find solutions that will work best: they will arouse public interest and contribute to the influx of new clients.

Hello, friends!

Do you know what an “offer” is? The offer is the heart of any selling text.

If he doesn’t have an offer, consider that you have doomed your efforts to death. Because without an offer there is no point in sending anything.

Speaking in a “more Russian” and accessible language, an offer is the proposal itself. Not an expression of interest and readiness, but a specific business proposal.

Not a standard dithyramb with basic conditions, but the “backbone” of your interest in cooperation.

An offer is an answer to the question: “What would interest this client?”

In search of an answer, you are already beginning to move away from the stereotyped banality and look for ways.

The oldest type of “offer” (and still works great) is a discount.

Yes, yes, everyone knows the discount.

But very often it is applied everywhere and in a row without an absolute understanding of the meaning and rationality.

Even though a discount is an “offer,” it should still make sense, and even better, be unique.

In this article I will show you what discounts are and how they are used in sales.

All of you guys are smart, so I won’t chew on what has already been swallowed for a long time, and will limit myself to a clear structural annotation for each point.

I’ll say right away - this is not an encyclopedic classification, but a folk one - a field classification.

1. Discount for a period - such a discount is established for a certain period. The time limit is an incentive for buyers - they understand that after a certain time the preferential conditions will end. I once took advantage of this discount when purchasing kitchen furniture. 30% is 30%. Especially when in monetary terms such a discount is equal to the cost of a good gas stove.

2. One day discount - Even if this is a discount for a period, I still want to highlight it separately. A one-day discount is generally an excellent sales stimulator. "Only today…"

3. Discount on one item - the meaning is clear: the preferential price applies only to a specific product. Very often such a discount is accompanied by a term limit. That is, we have a combined discount. Supermarkets often resort to this technique - every week they sell some new product at a discount.

4. Advance discount- this discount applies to pre-ordering a new product. There is a release date, and there is an offer to order the product in advance on preferential terms, without waiting for the release itself. You probably remember when the Peter Publishing House online store accepted pre-orders for my book “Copywriting of Mass Destruction” at a more interesting price.

5. Discount upon reaching a certain amount- a classic retail trade technique. Do you want a discount? Then buy goods for a certain minimum amount.

6.Wholesale discount- this is already from the opera of distribution. There is a supplier or manufacturer, and there are distributors or large consumers. The discount applies to large order volumes. A whole scale is often used here. Whoever orders more goods receives a more pleasant discount.

7. Accumulative discount- combined type, includes several elements. The meaning is simple and clear: if you accumulate purchases for a specific amount, you get a new discount, and so on on a scale.

8.Cash discount- I’ve often seen it abroad, although I see it here from time to time, for example: in small stores that sell mobile phones (market format). Abroad, where non-cash payments (plastic cards) reign, you can buy goods at a discount if you pay for them in cash. On the contrary, we can add some percentage to the price (equivalent to the percentage for withdrawing cash from a bank account or card).

9. Personal discount- the most famous format: discount coupon or discount flyer. They may send them to you by mail, ask you to cut them out in a newspaper, or even just hand them to you on the street.

10. Holiday discount- have you often received an SMS on your phone from some restaurant inviting you to their birthday party with a tempting discount? This is a holiday discount.

11. Discounts when purchasing online- if you live in Ukraine, go to the Citrus Discount store, look at the prices, and then visit the Citrus Discount online store. You will see that prices in an online store can be more pleasant. I think there is no need to explain the reason for this move.

12. Melting discount- the principle of operation of such a discount can be explained as follows: not a fixed discount is applied, but a whole jackal of discounts, the size of which decreases as the deadline approaches. 20%, 10%, 5%...

13. Situational discount- when I was buying a winter jacket in a store, I asked the seller for a discount. He answered me: “Okay, but only if you buy it right now.”. A very fair move.

14. Discounts for specific groups- noticed in pharmacies "discounts for pensioners", and in cinemas "discounts for students"?

15. Affiliate discount- “trick” is often used in online sales. You attract a partner who will recommend you or distribute your products, and in return you offer him to become a buyer on preferential terms.

16. Collective (group) discount- boom of 2011. Although I also saw her in London in 2001 when buying tickets to Madame Tussauds Wax Museum. Gather a group of buyers and get a discount.

17. Cross discount- you offer the client to purchase one (or several) products at a base price, and an additional product at a discount.

18. Discount for fast payment- occurs periodically in b2b sales: the faster you pay off the debt, the bigger the discount you get.

19. First purchase discount- often used by foreign online stores, which send each new registered user a discount on their first purchase in a welcome letter.

20. Discount subscription- relevant for services. The most striking example: fitness clubs and swimming pools. A one-time visit is the same price, but you can buy a subscription and visit establishments on more pleasant terms.

21. Additional (bonus) discount- noticed in Chicco children's goods stores. You have a discount card, but the store still offers an additional discount to it. There are, however, restrictions on product groups.

22. Off-season discount- used when selling seasonal goods, for example: outerwear. Have you noticed that fur coats are cheaper in summer? Often, this system sells unsold goods during the season.

23. Club discount- discount club system: you purchase a club card and can enjoy discounts at various establishments that are included in the club program.

24. Trade-In discount- you return the old version of the product to the seller and buy a new one at a good discount. An example is car dealerships.

25. Confidential discount- there is no need to decipher here, we all live, as it were, in the same country. There is a contract price on paper, and there is... let's say... another price.

Well, the last discount (for a positive final line) sounds like this - "discount for beautiful eyes".

Let us know in the comments what other discounts you would add here.

Hello! In this article we will talk about promotions to attract customers.

Today you will learn:

How to conduct promotions for;
What types of shares exist and how to come up with a share;
How to calculate stock performance.

What are “shares” and why are they needed?

During the height of the economic crisis in the country, the issue of attracting new customers faces almost every enterprise. The situation is aggravated by the high level in almost all areas of business.

In such harsh conditions, entrepreneurs are forced to resort to the most stringent measures to attract customers. One of these measures is sales promotion.

Sales promotion – a promotion tool aimed at short-term increase in demand with the help of various promotions that stimulate purchases.

Promotions will allow you to achieve the following goals:

Short-term increase in sales volumes;
Capture market share for a long time;
Attracting new consumers:
Poaching consumers from competitors;
Stimulating large volumes of purchases;
Retaining loyal consumers.

Advantages:

Drawing attention to the company, brand and product;
Providing information about the product and the company to potential consumers;
Significant increase in sales during the promotion period;
Quick consumer response to stimulating effects;
Sales focus.

Flaws:

The short-term impact, as a rule, increases sales only for the duration of the promotion;
Often have a negative impact on the image of the organization. If a high-level company begins to sell goods at a discount of more than 70%, it loses wealthy buyers and attracts those who are ready to purchase products only at discounts;
Significantly reduces company profits. A discount of even 5% has a painful impact on the company’s profits, which we will talk about a little later.

If these shortcomings don’t scare you, then let’s move on.

Promotion strategy development process

Any activity to attract visitors must begin with developing a strategy. Stocks are no exception.

The process of developing a sales promotion strategy includes the following stages:

Formation of sales promotion goals;
Identifying suitable stocks, which we will talk about a little later;
Development of an incentive program: designation of the timing of the promotion, determination of the amount of the incentive (budget), determination of the conditions for participation in the promotion, methods of promotion and distribution of the incentive package, development of a mechanism for responding to the promotion, preliminary testing;
Practical implementation of the incentive program through the use of various promotions;
Evaluation of results.

Types of promotions to attract customers

At the moment, there are a very large number of different stock options.

The choice of one or another means of sales promotion depends on the following factors:

Specifics of activity.
Product type. For example, let's say you sell wedding dresses. It would be strange to give a second when buying one;
Store format and location. For example, we own a stall selling pies at the station. There are three more similar stalls next to us. To attract consumers, we decided to hold a promotion. As a gift to a random lucky winner, we are providing a coupon for one free pie per day for a month. However, 90% of our consumers are passing through this place and they will not be interested in this promotion, and it will not help us resolve the issue with competitors;
Activities of competitors in this area;
Financial capabilities of the company;
Purposes of the action.

Determine each of these parameters for yourself. Have you determined? Then let's move on to the types of shares.

Discounts

Discounts are the most popular and easiest way. Buyers are happy to buy goods with red price tags. The more you lower the price, the more purchases you will get. But be careful. Every percentage of the price hurts the margin of your products.

During the month of discounts, sales volume increased by 20% and amounted to 148 pies or 2,664 rubles. The pie margin for the promotion period was: 18-17.3 = 0.7 rubles.

Let's calculate the profit received during the month of the promotion: 0.7 * 148 = 103.6 rubles. Thus, thanks to discounts, we lost 209.4 rubles in profit with an increase in purchases by 20%.

Make it a rule to carry out such calculations before introducing a discount system.

Human psychology is designed in such a way that he practically does not notice a price reduction of less than 15%. Therefore, a 5 or 10% discount will not lead to a significant increase in demand.

Discount forms:

Seasonal sales;
Discounts for large volume purchases;
Discounts in honor of a special occasion (customer’s birthday, store opening date, etc.);
Discounts for purchasing a certain category of products.
Discount on defective goods;
Discount on “product of the day”;
Discount when purchasing in;
“Bring a friend” discount.

Please note that the introduction of any discount must be tied to a specific occasion. If you simply lower your prices, the consumer will think about the quality of your product. It is discounts that tend to negatively affect the image of an organization if they are applied ineptly.

Gifts for purchase

This is also a very popular type of promotion. You can give away both your own products and those of your partners for purchase. In the first case, you will again have to calculate the change in sales volumes and profits so as not to go into the negative. But the second option is very tempting.

Find a partner company that needs to promote its product or brand and offer cooperation.

Example. Since the idea of discounts at our pies stall failed, we decided to give gifts for purchases. To do this, we agreed with the store opposite that we would attract our customers to their outlet by issuing them a coupon to receive free tea from them. The store agrees, since the likelihood that a visitor will buy some product from them by going for free tea is very high.

Types of “gift with purchase” promotion:

The second lowest priced product is free;
Bonus from partners;
Lottery;
Discount card for purchase.

Loyalty cards

Almost everyone has several cards from their favorite stores in their wallet. They allow the buyer to benefit from shopping in this store.

The following forms of discount cards are distinguished:

Discount cards– provide the client with a fixed discount. It does not change during the use of this card. Aimed at retaining visitors and linking them to the outlet;
Savings cards– often the amount of benefit depends on the total quantity of goods purchased in monetary terms. The more you bought during the entire period of using the card, the greater your discount. Aimed at increasing the number of purchases and retaining customers;
club card– provided to special customers, for example, for a large purchase volume. It carries certain privileges, including: the opportunity to participate in promotions, permanent discounts, gifts.

You can’t just give out cards; time their donation to coincide with some event or set conditions.

Here are some options for you:

Store birthday;
Large purchase volume;
Issuance of discount cards to first visitors;
Issuance of cards for participation in the competition;
Selling cards.

Competitions and giveaways

This type of stock is actively gaining momentum. Hold a prize draw, come up with a competition, the winners of which will receive your products as a gift. This will allow you to increase company awareness and consumer loyalty.

There are two types of competitions:

Related companies. In this case, the buyer must purchase a certain quantity of goods in order to receive a surprise. For example, buy 10 bottles of soda to collect the caps from them and get a prize. Aimed at increasing demand and attracting attention to the company;
Unrelated to product. The consumer completes a task without having to purchase the company's product. For example, a consumer must write a story about their day at school in order to receive a free school supply kit.

Tasting

As a rule, it is carried out in large supermarkets. Moreover, this type of promotion is aimed not so much at increasing the sales volume of the product being tasted, but at increasing the sales volume of the supermarket as a whole. According to statistics, consumers who have tried a product buy 25% more than they planned in that store.

We will talk about calculating the effectiveness of this type of promotion a little later.

How to come up with a promotion to attract customers

To come up with a promotion to attract customers, you need to go through the following steps:

Define your advertising campaign goals. What do you want to achieve? Increasing sales, increasing customer loyalty, attracting new customers or retaining existing ones. Write down all your goals;
Determine the participants of the marketing campaign. Who exactly do you want to influence, who will influence it, who will control its implementation. Discounts can scare away wealthy clients from your company and attract consumers in the middle and low price segment. A club card may have the opposite effect. Promoters, salespeople, and customer service managers can influence consumers. The entire process will be controlled by a director or administrator. All personnel involved in the action must be trained: familiarized with the conditions, and given instructions.
Determine the motives of each participant. The consumer is interested in additional benefits, the seller is interested in premiums or bonuses for good results, the administrator is interested in fulfilling the plan, increasing sales volume. Correctly identifying the motives of each participant will allow you to effectively manage the process.
Work to identify your customers' needs. What exactly might interest them?
Think about when your promotion will be most relevant. For example, ice cream in winter will not cause such a stir among consumers as gingerbread cookies and hot chocolate.
Decide on the type of promotion. It directly depends on the one for which you are holding the promotion. It is also important to determine the value of the gift. Remember that a large number of small bonuses attract consumers more than a few expensive gifts.
Make the terms of participation in the promotion clear and short, otherwise the client will suspect deception or simply will not study your proposal. There shouldn't be too many conditions.
Communicate with your consumer, answer his questions, play with him. This way you will gain precious trust.

Analysis of the effectiveness of the campaign

We have already discussed how to evaluate the effectiveness of discounts; evaluation of the effectiveness of the implementation of loyalty cards, gifts and competitions is carried out in the same way.

Remember that an increase in sales does not at all guarantee an increase in profits, because you lose on a discount or gift. In this case, when calculating efficiency, the gift should be considered as a discount (the cost of the gift = the amount of the discount).

Example. For the purchase of 5 pies at a time, we give chewing gum. The promotion will last one week. The price of chewing gum is 2 rubles. Let's assume that only those who initially wanted to buy them will buy the fifth pie, and we have 10 out of 50 people a week. Thus, thanks to the promotion, sales volume will increase by 200 rubles or 10 pies. Our margin before the promotion was 2.7 rubles. The sales volume before the promotion was 90 pies. We calculate the profit for the week before the promotion 90 * 2.7 = 2 43 rubles.

Let's calculate how much additional profit we will receive from the promotion: 2.7 * 10 = 27 rubles. And we will lose: 2*10 = 20 rubles. Thus, the promotion will allow us to increase profits by only 7 rubles.

Now let's learn how to calculate the effectiveness of tastings.

Let's say we are conducting a tasting of our pies. The promotion will run for 2 days, 3 hours a day. The price of our product is 20 rubles. The cost is 17.3 rubles.

We plan to reach an audience of 20 people. The number of pies required is 20 pieces. In addition, we need a tray costing 200 rubles and a package of napkins costing 30 rubles.

Thus, the cost of carrying out the campaign will be 576 rubles.

Let's calculate using the formula: Break-even point = total costs/margin = 576/2.7 = 213 pies. We will have to sell this number of pies based on the results of the tasting.

According to the rule of information dissemination, everyone who tastes the pie will tell three of their friends about the product, and each of these three will tell three more.

Thus, the maximum number of buyers who will come to the stall based on the results of the tasting will be 180 people. We don’t know how many pies they will buy, but according to pessimistic calculations (everyone will buy only one pie), this number of buyers is not enough. The project is risky.

Examples of the best stocks

Promotion at the airport.

A couple of years ago, an American airline held a raffle for travel packages. The conditions were as follows: a person waiting for a flight was asked to press a button, after which the computer randomly determined the country to which the lucky person would go. In this case, all travel expenses were paid by the airline.

Free lunch.

One of the Chinese sites ran an interesting promotion. For a month, every hour for 1.5 seconds a button appeared on the resource page, by clicking on which the lucky person received a free lunch. By the way, the number of site visitors increased 4 times this month.

An example from Russia.

The Moscow Geocafe holds a promotion every day. Its conditions are as follows: at 18:00 Moscow time, a drawing for a free dinner was held between cafe visitors. The winner was determined randomly. Second and third places were also determined and received a bottle of wine and a 50% discount on their order, respectively.

Promotion in the store.

One of the Vilnius denim stores ran the following promotion: all customers who came without pants were given free jeans of their choice. As a result, on the day of the promotion, a line of freebie lovers lined up in the store. However, be careful with such promotions, otherwise you may face legal consequences.