3 Lessons We’ve Learned From 10 Years of Promotions

Every single business out there can benefit from running promotions, whether its B2B, B2C, consumer electronics, FMCG, or providing a service. In fact, in most markets, the number of promotions has grown significantly over recent years, with people realising that promotional tools are essential and that they can increase sales, improve brand awareness and boost market share. Ranging from simple discounts, to cashback offers, loyalty programmes and sweepstakes, promotions can get complicated, but with almost 10 years of experience, we have seen it all, and learnt our lessons. So, here they are!

Just like when developing advertising and marketing strategy overall, your target audience should always be top of mind. If your target audience is dropping big bucks on a luxury item, a cashback promotion is not the best solution. They already have disposable income to spare so cash in their pocket won’t be overly appealing. So why not consider a loyalty scheme or a gift with purchase campaign?

Similarly, timing is super important! Doing some simple research into buying cycles, seasonal purchases or peaks in bookings can make all of the difference in the performance of a promotion. In simple terms, you wouldn’t promote Christmas decorations in February? So why promote your product at a time when it isn’t relevant? While this may seem obvious, we’ve seen first hand the lack-lustre performance of promotions run at the wrong time.

First off, most businesses running promotions have some sort of a database on their previous customers, or subscribers. It is so common for these businesses to overlook this data when developing promotions. This is the kind of data that could guide you towards what customers are interested in, where they are or what their values are, USE IT!

Secondly, so many promotional mechanics have no method of data capture, which is the very definition of a missed opportunity. When a customer is taking part in a promotion somehow, they are sitting ducks for a simple ‘opt-in’ option as they fill out a form of useful information. Data is so important for marketers and are essentially the powerhouse behind effective messaging. Gathering and utilising it is essential to success.

There are endless positive opportunities for running promotions, but let’s not mess around here, as with most business decisions return on investment is the deciding factor. This is because it is a relevant measure of success. Over time, as you test the waters with different promotions, locations and mechanics, looking at ROI can help marketers make better decisions in the future.

By keeping ROI in mind, marketers are less likely to run ad-hoc, unnecessary promotions which might ultimately come at a cost to the company!

Benamic has been in the world of marketing and promotions for 10 years, it is fair to say we know a thing or two about maximising revenue from the right type of promotion. However, we are not here just to give you guidance and advice (which we are happy to do as always), but we create, manage and fulfil all elements of you promotion, no matter what that requires. We look after legal matters, we deal directly with your customers and we give real time reporting to our clients which means they have full visibility on promotional activity.

If you want to run a profitable promotion, get in touch today!