Tips on Promotions

Tips on Promotions

Learn how to use promotions to attract profitable new business and customers. Don't leave money on the table with promotions that will attract people who would have already come in or paid full price. Get ideas and tips from experts on promotions.

Promotion Challenges

Many businesses run promotions that attract people who are looking for the best deal or who want the free item that's being featured. These aren't generally people who will later pay full-price and become loyal customers. These people are always looking for promotional offers and deals and are called "switchers" in the marketing industry because they switch to whatever brand or company has the best offer at that time.

Another problem we see with promotions is that many companies "leave money on the table" by offering a price off or promotional offer that is then seen and used by existing customers who would have paid full price. That erodes profitability and devalues what you are selling.

Groupon is a popular website and company that offers its members a daily special deal/coupon from a company. There are pros and cons to this for companies considering participation. Read what businesses who have used Groupon have to say about their experiences with it and share your advice. Learn about the pros/cons of Groupon.

Check out Groupon Now, a new service from Groupon that lets small business merchants offer deals during days and times when they will be most profitable to you. Very smart idea. Instead of offering a coupon deal that people can redeem anytime, you may want to offer a deal during your slow times of the day or to move perishable products. For example, if your a hair salon and you're slow during the week in the afternoons from 1-3pm, you can offer a special price deal during that time. That way you're not offering a discounted price during your peak evening or on Saturday when you can attract clients who will pay full price. We're not paid in any way by Groupon to promote this. We just think it's a good idea. Link to Groupon Now

About Promotional Products

Promotional products are things with a company name and logo on it like hats, pens, t-shirts, cups and hundreds of other items.

From our experience: Promotional products should only be given to employees (to wear at trade shows and events) and to your very best customers who refer new business to you and have "brand love" for your company and/or products/services. Many companies buy promotional items and give them to anyone at a trade show or mail them to every customer. In reality, most people don't want to wear your t-shirt or use your mug. But they won't say "no thanks." They'll just take it. And then what happens to it? How many t-shirts do you have from companies that you now use to dry the car after you wash it? How many t-shirts do you choose to wear from another company? Did you pay for that t-shirt with the brand name on it? That's real "brand love." You are paying to associate yourself with a particular brand.

How to Identify Your Most Profitable Customers - These are the people who spend the most money and refer new business to you. They should be the ones wearing your company t-shirts and drinking their coffee in one of your mugs! There are hundreds of companies that sell promotional products.
Here's a list of the Top Suppliers for Promotional Products.

Community advice on promotions in marketing

Use the tabs on this page to read the advice shared by the MarketingZone Member community about promotions.
As more and more people share, this advice will become more and more valuable. Why? Because you'll be able to apply filters to find people whose answers will be most relevant to you. Perhaps that's people who work in the same industry or type of small business. Or people who are marketing in your city or town. Or people who are marketing professionals paid for their expertise.
Membership is required to give advice. (It's free to join.) That's done to ensure advice-givers agree to Submission Guidelines and the conversation remains professional and constructive. Learn more about MarketingZone membership.
The MarketingZone Editors will use the advice shared by the community to write and continuously update articles that highlight the highest rated advice and the most practical ideas for small businesses about promotions. Some of the information shared by the community is only available to Premium Members who pay to subscribe to MarketingZone. About us.

TIP: If you're looking for a marketing expert (freelancer or agency) to hire to help you with promotions, read the advice shared by experts on the tabs on this page to help you determine who you want to learn more about. For advice you think is helpful, link to the person's profile page to learn more about them.

These articles may by helpful about promotions

What do you have to say? What have you learned works? Doesn't work? What offers are effective? What new approaches have you tried? Who are your favorite suppliers for promotional products? How are you saving money when running promotions? What are your typical results? Any resources to recommend that will help small businesses? Give advice about promotions.

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