Sales promotions!
Sales promotions – using time and excitement!
We’ve talked plenty about relationships and the benefits of long-term building but what about the street market skills, the flashy sales tactics and short-term wonder? This is just as important to your sales strategy in terms of revenue and it will sometimes lead to strong, long-term clients. The important thing here is recognise those customers needing a quick-fix and those that need more attention to a more established problem or need. It’s easier said than done though.
So what are the requirements of running a promotion?
● Define your target market. Remember who you’re aiming at and what will get them excited. Brides-to-be will like a free test shoot perhaps, some pre-wedding memories before the madness of the event. Marriages often happen in groups among close circles of friends, within the space of a few years, so using the offer of a friend discount would go deeper.
● Why run a promotion? Have you got old stock to shift or do you want to build your mailing list? Are you having a seasonal quiet period? Maybe you have a new product you want to try out on the market?
● Feedback. Short-term promotions are a great way of engaging with people. If you’re trying to generate sales it can also be an opportunity to speak to people about what they are looking for from a company like yours and what could excite them in future. It can help you hone your offering.
So you’ve decided to run the promotion, how do you dress it up to entice and win some quick sales? Dropping prices may not be enough of a reason for people to make a purchase, and making the experience exciting or interesting could be tactic that does make them commit.
● Engagement. Using a competition or creative game opens up an audience who might not have otherwise been looking for your products.
- Spot the difference – make use of your product and editing skills, and also show those skills off. People love a simple game and all ages can play.
- Guess the celebrity – people love to think they know celebrities but can they identify them from small parts of a face for example?
● Information. Using social media to run competitions is great, cost-effective way to generate awareness but also find followers and likes. Building your network this way will give a great insight into the kind of people looking and what they might be looking for.
- Caption – using your photography to generate the best caption works well online because it’s a quick and easy way for people to enter.
- Slogan – again this is a quick way to engage people and using wit helps to bring down a defensive, non-buying mood.
As with the image at the start, bright colours and large type make people look and take notice. How you engage them after you’ve got their attention is all-important, and keeping some of them interested in the long-term is the added-value in running these short-term hits.
