An organic marketing effort is one that is easy to share and welcomed by all. It’s important to create a marketing message that is authentic as well as attractive. To do that you may want to seriously consider introducing promotional or value-added incentives.
Promotional Incentives
The key to successfully executing a promotional incentive tactic is to make an offer that people can’t resist in exchange for their purchase, contact information or sign-up commitment.
Mobile providers have been successful with this approach for a long time. Network companies will often offer a free phone when customers sign up for a multi-year contract. By doing do, they’re appealing to our society’s weakness for free stuff, while locking people into two+ year contracts in which the company will receive an average of $40 to $80 per month for cell service from each customer.
For service businesses, promotional incentives like “Enter to Win” contests can be a great way to expand your network. When customers enter their name and contact info, they’re automatically entered to win a great prize—but remember that in order to get people to actually sign up, you need to offer something they actually want. As good as you might think a coupon for a free car wash is, chances are you’re not going stop anyone in their tracks with that offer; give away an iPad, though, and you’re bound to turn more than a few heads. Sure that will cost a bit more initially, but the number of new contacts you’ll receive in return will more than likely pay off over time in the form of positive word-of-mouth and new clients.
For product and service businesses alike, promotional incentives can be a great way to entice an audience to try your product or service, marking the beginning of a beautiful customer relationship. After all, what better way to start off a relationship than by making someone feel all warm and cozy inside?
Find something you’re proud to incentivize with and your marketing efforts will have some new life.
Value-Added Incentives
Similar to the promotional incentive, value-added incentives offer an audience the opportunity to try out a product or service without having to make a full financial commitment. If executed properly, this tactic is effective in gaining consumer trust and confidence, ultimately leading to a full financial commitment and customer loyalty. Thirty-day risk-free trials, money-back guarantees and free shipping returns are common examples of value-added incentives.
McDonald’s also does a variation of this with their spontaneous free coffee offers—they literally give away free coffee to anyone and everyone for a given period of time. The number of customers McDonald’s lures with this clever strategy—customers they would otherwise not attract—far outweighs the cost of giving away some coffee. Chances are these customers also purchase something to go along with their free coffee.
If your business provides online or remote purchasing options, offering free return shipping could be an effective value-added incentive to encourage first-time buyers. Potential customers are more likely to try out your product for the first time if they have the comfort of knowing they can send it back for free for any reason.
No matter what marketing effort you’re looking at attempting consider new ways to create excitement and trust and your promotions will better reflect your passion for your organization and the needs you’re aiming to meet.