No matter what industry you operate in, your success is often defined by your ability to stand out from the competition. This is especially true if you are in a customer-facing field, where you are constantly competing for the cash and the loyalty of a finite audience against your cutthroat competitors. Oftentimes, the most effective way to increase your market share is with an eye-catching promotion.
This often requires an initial capital outlay, as the most successful promotions are those that involve a few freebies. However, a good business promotion does not need to put you into the red. If you’re looking for some inspiration and insights into how to do a business promotion the right way, check out these successful real-world examples.
1. Referral Freebies
Probably one of the most consistently successful promotions we have seen in the past decade is the referral bonus. This is when a company offers products and services for free to any customer who successfully gets a friend to sign up.
This has been tried to great effect by ridesharing apps such as Uber and Lyft, which offer free-rider credits to any account holder who can get another person to sign up. This simple method has been credited with skyrocketing Uber’s market share, especially in the early days of the app.
2. Cashback Bonuses
Another great way to reward loyalty without breaking your budget is with a cashback scheme. One of the most successful examples of this in recent years is probably from Nike, which has been offering online shoppers cashback at the checkout of between 10-40%, depending on how many points that customer has accrued from previous purchases. When a customer knows that they can save huge amounts on future purchases with you, they are much less likely to switch to competitors for those purchases.
3. Free Cash or Credit
It’s simple but it works. Simply giving cash or credit to your new customers as a reward for signing up is often a stunningly successful strategy. One industry that has utilized this to great effect is the online casino industry, which has seen double-digit growth over the past several years.
Top online gambling platforms frequently make use of generous no deposit bonuses that offer new customers potentially hundreds of dollars to spend on games. All they have to do is sign up – for instance, both Gambino Slots Casino and Double Down Casino offer no deposit bonuses this summer. Promotions such as this can be hugely effective at introducing new customers to your services and convincing them to stick around.
4. Lifestyle Discounts
The so-called ‘lifestyle’ discount is a money-off promotion that is specifically directed towards a certain group or occupation, for example, a student or a veterans discount. Many companies use these types of promotions to capture specialized markets, but few have done this as successfully as Apple.
The much-vaunted Apple Student Discount scheme offers huge price cuts on Macbooks for all students and has been running for over a decade. The offer has been so successful that colleges across the world now inform students about the promotion, effectively doing Apple’s marketing for them.
5. A Classic BOGO
This is a promotion that has most definitely stood the test of time, simply because it works. If you can find a suitable product for a buy-one-get-one-free offer, you could lock in a solid customer base for life. This is why the most successful BOGO offers are those that are institutionalized within a company’s business model.
The best examples of this would probably be the ‘Two for Tuesday’ BOGO pizza deals offered by Papa John’s and Domino’s Pizza, both of which have enjoyed their highest sales on a Tuesday throughout the many years that these promotions have been running.
6. Exclusive Discounts
If you offer a discount to anyone, you run the risk of cheapening your investment in that discount. After all, discounts will usually cost business money on some level. That’s why a clever approach to the discount is to make it exclusive and only offer it to loyal customers or long-time subscribers.
This has been done repeatedly and to great effect by the European fashion brand Monki, which frequently offers mid-season sales exclusively to their newsletter subscribers. To add to the air of exclusivity, bargain hunters also receive a bespoke discount code that they need to enter at the checkout. This is a simple and effective way to demonstrate that you value loyal customers while also encouraging others to sign up for a service.
As you can see from these examples, successful brand promotion is one that is targeted and carefully considered, rather than a promotion that is used as a blunt instrument. By tailoring your promotions to your specific business goals, you can use them to boost your bottom line.
