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What in it for your prospect/customer? A discounted or free product/service, more features, useful information or tools, more status or facilities, promotional items, etc. When will you run the promotion? Leading up to an annual event, particular month, permanently, every week on your quietest sales day, etc. Consider starting and promoting it long before the event so people have a good opportunity to take up the promotion offered.
Where will you promote the promotion? Online, offline, both, webpages, email, pop-up ads, traditional mail, advertising, newspapers, magazines, mailshots, etc.
What resources will you need to run the promotion? people, online facilities, offline facilities, time, overall cost, physical space, computer software/hardware, literature design, instore space, materials, printing, events, event staff, etc?
Are there any other elements you should consider? Yes, particularly the element of time. Depending on the promotion you do it may be beneficial to introduce the element of time to lever the potential customer into buying now. It stands to reason that if the offer is only available for a limited time it makes it more special and urgent. e.g. Offer valid until given date, buy today and get x, today only, etc.
Don't be afraid to experiment with the descriptions and tone of voice you use. Study promotions elsewhere, particularly suppliers who tend to use a more direct approach, to see what effect they have on you and if you should adopt their approach.
And finally, if the promotion doesn't get you the desired results, figure out why and change it. The more you experiment to find what offers work, the more you will understand your market, their needs and desires. Armed with this valuable information everything you do in the future will be targeted more effectively.
Some tips:
You can run a promotion at any time.
Try to design the promotion to get maximum results for minimum effort and resources.
It can be as simple as you want it to be. See www.dynamiq.co.uk for a simple example.
Consider how much ongoing time you will need to allocate to the promotion. Will it increase at times?
Can you measure and monitor the results accurately?
Will it be easy to update and tailor the offer quickly.
Good luck and have a happy holiday season!
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Peter Simmons is editor of the DYNAMIQ EZINE. GET MAXIMUM RESULTS FROM YOUR WEBSITE! Increase your traffic, sales, profits, referrals and more... START GETTING RESULTS RIGHT NOW with our FREE WEBSITE EVALUATION at http://www.dynamiq.co.uk/ezine or email me anytime for immediate assistance peter@dynamiq.co.uk
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