Over the past decade we have had the opportunity to work with many of the leading brands across the country, have had discussions with the marketing gurus in different sectors on what common promotion ideas works across any of the business segments. We came up with these ideas, which are NOT new, simply being looked at with a fresh NEW perspective, that are proven methods of sales promotion.

1. SALE!

• Promote it well and go all out to make it heard.
• Give preference to  your existing customers, ALWAYS!
• ‘Upto xx%’ – doesn’t work, be honest.
• Sale must be on everything, not on the limited stuff.
• Dress it up and make it an event

2. FREE

• The free stuff should be actually useful.
• Don’t always give your own stuff free, always.
• No *conditions apply.
• Free stuff should lift your product not degrade it.

3. BOGO / 2 for 1

• Keep it simple.
• Apply it on few items & products.
• Must be ‘limited to….’ quantity, time etc.

4. Contests & Sweepstakes

• Easy to participate
• Have as many winners – ‘Assured Prizes’ – ‘Everyone Wins’
• Make the giveaway exciting and what people want.
• Request an action, get data and use it.

5. Assured Gift

• Add a dash of surprise and excitement.
• Make the gift experiential.
• The gift should have a high perceived value.

6. Codes & Coupons

• Use M-coupons & E-coupons.
• Distribute it through partners to increase reach.
• Use it for acquisition but also for retention, refferal & rewards.

7. Like, Share & Get

• Use Facebook not to show off but to engage.
• You don’t brag, let the fans do that for you.
• Reward participation and actions.
• Have conversations not monologues.

8. Tweet & get Free stuff

• Run contests.
• Reward the 100th, 1000th, etc. followers.
• Retweet followers tweets.
• Reward most retweets, best # message.

9. Pin & Get!

• Run competition – Pin & Win!
• Run offers with powerful images.
• Have great images and many of them on the board.
• Acknowledge and reward regularly for ‘pinning’

10. Refer & get stuff!

• Create a simple and easy to understand referral program.
• Make it worth the while for customers to refer.
• Act quickly on the refferals generated.
• Make sure the reference is rewarde too with a great offer to buy.

11. Deal

• price-off on purchase is mostly the best offer.
• Let it be sizable and above competition in your category.
• Don’t make it too frequently but make it BIG!

12. Upsell

• Offer complementary product or services.
• Time the pitch well.
• Be specific with the upsell offer.
• Make assumptions & suggestions.

13. Reward loyalty

• Doesn’t have to always be loyalty program.
• Reward actions other than purchase too.
• Reward not only with points – acknowledge and make them feel special.

14. Engage

• People love to have dialogues & interactions with the brand they buy.
• Encourage participation.
• Engage everywhere – in store, online, on phone.
• Let them have conversations with the brand.

15. Free Trial

• Works for tech products and non tech products too.
• Free trial is a statement of confidence.
• It works for donut, a software or a car – find a way to let the buyer get an experience of what you sell.

16. Cross Promo

• Align with other brands to reach new customers.
• Offer & get privileges from other brands for YOUR customers & THEIRS!
• Choose alliances carefully and in sync with your brand positioning & target group.

17. Excitement

• People love ‘what money can’t buy’ experience.
• Add a dash of fun & excitement.
• Sports & movies can help make the promos effective.

18. Pamper

• Everyone loves to feel important.
• Doesn’t have to be indulging, could be just acknowledging.
• Let it be more personalised and less automated.