The beginning of 2021 was filled with a lot of uncertainties. Many brands realized that to stay competitive, they needed to be creative in their marketing, especially in consumer promotions.

Consumer promotions from 2021 took many forms, however, we will analyze the most common ones. We will look at:

• What are consumer promotions?
• Types of consumer promotions
• Why should brands leverage consumer promos
• Five things to consider when choosing a consumer promotion strategy for 2022

What Are Consumer Promotions?

Consumer promotions are the strategies businesses use to gain more customers or develop brand loyalty among current customers. They involve techniques that make customers feel like they are getting a good deal or unique value. Typically, consumer promotions occur during a specific period, but some brands also offer special promotions to first-time customers. The type of promotion you choose depends on your business and how you anticipate consumers will respond. See Sproxil’s work gallery of promotions

Types of Consumer Promotions?

Over the years, businesses have carried out many promotions in different forms and via different channels, all in a bid to increase consumer engagement, gain customers’ loyalty, and improve sales. These promotions can be categorized into the following:

1. Sales
2. Contests and Sweepstakes
3. Samples
4. Coupons and Discounts
5. Rebates and Cashbacks
6. Reward Programs / Loyalty Programs

All the different types mentioned above have one ultimate goal; to help businesses increase sales. We shall now look into the various types of consumer promotions in detail:

1. Sales

This is by far the most commonly used type of promotion, and it involves lowering your prices for a limited time which influences customers to take advantage of your deals. However, many consumers are familiar with this tactic and still prioritize quality over reduced price. Some brands even make the same sales every year to make consumers look forward to shopping with them during the season. See the top sales promotion strategies in 2022

2. Contests and Sweepstakes

Contests are a way to create awareness around your brand and get people excited. In addition to the buzz, they also help gather consumer information that is most valuable to the sales team.

It’s not uncommon to see most brands leveraging social media for this type of consumer promotion. Visiting promo sites like promosinnigeria.com and allpromonigeria website, most of the consumer promotions carried out in 2021 were contests and leveraged popular social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, or Tiktok.

Examples of social media contests:

i) Munch It Promo

Consumers make a boomerang video of themselves listening to music and eating Munch It. Then, use #MunchItInTheLoop and Tag @MunchItNigeria

10 Winners will be chosen randomly to win N10,000 each!

ii) Mouka foam:

Consumers visit Mouka foam’s website to purchase their product. They will be required to fill in their details and take a screenshot of the Mouka foam the retailer will pair them with to post using the hashtag #IveGotMyMouka. They will also be required to tag Mouka Limited and challenge two friends to find their Mouka.

iii) Cowbell So Creamy So Good Challenge:

Consumers are to create a video no longer than one (1) minute that showcases their talents and exceptional creative skills while holding a can or cans of Cowbell Evaporated Milk. At the end of their performance, enjoy your glass/can of Cowbell Evaporated Milk and passionately say, “So Creamy So Good.”

The video will be shared on Instagram, Facebook, or TikTok with the hashtag #SoCreamySoGood and tag @cowbellmilk

Globally, the average time a person spends on social media a day is 2 hours 24 minutes; that’s more than enough time brands need to get users’ attention, and thanks to Covid-19, this number keeps increasing. According to the 4Ps of Marketing, where your customers spend most of their time is the best platform to market your product.

A sweepstake is a type of contest where a prize or prizes may be awarded to a winner or winners. It may or may not involve a purchase, but other requirements such as filling a form might be required in such cases where it does not.

3. Samples

A sample is a sales promotion in which a small amount of a product for sale is given to consumers to try for free. Samples encourage trial and increased awareness of the product. You have probably purchased a product that included a small free sample with it—for example, a toothbrush packaged with a pack of toothpaste. The motivation behind giving samples is to get people to buy a product after trying it. Although sampling is expensive and may require collaboration between brands, it is usually very effective. People try the product; the person providing the sample tells consumers about it and mentions any special pricing offers. This tactic also works for brands that offer services. For example, a gym or fitness center can let people use their facility for free within a limited period.

4. Coupons and Discounts

Coupons and discounts are also common types of promotions brands use. You can encourage people to shop at your business during a specific period by giving out coupons. Along with giving consumers a good deal, coupons and discounts help create a sense of urgency.

Coupons provide an immediate price reduction for an item. The voucher amount is later reimbursed to the retailer by the manufacturer. The retailer also gets a handling fee for accepting coupons. When the economy is weak, more consumers collect coupons and look for unique bargains such as double coupons and buy-one-get-one-free (BOGO) coupons. Stores may also provide coupons for customers with a loyalty card.

In India, most coupons used are digital, while paper coupons still have the largest share in the United States. More than 80% of diapers are purchased with coupons; imagine how much easier and less wasteful digital coupons scanned from a mobile phone are for both organizations and consumers.

5. Rebates and Cashbacks

Everyone agrees that knowing you would get part or all of the money spent on a particular thing feels good. It’s almost like paying less from the start and having extra money to get other desirable products. This is what a rebate is all about.

6. Reward programs / Loyalty Programs

Reward and loyalty programs incentivize current customers to keep coming back for more. Often, loyalty programs work on a point system, meaning that the more customers spend on your product, the more rewards they can redeem.

After you accumulate so many miles or points, an organization might provide you with a special incentive such as a free flight and a free supply of their product for some years. Even those that don’t necessarily pay off immediately, rewards and loyalty programs can be a powerful motivator for customers.

Fortunately, you don’t have to manage any of these independently. There are few consumer promotions companies that manage end-to-end loyalty programs. They even provide you with a dashboard to monitor consumers as they engage with your promo and as rewards are disbursed to them.

Sproxil is one of the best consumer promotions companies globally and has helped several brands successfully launch their rewards and loyalty programs. A classic example is how Diageo used Sproxil Champion to grow its market share by 2.5% in record time. Click here to see.

Watch the video below to understand how Sproxil Champion works.

VIDEO OF CONSUMER PROMOTION

Why Brands Do Consumer Promotions?

There are many reasons brands run one form of promotion or the other. Promotional campaigns are beneficial to the overall sales objectives of businesses, but below are a few specific reasons:

1. To build brand loyalty: Rewarding your current customers with special offers or sales may entice them to keep visiting your store or website. Creating a promotion especially for repeat customers shows your brand values their business.
2. For brand awareness: Using consumer promotions can help your brand become more wide-known among your target audience. Using the correct advertisements can get people excited about checking out your promotion.
3. To gain new customers: An exciting new promotion can influence consumers to try your brand out first. This is your chance to get them to learn more about your products or services.
4. To boost sales: Consumer promotions can help your brand sell a lot of merchandise or services in a short period. It can be beneficial for brands that experience a sales slump during certain times of the year.
5. To clear out old merchandise: If your company has much old merchandise sitting around, you can use a clearance promotion to get rid of these items. Along with helping consumers feel like they got a good deal, you can make room for new and exciting products.
6. To gain leads: When customers use your promotions, you can ask them for their contact information. It is a great way to get them into your sales funnel.

5 Things to Consider When Choosing a Consumer Promotions Strategy 

While the offer in your promotion surely matters, how you frame and promote them often plays a more crucial role in converting prospects into customers. Consumers can sometimes feel desensitized by too many promotions, primarily via emails. The result is an overwhelmed consumer who may ignore your messages or unsubscribe.

“Falling short of expectations could mean losing customers, attracting negative reviews, and damaging your brand’s reputation.”

Loyalty is relative. Different consumers have peculiar reasons to buy a product or stay loyal to a brand. While the cause can be money for some, it could be the quality for others.

Customers want a personalized experience that matches their standards for product quality. They are looking for personally relevant offers, and they want to feel like the companies they engage with truly understand them as individuals. For example, customers who actively play games will be more opened to gamified campaigns than the common scratch-and-win campaigns. See an example of a gamified campaign

Therefore, before embarking on a promo, ensure you take note of the following:

1. Select the right target audience

Promotion is a form of marketing, and there is no marketing without an audience. However, marketing to everyone will always lead to wasted effort and funds. A company may have a wide range of audiences, but it is crucial to streamline further who the promotion is directed towards and what channels to find them during a promo.

2. Set measurable goals

• Start by asking yourself what the most crucial objective of your promotion is.
• Are you hoping to get new customers or just looking to retain existing ones?
• Do you want your customers to purchase more frequently, or would you like to increase the average spend per purchase?
• Would you like to increase your business turnover during slower seasons or times of the day?
• Would you like to retain the attention of former customers who have taken their business elsewhere?

Determine precisely what you want to achieve with your sales promotion, then set a target and timeline to it.

3. Limit availability

A sales promotion may seem like an attractive incentive for motivating sales. Still, customers might not respond unless that promotion is only available for a limited time or in limited quantities. When faced with the possibility of missing the promotion if they don’t act quickly, they may be more likely to commit. It is referred to as FOMO – Fear of Missing Out.

4. Offer real value

If your sales promotion doesn’t offer customers value, then all the targeted marketing and limited-time offers in the world won’t make your sales promotion a success.

Ask yourself what kind of offer your potential customers will find most interesting, then determine whether you can afford to give it to them. That’s the perfect sales promotion. If you can’t afford it, scale it back until you come to a compromise that will appeal to your target audience and remain cost-effective for your organization.

5. Review your results

Before brainstorming your next big sales promotion:

1. Take time to measure your results.
2. Schedule review meetings on your campaign to see how the results align with your goals.
3. Be sure to do this review consistently and implement changes accordingly.

Customers’ expectations will continue to increase, so you must ensure that customer experience is at the heart of every sales promotion you design. Ensure your promotions have a personalized and real-time component element.

Conclusion

Your sales promotion is an effort to draw customer attention to your organization’s product or service. But what about drawing attention to the promotion itself? For a promotion to be effective, your target audience needs to see it and understand it.

VISIBILITY IS KEY; Market or advertise your promotions like any other product or service. Leverage as many channels and platforms as you can access to advertise your promo. Just ensure that the cost is within the budget.

Also, ensure that any consumer promotions company you engage in your strategy displays competency, transparency, and a track record of managing consumer promotions.

At Sproxil, over 200+ national and international consumer brands trust us for their Rewards Program. We create multiple channels to execute consumer loyalty programs and increase revenue.

Sproxil is one of the most ambitious technology enablers driving consumer engagements for over a decade in Nigerian and Indian markets for tens of millions of consumers. Our fast consumer markets and evolving technologies can help you set up a consumer engagement campaign for any business across the globe.