6 Key Tips to Planning a Successful Promotion
Promotions are a great method of engaging with consumers and expanding your customer base, but they can feel overwhelming to plan and manage. Here are a few tips to guide you in the right direction:
1. Start with a goal in mind
Are you interested in promoting brand awareness? Do you want to get more people to try your products? Are you looking to retain loyal customers? Is it important to build your 1st party data list? Set a goal early in the process. When you start with a goal, you can design a truly engaging promotion that is beneficial for both your company and your participants.
Pro tip: Make it a SMART goal– Specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-based.
2. Choose the Right Promotion Type
There are so many types of promotions. To choose the right type for your needs, it’s important that it aligns to your goals and will be engaging for your audience. If your primary audience is made up of elderly consumers, an online or social media entry is not likely to be valuable for you. Consider methods of entry and engagement when choosing your promotion type. Meet your prospects and customers where they already are!
Pro tip: Budget can also play a huge role in promotion design. Consult with a promotion partner early and often to maximize ROI.
3. Choose the Right Reward
For businesses, running promotions is all about the moving pieces – we forecast rates, track participation, measure ROI and manage all the intricate details to ensure regulatory compliance.
For consumers, participating in promotions is all about the prizes. Whether you offer exclusive merchandise, big ticket items or an experience-based prize, make your choice relevant to your brand and exciting to your customers. Rewards can be a win-win – excited winners will spread the word. Keep an eye out for opportunities to brand your prizes and help share your name.
4. Prepare for the worst, plan for the best
Put yourself in the participant’s role. Consider all the ways the promotion could go wrong – trouble entering, incorrect address or contact info prevents them from receiving their prize, prize is damaged in the mail, etc.
Once you’ve identified potential issues, plan solutions – make entering as simple as possible, provide customer service (maybe a call center), utilize an online portal where participants can track promotion and prize status or update their own contact information.
5. Envision reporting before the data starts rolling in
In order to get effective analytics, plan in advance for the information you will need to know later. What are you measuring and why? Do you need to know how participants are entering? Where they’re entering? How many are entering? Establishing your reporting goals early helps to plan effectively.
6.Engage the professionals
Promotions involve many intricate and moving pieces. Working with a promotion partner can help to take the load off your shoulders and allow you to focus on your core business. Rely on the experts for consultative support and administrative management.
Start planning your promotion now. While everything is fresh in your mind, download our promotion planning template. When you’re ready for step 6, know that EPI is here. We’ve been helping companies execute successful consumer promotions for more than 35 years and we’re happy to share our experience and expertise with your company.
