Even if your business is going well, you never want to stop thinking of ways to attract new customers. For many businesses, this means offering attractive discounts, promotions and sign-up offers. But are these effective for gaining and retaining new clients? Let’s dig a bit deeper to find out.
More than just making a sale
Vouchers and promotions have been around for a long time. Years ago, businesses would put vouchers in newspapers and magazines that customers could cut out and bring to a retail outlet. The company would choose publications that were likely to be read by their target customer. These days, most offers are made available online via discount codes and special offers. But making a sale is one thing, converting that sale into a loyal customer who comes back, again and again, is another thing.
Loyalty must be earned
Some companies use loyalty programs to achieve this. The simplest example of this would be a coffee shop that gives you a card to stamp every time you buy a coffee and offers a free cup when you hit a certain number. Another example would be a supermarket loyalty card.
This tactic of making your earn your reward is also used by betting and casino websites. Casino bonuses are essentially free money a casino offers you in exchange for signing up with them but the cash can only be released once certain wagering criteria have been met, which keeps the customer on the site for longer. The different offers are dependent on which region you are in, so an offer in India might be different from an offer in the US or Canada. These are targeted to suit the different profiles of the players in each country.
Knowing your customer
The key thing here is to understand your customer and what makes them tick. The offer can then be used to draw them in but they must then form a bond with your brand or product to keep them coming back. If you run a promotion and customers just take the offer and run, you need to identify why they are not staying on board.
The clear message here is that promotions, discounts and offers may boost short-term sales, but to be truly effective they must appeal to the right customer profile and work in harmony with your product or service. Only then can you build your customer base effectively through these methods.
Develop your voice
The good thing is that you can build a voice through social media and build an audience that way. Anyone who follows you is likely to be a fan of your business so analyzing your social media activity and engagement gives you a good idea of what appeals to your followers. This information can be used to design your promotions.
Innovate
One final thing to remember is to innovate. Just copying your competitors is not enough. You need to think of fresh angles from which to pitch your promotions and to connect and build relationships with your audience.
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