Giving out promotional items can be very expensive, so why not get the recipients to pay?
Rather than distributing inexpensive promotional items that your recipients don’t really want and aren’t likely to keep, why not add some perceived value to the item?
Better still, why not use the promotional item to encourage them back in the future to buy more – at the same time they are likely to buy from you again?
Sounds too good to be true? Have you ever noticed fast food chains entice children back into their restaurants by offering a different toy each week? Come back next week and you get another new toy. What’s more, these toys are paid for (as part of the meal) and are always branded so everyone knows where they are from. Maybe not a huge branding, but you know by looking at them where they are from.
What can we learn from this clever marketing strategy? Well, if you are a shop, put a little thought into some promotional items. Select items with a theme that can be developed over weeks. Maybe a different coloured item each week, a different variety or a series of characters.
Get posters printed and advertise the arrival of this new promotional item. It doesn’t matter too much what it is. Then sell it to the customers (or their children) for a small amount. Be sneaky even – ‘Get this wonderful toy for just ?1 when you spend ?10 in store today.’ Give them something the kids might want, but make sure they have to be buying from you before they get it for free – or even pay for it!
Show on the poster the full range of toys and when the next ones are available. Learn from the fast food chains. Put a cheap leaflet in with each toy that also shows what’s coming up in future weeks. Do whatever you can to make them certain when the next item is in stock and make customers want to come back for another.
First, the customer has to come back and spend again in your store. You could be encouraging them back sooner than they otherwise would have been. Second, the item is branded with your logo, so they remember your campaign in the future. And third, there’s a chance that they will show them to their friends, who, if you have chosen well, might just agree that it’s worth popping in to your shop on their way past. Or the kids’ friends might see it and pester their parents to pay you a visit. Finally, the customers are paying for the promotional items. Maybe not enough to cover the costs, but if they can cover the majority of the costs, that’s an excellent campaign.
With just a little imagination you will protect your bank balance! Read more about low cost Internet marketing here.
