Strategic Promotions Small Businesses Can Implement To HyperGrow

Promotions are crucial to drive clients to your online site, and keep them there. If you aren’t sure how your incentive plans should work, or who they should be catered to, we are going to discuss best options for you and your Small Business.  

Pick your target audience wisely

  Determining which promotions are best for a brand depends on the opportunities that are uncovered in the data. Using this data effectively can pay off just like mass marketing can lead to a lot of lost leads. For example, a Small Business sent out a mass email on opening night, with an offer for kids. Unfortunately the email distribution included a lot of young diners, without families. That email open rate was at 20%, lower than the typical rate of 32%. Not only did the email campaign not work, because it was irrelevant and users were annoyed, the Small Business saw a high percentage of opt-out of all emails, So remember a bad email campaign can actually hurt you in the long run.   To better target the right demographic, the marketing team can add a question to the initial enrollment questionnaire. For instance, in the case above a simple question like “Do you have kids in your family?” would have added a key data point for the Small Business. However an even better question is, “How likely are you to eat out with your kids?” This then gives you the clear indicator of whether a promotion relating to kids would work at all. A well thought collection of date enables better email segmentation. In cases where there is clear segmentation, the email open rate can be as high as 42%, Targeting based on what guests do versus what guests say allows   

Leverage your website for promotions and offers

  You already have an online presence, use it to make it one of your best marketing tools. You can start with designing a really engaging and tasteful layout for your daily or weekly deals. Make sure to keep this updated with sale offers and deals. If you do have a coupon code section, also be sure to keep this current otherwise your clients are sure to leave your site to look elsewhere.  Be creative. Go beyond the holidays and offer discounts or special promotions for unusual reasons. Einstein’s birthday? National tomato month? That’s $10 off!   Remember, your promotions can be spread throughout your site. Make valuable use of your “Thank You” page by including an offer for their next visit, or by letting them sign up for notification of new sales and discounts in the future. Also, have a link to your coupon or current promotion right on the landing page. Better yet, automatically fill in the “coupon code” at checkout if possible. Use a pop-up window to remind visitors to sign up or make a last offer before they leave your site. A quick video of a promotion can also be fun and engaging. Smart Small Business is a great tool that uses technology to determine when someone’s about to leave your site.  

Your best sales people are right in front of you

  Get your team excited! Your team is your best representative to promote you. So I repeat, get them excited! Sales associates and managers are on the front line of stores every day. They understand your product in and out, and are trained experts. They are the ones communicating with customers and are essentially a brand ambassador for the loyalty program. It is important for these workers to be excited about the program so they can are naturally motivated to enroll prospects by their genuine enthusiasm when talking about the value and benefits of your product or services.    Team challenges are a fun way for your employees to get involved and excited about the program is to implement a challenge where they receive prizes based on how many customers they get to enroll. In a case study, a month long contest of this nature led to an enrollment increase of 244%.  

Holiday-Themed eGift Cards

Online marketing is all about delivering a positive UX (user experience) to the consumer. Thus, offering gift cards during the holiday season can be a smart marketing move. Restaurants can cash in on the holiday season’s gift-giving frenzy by offering holiday-themed gift cards online. This gives loyal patrons the opportunity to treat their friends, loved ones, or business associates to a great meal at one of their favorite restaurants. Best of all, customers can order the gift cards from the comfort of their homes or offices. By making e-gift cards available online, restaurants can cash in on the consumer demand for speed and convenience during the holiday season. Give consumers the choice of having gift cards snail-mailed or e-mailed to recipients. Generally, e-gift cards can be redeemed one of two ways: by scanning the customer’s smartphone or manually entering the e-gift card numbers. In order to make the redeeming process simple for customers, provide clear explanations about the redemption options and claiming process.  

Gift Giveaway Holiday Celebration Parties

Much of holiday entertaining involves food. Restaurants can get in on the action by holding celebratory events featuring great food, delicious drinks, and enticing gifts. The build-up to the party will provide great material for online marketing campaigns as well. Restaurants can promote events by offering existing and potential customers opportunities to win prizes. Engage and convert customers by offering prizes based on these actions:
  • following a restaurant on social media platforms
  • filling out online feedback surveys
  • leaving positive reviews on a restaurant website
  • purchasing e-gift cards in certain amounts
  • spending over $50 on a meal
  • showing up to the gift giveaway restaurant event in certain costumes
  • participating in restaurant social media polls
  • subscribing to a restaurant’s email list
  Enticing and memorable gifts increase brand engagement and conversions. As a plus, your efforts will long be remembered after the event. Customers will associate your brand with fun, excitement, and good times. Overall, this is one of the most effective online marketing ideas to increase restaurant conversions during the holidays.   The main objective here is to produce engaging holiday-themed digital marketing campaigns to build brand loyalty and increase conversions. All things considered, make holiday events annual occurrences, so your customers have something to look forward to.  

Social Media and Email List Discounts

The holiday season is a great time to offer discounts on social media platforms and email lists. Why? It helps your customer’s bottom line. After all, holiday spending can put a dent in many wallets. A survey of 400 adult consumers reveals important facts about holiday spending: Nearly 75 percent of holiday diners prefer a ‘buy one, get one entree free’ promotion over any other offer during the holiday season. Many respondents cited the price of a meal as a key determining factor driving their dine-out decisions during the holiday season, an overwhelming majority favoring establishments with coupons and promotions, namely BOGO deals. Periodically blasting a discount promotion to loyal email list subscribers and social media followers is a simple, yet effective, way for restaurants to increase holiday revenues.     Now that you have a few new tricks in your bag, go out and smart-promote the heck out of your product and service!  

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