Savings, Samples, Sweeps: The Benefits of Promotions

By Staff Writer

Whether you need to increase traffic, increase return visits, or increase sales, nothing will get people clicking on your site like a well-planned promotion. Think about the special offers you take advantage of in your own life: clipping coupons, claiming out rebates, and participating in sweepstakes. You follow the deal, the savings, and the value and your customers are motivated by the same strategies.

According to a DoubleClick survey, 49 percent of Internet customers use a promotion or coupon code when checking out.

According to a DoubleClick survey, 49 percent of Internet customers use a promotion or coupon code when checking out. With so many shoppers looking for savings, bringing people to your site-and completing the sale-becomes clearer. To get started, consider the big three deal-offering promotions used online: special offers, freebies, and contests.

Special Offers

Sale offers are a great way to move inventory, promote repeat sales and introduce new products.

Easy to organize from a business owner's point of view, special offers are the most common form Web site promotion. Sale offers are a great way to move inventory, promote repeat sales and introduce new products. One of the more popular online promotions is for free shipping, with percentage savings coming in at a close second. If customers feel like they are getting more value from shopping on your site, they are more likely to proceed to the checkout. Want to increase the chance customers come back for more? Offer a coupon good on their next purchase.

Freebies
Everybody loves to get a little extra something without paying for it. From a cheese sample at the grocery store to the little packet of shampoo in the mail, free samples are a proven marketing tactic. By offering a freebie on your Web site, you can begin to establish a relationship with site visitors. To receive the sample you have to gather your customer's shipping information and you may also be able to find out other qualifying demographic information from them. This is also a great opportunity for you to add them to your email list. Just make sure you ask them if they'd like to receive email qfrom you in the future before sending it.

Freebies are also a great way to test out a new product.

Freebies are also a great way to test out a new product. By including a sample with your customer's purchase, you can get the buzz on your new product started and get customer feedback before it even reaches the market.

Free samples aren't the only freebies you can offer, however. You can also send out free gifts like magnets, key chains, and other inexpensive tokens. Even a free catalog can increase interest and attract visitors. Remember: "free" is one of the best eye-grabbing words out there for business promotion. What you send isn't as important as you might think, as long as you follow through on what you promise to give.

Contests
Free samples, gifts and catalogs all cost money and simply might not be feasible for a tight budget. Instead, consider a contest-weekly, monthly, or even just for a special occasion. You'll keep people coming back to enter and check for the winner. Just be sure that prior to starting any contest or giveaway, you check with state and federal laws regarding disclosures, limitations, and regulations. With contests, what you give away isn't as important as the act of giving it away.

If you can't afford to give anything away, try to work out a deal with another small business to swoop services.

If you can't afford to give anything away, try to work out a deal with another small business to swoop services. That way, you are promoting one another's products to a new set of customers. Alternately, you can try to establish a partnership with a bigger business and see if they would be willing to work with you to reach new customers. Who knows? They may have been planning their own giveaway and could be looking for the qualified customer list that you have.

Spreading the Word
Advertising your special promotion on your own Web site simply isn't enough; you'll only get responses from your current visitors. To increase your traffic and your sales, you need to reach out further. Start with an email to current and past customers. Consider banner ads and banner exchanges with other sites as another way to get the word out.

Keeping Track of Your Promotions
As with all good online planning, tracking the performance is a key element. Regardless of how you announce your promotion, you need to monitor how well it's doing. Making small improvements over time will lead to the results you want most: traffic, sales and profits.