In early January we shared a winning promotion used by a client that gave away a fleece blanket as a free gift to customers when they visited. He recently shared some details of the results with us and how he is using this cool postcard to leverage that success into February.
"Weather in northwest Wisconsin is hit and miss with heavy snowstorms or below zero temps from mid December thru February. Our direct mail offers have a certain “survivability” that stay relevant until the weather cooperates and allows them to come in, ie the streets get plowed, or it warms back up allowing people to get out and about.
My personal goal is to “empty the other guy's parking lot” when the winter weather is challenging. There was one day we had 6” of snow and we closed at 2 o’clock with a whopping $399 in sales for the day, but bounced back two days later with robust sales and heavy redemptions of the blanket campaign.
There is a greater loyalty generated with your customers when you give a gift or premium versus a discount and it adds more value. It adds an experience to their visit in addition to good food and service. It bonds them to our business better than the competition.
The fleece blanket came into play because it has two things are top of mind in our area in the winter 1) the weather and 2) the Green Bay Packers (they have unique and very loyal fans!). The blanket was fleece, soft and who doesn’t love the Packers? They cost around $9.00. The customers' reactions were great! In 2021 we ran out and I almost doubled the blanket order when we did it again in 2022.
Although our in-house sales were down due to a single 30’ snowfall that occurred over 5 straight days that practically wiped out one full week of sales, due to the marketing and picking up catering for the power companies that had to restore power in the area, we were up 6.0% for the month. The fleece blanket giveaway promotion saved our in-house sales in very extreme weather conditions! Sales and profits were fantastic for the month of January.”
When you find a winning promotion, the best way to capitalize on it is to tweak it and do it again. Adventure’s took their win from December, and chose a Romance Month Promotion giving away a free necklace with a minimum purchase. The necklaces are lovely and he purchased them for less than $5 each. (we sourced the supplier for our clients so all they had to do was order them.)
Premiums, or free gifts, are often overlooked and misunderstood marketing strategies that businesses don’t take full advantage of. A premium offer essentially says, “Buy this, get this free.” This is an extremely effective marketing strategy that you’ve seen many times over the years.
Our Romance Month Promotion is being used by many of our clients this month in Restaurants, Auto Repair Shops and Retail Stores. We’re only halfway through the month, but already results are strong. Jewelry has a high-perceived value, but when purchased in larger quantities from suppliers that specialize in wholesale, they are a cost-effective way to get your customers returning to your business. We design and send the promotion based on your directive, we provide the supplier details and all the results are tracked into your Royalty Rewards® program so you can see the ROI.
Adventures is maximizing the benefits of their Royalty Rewards® marketing program by repeating a winner. Even though the month is only half over, they’ve generated $9,534.79 in sales from the people who received this campaign.
