Sales promotion techniques are used by businesses to increase their sales and attract new customers. These sales techniques are short-term deals which are designed to increase a company’s sales by encouraging buyers to make impulsive decisions to buy.
In this article, we’ll learn about the definition of sales promotion, its objectives, its types, top 10 sales promotion techniques, and its importance. Businesses use these techniques to increase their sales and earn new customers.
Sales promotions are techniques that are used by businesses to motivate customers to make a purchase of their products or services.
Sales promotion refers to short-term techniques that are used by businesses to inspire customers to purchase their products or services. These techniques are designed to create urgency, so that the customer is bound to make quick decisions.
According to the Sales promotion definition, it is a set of strategies and techniques which are used to increase product visibility, boost demand, and enhance customer engagement.
Some examples of these techniques include product discounts, free samples, cashback, etc. which drive instant results. These techniques are designed for both online and offline platforms.
Objectives of Sales promotion techniques are to affect customer’s behavior into making a quick purchase of their products, this helps in meeting targets and clearing company’s stocks.
Following are some of the common objectives of Sales promotion:
- Sales promotion strategies help in attracting new customers who are unaware about the product.
- Effective sales promotion like loyalty programs and rewards help in retaining existing customers.
- Seasonal sales promotion strategies like Black Friday sales, Big Billion Days, etc. are perfect for boosting sales during the period of high demands.
- Promotional Offers like Buy One Get One Free promotion technique help in clearing out the unsold or dead stock of the businesses.
- Sales promotion ideas like attracting customers with free trials help in introducing new products.
Sales Promotion types, Different types of sales promotion strategies, Digital marketing promotion ideas, Sales incentive techniques, Discounts and deals in sales promotion
For businesses to follow the right sales promotion strategies, the understanding of the different types of sales promotion strategies is required. Following are some of the types of sales promotion:
- Consumer-oriented Promotions: Various discounts and deals in sales promotion are provided to customers to influence their decisions.
- Trade-oriented Promotions: Sales incentive techniques like bulk discounts, free goodies, etc. are offered to retailers and vendors to encourage them to put large orders.
- Digital Promotions: Digital marketing promotion ideas like Social media campaigns, Email marketing, etc are used to reach a broader audience.
- Business-oriented Promotions: Sales promotion techniques like Bulk Discounts, Corporate Gifts, Free samples, etc. are offered to corporate buyers or organizations.
Sales promotion techniques are short-term strategies that are made to encourage customers to buy a product or service offered by the company. These techniques provide exciting offers and added value to customers to motivate them to buy.
Following are the top 10 sales promotion techniques that businesses can use:
Discounts and Coupons
Discounts and deals in sales promotion is a method of providing a percentage off on the original price of the product. This helps in driving quick sales and attracting customers.
Coupons are provided to customers to encourage them to make a purchase as they provide instant price cuts on the original price, which makes the customer feel that they are saving money. These coupons can be distributed to customers through multiple channels like emails, social media ads, etc.
These are the most common sales promotion methods that are used by businesses.
For Example: Businesses often provide coupons like “SAVE30” or Flat 30% off as discounts.
Buy One Get One Free
The BOGO technique is a very popular way of increasing sales as it makes the customers feel that they are getting an additional product for free. This helps in clearing stocks or underperforming items of businesses.
For Example: Beauty websites or shops can offer ‘Buy Five Sheet Masks and Get Five Free’.
This motivates customers to buy more than they had planned.
Free Samples and Trials
Another sales promotion strategy is to provide samples to customers to try before making a purchase. This helps the customer in making a decision and also builds trust. It reduces the risk for the customers and they can buy only if they see the value in that product.
For Example: Beauty brands provide free samples to buyers to explore their range and be confident on their purchase.
Cashbacks
Cashback offer is returning the customer a certain part of their amount spent on the purchase. This is often returned immediately or sometimes after a certain duration of time. Most of the cashback offers are with a minimum spending clause. Customers feel they are getting a better deal and hence they spend higher for cashback.
For Example: Various E-commerce websites offer 10% cashback on minimum spend of 10000.
Free Shipping
Free Shipping encourages customers to complete the purchase as they are only paying for the product they purchased. With the increase in the e-commerce market, free shipping promotions have become crucial.
Easy Return and Refunds
When the risk of buying is reduced with easy refunds and returns, customers feel confident. This increases the rate of customer retention and builds trust in online shopping.
For Example: Websites like Myntra offer easy returns on clothes, so the customers feel free in making the purchase.
Seasonal Sales
Seasonal sales promote buyers to make purchases in large volumes as they come during specific times of the year, especially during the festive season. This encourages the buyers to plan their purchase in advance and to buy during these sales.
For Example: E-commerce websites like Amazon bring in the seasonal sales during the time of Diwali or New year.
Limited Time Deals
Sales promotion techniques like Limited-time deals create an urgency with statements like “Hurry up! Offer ends in 24 hours”. This motivates the customers to make quick decisions as they don’t want to miss out on the offer.
Most businesses provide these limited-time offers to boost sales during the periods of high demand.
Reward Points for Members
Most businesses offer reward points under their loyalty programs to encourage customers to buy again from the same brand. These points can be redeemed in their next purchases, which makes the customers feel valued and that they are saving on their purchases.
For Example: Pharmacies like Apollo, offer reward points which can be redeemed for the same amount in the next purchase.
Influencer Marketing
Modern sales promotion techniques aim at reaching a large audience in a short span of time. Collaborating with social media influencers to promote the product to their followers helps in expanding the brand’s reach and to gain more customers.
These influencers are trusted individuals and promotion from them helps in building brand value and trust among the potential audience.
The importance of sales promotion is in its capacity to show instant results in the growth of a company. Following are some of the benefits of sales promotion techniques:
- Sales Promotions helps in boosting the sales quickly, and helping businesses meet their short term goals.
- Promotions that are catchy and excite the customers to grab the offer are more likely to gain customer’s attention and build brand trust.
- Sales promotion strategies help in setting businesses apart from their competitors.
- Encourages the customers to sign up under the reward programs to gain more rewards.
- Discounts and sales help a business in clearing its dead stock.
These benefits make sales promotion strategies important for businesses to grow and gain trust among buyers.
Despite the rewards a sales promotion offers to both business and the customers, an effective sales promotion has some challenges. Few of these challenges in Sales promotion are listed here:
- Reduced profit margins
- Frequent promotions sets expectations of customers to wait for more offers
- To stand out of the competition, promotions require more planning and ideations.
- Impact on brand image because of too many offers.
- Measuring the success of a business can be challenging after promotional sales.
Following are some tips to improve salesman qualities and skills for executing a successful and effective sales promotion:
- Good understanding of the audience and their needs.
- Goals of each campaign must be clear.
- Use of marketing tools and techniques for maximum growth.
- Combination of sales promotion techniques like Discounts, Cashbacks, Free shipping, BOGO, can boost sales.
- Staying up to date with the latest trends and styles in the market and cater those as per the customer’s needs.
If these tips are followed by a good salesman, then it can ensure successful sales promotion
FAQs
What is sales promotion?
Sales promotion follows some short term strategies that are used to increase the sales of a business and to attract some new customers.
What is the importance of sales promotion?
Apart from offering great deals on purchases, sales promotion is important because it helps in attracting new customers that can be potential future buyers.
What are the types of Sales promotion?
There are many types of sales promotion, but we will focus only on Consumer-oriented promotions, trade-oriented promotion, and business oriented promotions.
Why are seasonal sales important?
Seasonal sales help in clearing out the dead stock of a company by providing great deals on products.
How to convince a customer in sales?
By understanding their demands and providing solutions to all their questions along with best deals on the product.