The rampant growth of B2B segment has compelled marketing strategist to come up with more innovative ways and means of selling their products to clients. One such way which has been adopted by them has been Premiums. Today, premiums are considered to be the most effective way to increase your direct mail responses and boosting sales, motivating buyers to offer immediate payments and availing allied benefits.
What are Premiums?
Premiums are incentive, which you offer to your client for making an immediate payment for the purchases. It can be in any form i.e. discounted prices, additional package deals, associated benefits and several other ways.
Some of the common ways in which Premiums can be defined are listed below:
- A premium is offering additional item as part of the package of another product i.e. offering free bridal jewellery along with bridal dress.
- A product offered for “free” or at a reduced price as an inducement to buy something else.
- Addition of a gift to an offer to induce greater response.
- Offering an additional incentive for a customer to make a purchase.
Tips for effective usage of Premiums
Look for what your client needs rather than what you can offer.
The key in making Premium based marketing strategy successful is offering something which your target audience or prospective client would want rather than offering something, which you can offer.
For instance: If you are selling cars, what you can offer along with it is car accessories, however, generally what people desire with it is might not be the same. They might be more attracted towards your package if you offer some amount of free fuel along with your car.
However, even in such cases, if you can strike down a balance between what your clients want and what you can offer, it would be a mutually beneficial deal.
Make your Premium look expensive and attractive.
Clients are often influenced by the physical appearance of the premium, and the more expensive and attractive your premium offering will look the more it will be successful in fetching you clients. Especially when you are mailing the proposal to client, make sure you are offering the best thing available.
For instance: Even if you are offering a yearly diary to your clients, a leather bound one will make heads turn more towards you rather than a spiral bound one. Although the cost of the premium might not change so drastically, but it is sure to change the way your clients look at it.
Checking the feasibility of the premiums
It is not necessary that a premium which working for your peer might also work for you. Therefore, it is advisable that you design number of premium modules and mail them to different clients, thereafter track responses, feasibility as well as success of the premiums and thereby determine which one is best suited for your business.
Check the law
There are several legal obligations in premium based marketing; therefore it is best to check with the law before undertaking it. Especially when carried out on basis of mails, make sure you know the people you are mailing, because government employees and deference personnel’s are not allowed to accept gifts or premiums. So better check whom you are mailing.
These are just few of the things, which ensure that the premium package offered by you, meets all the goals with which it is designed.
