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A successful promotional activity can not only effectively increase the average purchase quantity per customer but also enhance product reputation. It not only boosts sales scale but also effectively counters competitors to expand market share. Therefore, it is crucial to grasp the key points in planning and implementing promotional activities. In a sense, seizing these key points means the promotion is half successful; if errors occur at critical junctures from planning to implementation, the promotional effect will be greatly diminished, and it is highly likely to be a case of "losing both the bait and the fish." Thus, promotional activities—this icing-on-the-cake marketing tactic—are both loved and hated by many operators.
Below, the author will analyze how to grasp the key points in the organization and implementation of promotional activities from the perspectives of planning and execution.
I. Shift Promotional Perspective: Promotions Should Only Be Icing on the Cake, Not a Lifeline
Promotional activities should arrive in the anticipation of customers! Many people misunderstand promotions, thinking that the purpose is simply to boost sales. When sales decline, they think of running a promotion.
Remember one rule: Promotions can only be icing on the cake, never a lifeline. What does that mean? Promotions should be used when there is already a customer base, as a final push to increase market share. Never rely on gifts to stimulate customers to buy products that have no reputation or consumer base. Remember, every customer values the product first, then the gift. Everyone knows the idiom "buying the casket and returning the pearl"—if you think consumers are that foolish, you are greatly mistaken.
Therefore, the timing of promotional activities is extremely important.
II. Choose the Right Timing: Launch Promotions When Sales Are Clearly on an Upward Trend
The promotional activities discussed here specifically refer to activities where purchasing a product gives away another product of value, following the principle of "buy more, get more; the more you buy, the more benefits for the customer." Before the promotion, there must be a complete planning proposal that determines the promotional theme, form, duration, budget, etc. It is also necessary to have a relatively accurate estimate of the sales volume during the promotion, with an error margin not exceeding 20%. In other words, the sales forecast should be close to accurate; otherwise, once the promotion starts, you may end up losing money just to make a splash (of course, promotions purely aimed at countering competitors are an exception).
Promotional Theme: For example, anniversary celebrations, sales milestones, gratitude to loyal customers, etc. A theme is essential and should clearly imply to customers that such promotions are not available all the time.
Promotional Form: For buy-and-gift promotions, the choice of gift is particularly important. First, determine the cost ratio of the gift. The author typically sets the gift value at 6-8% of the payment received. That is, for a product worth over 100 yuan, the procurement cost of the gift should be controlled at 6-8 yuan. Of course, this can be flexible. For instance, design three tiers: buy 2 boxes, buy 4 boxes, buy 6 boxes. For buying 2 boxes, the gift cost is controlled at 2%; for 4 boxes, 5%; for 6 boxes, 10%. This conveys to customers that buying more means getting more gifts. Usually, more customers buy 4 boxes, so the overall gift cost is reduced. The gift should have some relevance to the product and should have a certain brand foundation, at least giving the impression that the gift is something good.
Promotional Duration: The timing of the promotion is also important. It should not be too long, as it may lose its stimulating effect and give customers a feeling of "making a fuss," leading to loss of trust. If it is too short, customers may not fully understand the promotion before it ends, reducing effectiveness. So how long is appropriate? You need to estimate how much sales volume you want to achieve. Simply put, how much profit you want to make. Typically, sales during a promotion can reach 3-5 times daily sales. For example, if daily market sales are about 100,000 yuan, during the promotion, daily net sales should be 300,000-500,000 yuan. If the promotion lasts 10 days, net market sales should be 3-5 million yuan. If net market sales reach 3-5 million yuan, and you give some incentives to channel distributors and sub-distributors, and they stock up a bit more, the payment collection could exceed 8 million yuan. Based on 6 million yuan in payments for budget, the gift cost should be controlled at a maximum of 7%, with 1% reserved for gift loss. So the gift cost is about 420,000 yuan. Advertising costs at 20% would be about 1.2 million yuan. Terminal promotion costs at 1%. After deducting operating costs and product costs, you get the gross profit for this promotion. Finally, reserve 1% as rewards for this promotion! Reward the meritorious. In this way, as the operator, you can present the numbers to the boss and gain his support. Then you can prepare for implementation.
III. Deploy Resources and Perfect All Details of the Promotion
The implementation of a promotional activity is a systematic project. Comparing it to a battle is apt. As the leader, you must quickly assign tasks and urge completion within the specified time. For example, finance and warehousing departments prepare goods and gifts; planning and design departments prepare terminal materials and shoot advertising videos; business personnel notify distributors and sub-distributors of the promotional policies; terminal stores and promoters publicize the activity policies. All these need coordinated and orderly arrangement, and you must grasp the timing of each step. Pre-activity planning and arrangement are very important. The author once went crazy because a gift supplier delivered gifts two days late. Imagine spending 100,000 yuan a day on advertising while gifts haven't arrived at the terminals—what a mess! Customers almost cursed us, and we had to settle by issuing IOUs, apologizing, and delivering gifts to their homes.
IV. Control During the Promotion
Process control mainly involves tracking data. First, check whether net market sales have reached the expected level. Second, check the stock situation and cooperation of sub-distributors. Third, assess the participation level of sub-distributors (terminal stores) in the activity. Fourth, evaluate the effectiveness of terminal promotional publicity. These require supervisors to go to the market for inspection. Otherwise, execution may be incomplete. If the promotional effect is satisfactory or the trend of increasing sales is strong, you can temporarily extend the activity. However, the extension should not exceed half of the normal activity duration.
V. Summary and Commendation After the Promotion
In ancient times, after winning a battle, rewards were generously given to those with merit. Those deserving rewards were rewarded, and those deserving promotion were promoted. If you fail to honor promises after achieving sales targets, enthusiasm for the next promotion will drop by 50%! Improve through summaries, and advance through exploration and innovation. Believe that promotions can definitely become your sales volume booster.