Deals are Cool – Harnessing the Power of Promotional Pricing

As marketers, we understand the importance of promotion. After all, it’s the primary role we play in enticing customers to purchase our products and services. What tends to be less appreciated by some – and by many businesses – is the whole concept of promotional pricing or offering discounts, ‘deals’ and ‘offers’ to our clients.

What do we offer, how much will entice our customers, should it be a dollar off or a percentage discount, or is providing additional value a worthwhile proposition? These and many more questions confound marketers and can make our lives difficult, unless we  can simplify this issue.               

Pricing is difficult and requires assessing and evaluating many external and internal variables before coming to a set market price for a given product or service. In this blog, we’ll focus on the key attributes of an effective promotion and how pricing can play a key role in enticing customers to purchase.

So how do you define effective promotional pricing? How do you walk the fine line of offering value to clients while avoiding giving away the farm? Here are a few pointers we at Sydcam Marketing Communications believe can help you make the right strategic pricing and promotion decisions for your business.

 1.      The Price Can be Right!

The first lesson to be learned is that certain products, services and brands don’t warrant discounting. For example, premium brands like Tiffany and Canada Goose won’t, and simply don’t have to put their products on sale. If you can avoid promotions and sales, go for it!

 2.      You can (and must) be strategic

Should you discount your most popular and profitable product line? Not likely, except in rare and special situations. Should you discount a hard to sell item? Most definitely, if for no other reason than to get rid of it and make room for a new (and more profitable) product. Build promotional pricing into your overall marketing strategy and plan and discount strategically.

 3.      Test, test and test some more

As I alluded to earlier, pricing isn’t an exact science and what may work today might not work tomorrow, and what might work for you may not for a competitor. To truly understand what will motivate your customers to purchase, you need to test AND evaluate several different offers and promotions on an ongoing basis. That’s why many email marketing programs have so-called A and B tests, testing response rates to different offers.

4.      Ask your clients

Surveys and focus groups are powerful ways to better understand the needs, wants and expectations of your customers. So use them and ask your customers what kinds of offers they want to see and when! Online surveys offer marketers a quick and cost-effective solution to do this. And don’t forget to offer them some sort of offer or promotion for completing it.

And remember, promotional pricing is part of the much broader customer experience equation. When you provide true value to your clients through your offerings and the prices you charge for them, you’re developing that bond of trust and respect with your clients that can last a lifetime.