TEN BEST PROMOTION IDEAS

The best marketing promotion ideas are simple to implement yet compelling for the prospect or customer.

Here are ten marketing promotions ideas for your next campaign or mailing.

1. Bill Me Later - This classic "Nothing to Lose" direct mail promotion is compelling. The idea is that merchandise may be ordered now with the bill being sent at a later time. A great way to run this is to give the customer a specific time period to trial the product. Then, if they decide to send the product back during this trial period, they will not be billed.

2. Free Gift for Trial Order - For this promotion, you offer a free gift to just try the product. If the customer decides to return the product, they get to keep the gift. A great way to increase the response is to provide a choice of gifts.

3. Sliding Sale Discounts - This is a popular offer simply because it offers a better discount as the order total goes up. It works by offering a small discount, say 2%, for orders below some defined monetary value. As the order value increases, so does the discount. The more money the customer spends, the greater the discount and the more they save.

4. Double Your Money Back - Another classic promotion offer that shows your assurance in your product offering. While running a promotion like this does take some guts, it can dramatically drive up the response rate.

5. The Add-On Offer - This works best for impulse-type products, but could also work for more expensive products. The idea is to offer an accessory item for a heavy discount as long as the main product is ordered. For example, buy a digital camera and get a 4GB memory card for only $5 more.

6. The Charity Pledge - This offer can work well in certain markets and for philanthropically-minded customers. The customer makes a purchase and you take a percentage of their purchase and donate it to charity. You can have a single charity you are supporting or offer several choices and let the customer choose.

7. The Trade-in Offer - This works by giving the customer cash when they turn in an older model (or competitive model). For example, bring us your old game and we'll give you $10 cash towards a brand new game.

8. Free Shipping Upgrade - This works by offering faster shipping at the normal shipping price. For example, if you normally ship UPS Regular, you can offer free upgrades to UPS 2nd Day during your promotion period.

9. Short-Term Introductory Offer - If you have a business with a recurring service, like monthly membership program or periodic publication, offer a short-term introductory offer. For example, "Try three months of Real Estate Review for only $1. If you decide it's not for you, simply cancel before the three months are up."

10. The LifeTime Guarantee - Of all the marketing promotion ideas, this one will take some confidence on your part. Craftsman Tools is probably the best known example of this tactic. They will unconditionally replace any broken Craftsman tool at any time (as long as the Craftsman logo is still visible on the tool).

The above marketing promotion ideas can be combined in order to create even more enticing offers. Every one wants to feel as though they are getting a deal.

Have fun with these marketing promotion ideas and always be sure to test their effectiveness by creating a control group that does not receive the promotion. You want to be able to prove your promotion not only increased the response rate, but increased your profits as well!

Ref:http://marketing.about.com/cs/a.htm