Incentivized marketing, also known as incentive marketing, is a form of marketing in which the outcome of the marketing effort is dependent on how customers react to incentives rather than on the actual product or service. This type of marketing makes use of strong customer loyalty and social ties between the company and customers. As a result, incentives play an important role in driving sales and building brand equity. This methodology is one of the best methods for increasing customer loyalty and shaping behavior.
By using various forms of cross-selling, incentives can be used to:
Incentivized marketing is not a new concept. Incentivized marketing strategies have been in use for decades by companies seeking to promote their brands. However, the use of incentives has been vastly improved through the use of technology and sophisticated software. These new strategies make it much easier for marketers to create incentives that are relevant to the target audience and can increase market share.
Using incentives to drive business requires creativity and strategic thinking on behalf of both the marketer and the business owner. A crucial factor that many marketers fail to recognize is that customer loyalty is not something that can be gained instantly. It takes time and, sometimes, even months of effective communication between the business owner and the customers to build a relationship that is meaningful. Therefore, it is important to strike the right balance between being consistent and being patient. This is the reason why most businesses opt for a long-term relationship with their customers through incentive marketing company. Through this method, a business owner can ensure that his or her customers will continue to patronize their company.
The marketer should always aim for two goals while using incentives in incentivized marketing. First, they should look to influence consumers to consider their products when making a decision. For example, if a consumer deals with a particular service and uses it on a regular basis, the marketer should offer an incentive program wherein he or she could reward this customer for his or her loyalty. By doing this, the business owner can ensure that his or her brand will be perceived as relevant by potential customers.
Applying an incentive marketing strategy to a campaign should also involve identifying the right target audience. In many instances, this involves identifying the group of customers that would benefit from a specific product. It also involves understanding the demographic profile of the local area where the business has its headquarters. In this way, a marketing team can identify specific groups of customers that have expressed specific preferences. By knowing the demographics of the target population, the business owner can plan campaigns more effectively.
Apart from understanding the demographics, the marketer should also make use of available information to effectively design a scheme that will be appealing to potential customers. This can be done by analyzing consumer behavior. Consumer behavior can include how much the consumer spends on coffee, drinks, snacks, lunch, or even clothes. Knowing how consumers generally spend their money can make it easier for marketers to come up with a promotional campaign that will be more appealing to potential customers. For instance, offering special drink deals during holidays or offering freebies whenever a referral is made can make money through incentivized marketing possible.
Another important factor that should be considered in an incentive marketing scheme is loyalty. Marketers can motivate existing customers by offering special deals or other incentives when they bring the same product or service back to the business. This way, existing customers may be encouraged to extend their loyalty to the business. This strategy is most ideal for businesses that cater to a particular niche. However, even generalist businesses may opt to implement an incentive marketing program to encourage customers to return and promote the business.
As a final point, some experts recommend that a company should not choose an incentive marketing program based solely on how much money can be earned. Instead, a better indicator of whether a scheme is effective would be the response of existing customers. Surveys show that offering a product or service for free to create loyalty may be more profitable than paying a fee for the same service. Furthermore, the extent of customer loyalty will vary depending on different factors, including the number of people who are offered the incentive, the perceived quality of the service, and the cost of advertising. It is important, therefore, to carefully consider the cost of an incentive product before a business decides to implement it.
