I always have trouble separating marketing and sales. I always have trouble mixing marketing and sales! What I mean is that great marketing should lead to sales, but you have to ask for the business, right? They both compliment and play off each other. When you use branded packaging for your product, you are marketing your brand yet at the same time you are pushing the sales experience to a higher level and developing a relationship with the customer through visual reminders of your product or service. It makes me think of the turquoise boxes at Tiffany or the orange boxes at Hermes – their packaging has become synonymous with their brand. I can carry home a jewelry purchase in a sack and forget where it came from, or in a lovely branded box that makes me feel like I am part of the “club”. I will keep that box or bag and never forget where my purchase or gift came from – I feel connected to the brand.
We’re officially in the holiday season and I want to spark your creative brain to generate ideas for great bonuses to give to clients – allowing your client’s purchase to live beyond the point of sale. These are the details that delight your customer.
Ideas for Great Bonuses to Give to Clients
Creating a bonus is like an add-on to your branded packaging. When your customer or client buys your product or service, give them something as a bonus at the point of sale. Ideas for great bonuses to give to clients would be a report on your industry, a checklist or how-to video, action guides, a resource list or other products/samples related to their purchase. The possibilities are endless and are limited only by your industry and budget. Your client has made a purchase with you because you have earned their trust as a leader in the market you represent. Giving a bonus that provides additional information and guidance, ideas for additional products and resources, or something fun that makes them smile and feel good, only drives the message deeper that you are THE person they should do business with. In a subtle way you are asking for the sale, again. Now that’s great marketing!
Don’t let the cost of marketing and bonuses get the best of you. The way to avoid this is to build the cost of your marketing and after-sale items into your pricing – and by all means put it into your strategic marketing plan. You need to know what to plan on every month to be at the top of your game. If you need help building your strategic plan, I am available to do just that. Give me a call or email me and let’s schedule that coffee and get your marketing humming.
