The Power Of A Good Offer

I loved a trip to the gas station as a kid. Every time we got a fill up, we’d get another drinking glass to add to the collection we were building. I’ll be honest with you, my memory is hazy now, I think each one had a cartoon character on it, but I can’t be certain. I just remember the excitement of seeing which one we would get and whether it was a duplicate of one we already had. What I do know, is that my Dad frequented the same gas station to ensure we got our glass each time we needed a fill up.

My Grandmother had memories of going to the movies and getting a piece of “carnival glass” as a giveaway at the door. The bright, shiny colors made it look much fancier than it was, and she didn’t have a lot of fancy things.

Last year, we went to the local summer parade and my mother-in-law just about ran over small children to get a free plate from the local pizza shop.

You probably have memories of a “free gift with purchase” too. In marketing and loyalty programs, this is considered an “alternative currency”. (But we’re not talking Bitcoin!) 

What's An "Alternative Currency"?

Think of them as tangible gifts that surprise your customers and create excitement, which you can use to your benefit with your loyalty program. These offers provide your members with rewards that go further than the typical transactions that they expect from you.

This is an important loyalty strategy and should be used in conjunction with your standard points and rewards offers.

What's the difference you ask....

Standard Rewards

Anything that CAN be directly monetarily quantified like gift cards, % or $ discounts or a specific amount of credit.

Alternative Currency

Anything that CAN’T be easily given a monetary value – like free delivery, access to exclusive events, free gifts, or front of the line privileges. There is still a cost to them, but your customer doesn’t likely know how much, so you can assign the value yourself.

Go From Good To Great

For your marketing to be effective, each piece needs to have an offer and a call to action with an expiry date. All of your Royalty Rewards® marketing focuses on that, because that is what generates your greatest returns. But what you choose as your offer can turn your results from good to great in a flash. Your response will be the highest if you make that offer so irresistible that anyone reading the marketing says… Why wouldn’t I do this?
Typically, we use the word free when a Coach suggests an offer for you, but if you use the same offers over and over people will become “blind” to them. Think about making your offers irresistible, something that stands out  and grabs the attention of the reader. Your offers become even more compelling when you can connect them with a specific event or holiday tied to it. All your Royalty Rewards® marketing makes your offer a part of the headline… we don’t want it buried somewhere so that no one will never see it.

Bond Loyalty found 85% of consumers perceive these unique tangible rewards as “highly valuable.”

Creating Offers

Your Program Campaigns are set up and your Coach reviews them regularly to ensure they are still working. If response rates drop, it’s a good time to consider changing it up and testing something new. Your Sales Boost Campaigns give you a chance to be a little more creative. It’s a great opportunity to test out different and unique offers since they tie in with a seasonal occurrence or something you are aligning with. Instead of the common “Free $10 Off Your Next Visit”, you have the chance to add some excitement and drive more engagement.

Creating Offers

Your Program Campaigns are set up and your Coach reviews them regularly to ensure they are still working. If response rates drop, it’s a good time to consider changing it up and testing something new. Your Sales Boost Campaigns give you a chance to be a little more creative. It’s a great opportunity to test out different and unique offers since they tie in with a seasonal occurrence or something you are aligning with. Instead of the common “Free $10 Off Your Next Visit”, you have the chance to add some excitement and drive more engagement.

Surprise And Delight

$7656.62 in Total Sales and all it took was a USB Car Charger.

By giving Rewards Members exclusive gifts, you’ll provide more excitement and engagement for customers than a mere percentage or dollars-off reward. And when non-rewards members see people getting fun, exciting rewards in your business, they will want to know how they can get them too, which will help to increase membership. Savvy and strategic Merchants look beyond the usual offers to surprise and delight, create and retain loyal customers.

What Can I Give Away?

The answer to that question is almost endless – ideally though, you pick something that ties into your business or an event or holiday. Here are some ideas to get your creative juices flowing….
Three Squares Restaurant has been VERY creative with their Royalty Rewards® offers. They’ve used work gloves, wrapping paper and socks, just to name a few. One of the best? A USB Car Charger…that only cost them $1.50 each. Three Squares saw 123 first redemptions and $7,656.62 in totalsales just from that offer!

A popular Father’s Day option is Duct tape. We had a few Merchants give away a roll of duct tape on a Sales Boost Campaign, then they offered the recipient a second free gift if they created their own necktie out of the tape.

Sluggo’s Sport Pub & Grill frequently gives away sports memorabilia, toques, ball caps and beer glasses. For pennies on the dollar, this merchant continually gets great results. Recently, they did a promotion giving away a Brewers’ Blanket when the customer spent $25.00. This resulted in a whopping $34,193.77 in sales. Now that’s awesome!

Sal e Pepe has given away bottles of wine, which is a great option especially if you have inventory you want to get rid of. Jerrol’s partners with another local business and gives away ice cream each year for his anniversary.

We’ve also had Merchants give away small potted flowering plants for Mother’s Day with great success. We’ve suggested and, in some cases, sourced items such as teddy bears, Swarovski crystal jewelry, car safety kits, flashlights, pumpkins, barbeque tools and steak knives. The only limit is your imagination and matching it with what will appeal to your customers.

Remember, giveaways appeal to basic human emotions. Consumers are motivated to act by instant gratification and the happy, feel-good emotions a gift provides.

Will Free Gifts Cost Me A Lot Of Money?

You want something that the customer perceives as high value and high quality but that doesn’t necessarily have to be high cost (my grandmother’s carnival glass is a perfect example). These days, with just the click of a mouse you have access to plenty of high quality, premium options that won’t break your budget.

There may be a local supplier of wholesale products near you, or you can check out Amazon, eBay or other online resources. We suggest you do your due diligence and recognize that some options might take time to ship. Ordering samples in advance is important to avoid disappointment.

We’ve recently sourced several jewelry products that we ordered samples of to ensure quality. Your Coach has some greats suggestions for Mother’s Day giveaways. Everything is quite beautiful, and under $10.

We’re not suggesting that you change ALL your offers, but once or twice a year, do something different. Surprise and delight. Do something unexpected. Offer an alternative to a traditional offer and see the reaction you get and the increase in your sales.

This necklace (at only $4.25!) is a great option to give to customers for Mother's Day. And better yet! We can now get you a 20% discount so it comes down to $3.40. Ask your Coach for all the details.