#164: Promotional Strategies: Mastering the Art of Getting Noticed
In today’s highly competitive world, it can be difficult to get noticed. Whether you are a business trying to make an impact or an individual looking to stand out, mastering the art of getting noticed is essential for success. Here are some promotional strategies you can use to get the attention you seek:
1. Create Quality Content
It goes without saying that creating quality content is one of the most important promotional strategies to attract attention. Quality content ensures people will take notice and be interested in what you have to offer. To create high-quality content, make sure it is relevant, informative, concise, and engaging.
2. Use Social Media
Utilizing social media is an effective way to reach a wide audience and get noticed. You can post content on various platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to increase exposure and attract attention. Make sure you use powerful visuals that will capture people’s attention and keep them engaged.
3. Host Events
Hosting events is an excellent way to get noticed and build relationships with potential customers. You can host webinars, seminars, or networking events to promote your business or individual brand and spread the word about what you have to offer.
4. Reach Out To Influencers
Working with influencers can be a great way to get noticed and reach a large audience. You can collaborate with influencers to promote your brand, products, or services and get the attention you seek.
5. Utilize SEO
Search engine optimization is an important factor in getting noticed online. Optimizing your content with keywords and phrases that are related to your industry will help you rank higher on search engines and increase visibility.
6. Network
It is important to build relationships with other businesses and individuals in your industry. Networking events, conferences, and trade shows are great ways to get noticed and make contacts that can help grow your business or individual brand.
7. Connect With Your Audience
Connecting with your target audience is essential for getting noticed and building relationships. You can engage on social media, answer questions, provide helpful advice, or even host an online Q&A session to make a personal connection with your followers.
8. Leverage Paid Advertising
Paid advertising can be a great way to get noticed and reach potential customers. You can use platforms such as Google Ads, Facebook Ads, or Instagram Ads to target the right audience and get noticed quickly.
Mastering the art of getting noticed is essential for success in today’s competitive world. By using these promotional strategies, you can attract attention from your target audience and achieve your goals.
Listen to the Show:
Laura 00:00
Today, I have a pretty insightful episode lined up for you. As you know, we often discuss how critical it is to reengage your audience. But there's an art to doing this in a way that not only catches their attention, but also drives them to action. So, in today's episode, I'm going to tackle an issue that even the most seasoned marketers sometimes grapple with, which is how do you instill a sense of urgency in a promotion? And how do you craft a promotion that doesn't just attract attention, but inspires immediate and massive action? We'll be diving into the elements of a truly great promotion, the kind that really engages your audience and pushes them over the line from just considering to deciding and then acting, I'm going to share some strategies that have not only worked for my own clients here at Joybrand Creative, but at different verticals, and industries and platforms that you're likely familiar with. So, if you're looking for ways to reignite interest through a promotion, and create a promotion that inspires swift action, this episode is going to really help you so keep listening as we explore how to create promotions that don't just generate interest, but spark action.
Laura 01:15
Welcome to the Mission-Driven Marketing Podcast where we turn marketing into a powerful force for good. I'm your host, Laura Meyer ready to journey with you as we explore strategies that go beyond selling products and services and towards sparking real change. So, whether you're a marketer and entrepreneur, a nonprofit or higher education leader, or simply somebody who wants to make a positive impact, this podcast is for you. Let's drive forward your mission together.
Laura 01:44
Today's episode is a deep dive into the power of promotions and why they're a game changer in your marketing strategy, especially when it comes to re engaging, maybe a dormant customer list or audience. And I want to share with you what it takes to craft a promotion that not only just grabs attention, but gets people to act, right. That's the whole point of a promotion. And promotions are just more than enticing offer. Although that's a really important element of it. They're a way to add value, create urgency, and above all solve a problem for your customer. And we're solving a problem in such a compelling way that they might move from inaction or having become dormant on your list to coming back and investing in your services. But here's the catch in that creating a compelling promotion is an art form in itself. And it's not just about slashing prices or a coupon code or random bonuses. It's about crafting an offer and a promotion that's directly aligned with your product or service, and something that your audience perceives as truly valuable. It's about that exclusivity, making your audience feel special by offering something that they can't get anywhere else. And most importantly, it's about time sensitivity, which is often the hardest, yet most essential element to nail down in a promotion.
Laura 03:22
Creating urgency, especially in a reengagement campaign can be tricky. And because when people onboard with us at Joybrand Creative, one of the first things we want is to help them get a quick win. So often one of our first steps is to go deeper on our understanding of their ideal customer, and then crafting a promotion that brings money in the door right away. And a lot of times our clients are hesitant to do this because we've all received those last chance or limited time offer emails and let's be honest, a lot of times they don't hit the mark and in fact they can feel so salesy and so over the top that you start to maybe trust the brand last, not more. However, this urgency is what drives people to act. It's what tips the scales from consideration to conversion. And so, it's a really important part of the mix. So, stick around as we discuss how to incorporate five key elements relevance, value, exclusivity, urgency, and solution focused into your next promotion, not just in theory, but practical, real-world examples to get your brain turning.
Laura 04:34
So, let's start with a story. In 2010, Starbucks embarked on a new journey. They introduced their happy hour promotion in this simple concept was to offer customers a buy one gets one free on any handcrafted drink, but here's the catch only on certain days, typically Thursdays and within a less busy timeframe that they would like to see more customers come in the door such as two to 7pm. And it's a really surprising delight experience for customers. And that time bound nature added a significant element of urgency. But it wasn't just about selling more drinks for Starbucks, it was all about that customer experience. And so is about making Starbucks a destination, not just a pitstop in the morning when you need your quick caffeine fix. So, what made it work? Well, Starbucks brilliantly incorporated these five elements that I've been talking about in their promotion. The first element is that it was relevant. So, who doesn't appreciate a free drink, especially when you're sharing a moment with a friend? Secondly, it offered great value. Starbucks beverages are considered premium and getting two for the price of one felt like a real treat.
Laura 05:50
In terms of exclusivity, happy hour specials were only available to those who downloaded the Starbucks app and joined their rewards program, making it feel like an exclusive club. Adding to this, this deal solved a problem-the midafternoon slump, offering a boost when people really needed it. And also, at a time where Starbucks wasn't very busy. And finally, urgency. Knowing this deal was only available for a few hours, one day a week made people want to make the most of it. And it worked. So, since its inception, the Starbucks Happy Hour, which is a nice promotion in a way because it can happen every single week. It's not within a short timeframe, which is when most promotions take place. So, every week, Starbucks saw that considerable surge in their afternoon sales a lot of times again, when they didn't have a lot of traffic. And it not only increased sales, but improved customer loyalty because people were waiting for that
happy hour, week over week. So, this is a clear demonstration on how time sensitive well- structured promotion can not only boost sales but help in building a stronger connection with your audience. If you can make it something like this where it's weekly or monthly, then you always have something new to talk to your audience about that feels fresh and exciting. So, in this upcoming segment, in this podcast episode, I'm going to dive deeper and how you can craft a compelling promotion for your own mission driven program, service or product.
Laura 07:18
So, think about promotions as the secret ingredient and a recipe. So, you can have all the right elements, fresh vegetables, high quality proteins, even maybe a little splash of fine wine, but it's that sprinkle of a secret spice, and that one that you're like what is that is that cinnamon, that turns a good dish into a phenomenal one. It's what gives the dish distinct flavor. And it's what keeps people coming back for more. It's really what differentiates your dish from all the others. Promotions are the same, you can have an excellent product or service a well-defined audience a compelling mission. But it is the addition of a well-timed exclusive promotion that truly brings your marketing strategy to life. It's the spice that makes your offer irresistible, the unique flavor that sets you apart in a very crowded marketplace. So just how the anticipation of that secret ingredient can make a meal so much more enjoyable. The urgency and exclusivity of a great promotion creates an exciting narrative around your offer, it becomes more than just a transaction. It's an event and experience a limited time opportunity that people don't want to miss. So, I'm going to be going into specific tactics are ones that you can put into practice right away this week that you can use as your secret ingredient for your own marketing efforts. If you feel like you need to jumpstart things this season, or you're trying to plan a future campaign, you want to be able to create regular promotions, regular campaigns in your business that reliably drive traffic at a very specific time of year or time of daytime of the week. So that you can see that cash injection on a regular basis. So, I'm going to examine some real deal strategies that can make a promotion extraordinary so you can start to create this in your own organization.
Laura 09:22
The first strategy is as old as marketing itself, which is the classic gift with purchase. And I don't want you to underestimate the power of this simple tactic. It's actually one of my first go twos when I'm advising a client on creating a new promotion. So, in a world where customers have limitless options, this is a value add that can really be the deciding factor and really motivating people to choose your product or service over competitors or just simply by inaction not taking action, because people love to feel like they're getting something extra. And it's a surprise that adds the perceived value of the purchase and just increases overall satisfaction. This simple addition can really turn a straightforward transaction into a delightful experience that leaves a positive and lasting impression. So, think about it this way, when you attend a party, it's the unexpected surprises that make it memorable. It's like a fantastic life band or a
surprise guest or an unexpected goodie bag at the end of the night with something really good in it that you weren't thinking you were going to get. It's these things that people remember and talk about afterwards. There's so many parties favor that go on in the trash and our household when my kids come home from birthday parties. But it's those few parties favor one in particular, I'm thinking about which was a monogrammed water bottle for one of my children, that I see time and time again on our kitchen counter. And I think, what a great gift with that birthday party. So, this gift with purchase strategy applies in the very same way of marketing, transforming maybe an ordinary purchase or experience into a memorable event.
Laura 10:58
So, I want to take a look at Clinique did you all shop at Clinique if you did send me a message on Instagram or social media or LinkedIn and let me know I loved Clinique in high school. And my mom was like all about going to Clinique, when they had their gift with purchase. Remember that? And if you were a child of the 90s, like I was back, I was a teenager in the 90s, we would go to the mall. And it would be an event when there was a certain spending threshold, we were gifted with a collection of many skincare or makeup items. I mean, those makeup items were probably worthless. But what was really nice about that gift with purchases that never had monetary value, so you couldn't get that gift. It's not something that you could just walk up to the counter and buy any time. If you could, the promotion wouldn't have been as exciting, we would have just said oh, we'll just buy that for $29 Any time. But they weren't just again, any items, they were gift sets, and they showcased a range of products and a lot of them had surprises in them. And they were often introducing new items that we hadn't tried before. So, it was really exciting we would always go to the mall during the Clinique gift and just spend way more than we really needed to on makeup and leave with our gifts. So, this approach does three things. First of all, it just rewards customers for their purchase. It can also introduce them to new products or services increasing the likelihood of future purchases. And lastly, it helps move out or old or less popular stock if your inventory based. So, it is a triple win. And Clinique strategy for this which has been going on for decades now is so successful, it's become an anticipated event for their customers. People wait for those promotions, planned their purchases around them and even rushed to buy when the promotions go live. The result? An increase in sales, yes, but also an increase in customer loyalty and brand love. So, the takeaway here when done right, offering a gift with purchase can be more than just a promotional tactic. It can be an event that drives sales, engages customers and fosters brand loyalty. So, remember, your mission isn't just about selling a product or service. It's about creating a memorable experience and lasting relationships. So, a gift with purchase strategy can be a powerful tool in accomplishing that.
Laura 13:23
The next promotional strategy on the list is discounts or money off. So, who doesn't love a great deal. And the psychology behind this is quite simple. We are hardwired to avoid playing
pain and seek pleasure. So, if we have a chance to save money, our brains perceive it as both. We're avoiding the pain of parting with more of our hurt hard-earned cash and receiving the pleasure of getting something we want for less. Now financial incentives alone can be effective, but when you couple them with a sense of urgency, they can become exponentially more powerful. This urgency instills a fear of missing out and propels an audience to act swiftly. So, let's consider one of the world's great retail giants Amazon and their annual event Prime Day. This is the epitome of successful urgency driven promotion. So, during this 48-hour period, Amazon offers substantial discounts on a wide range of products. And they're not minor savings, a lot of times they're discounted up to 50% or more making it a truly significant event for bargain hunters. But the true genius is in the fact that these deals are only available for a limited time. And even within that window some are Lightning Deals and only last a few hours and that sense of scarcity and time limitation creates a shopping frenzy. I don't know about you, but I'm always looking at the prime deals. Now, normally if I was walking through Target $20 off of an air fryer probably wouldn't motivate me that much but for some reason they've created this excitement around their annual event and so and you know too if you don't act fast, you could just told Ole Miss out with which adds to the excitement. So, as you probably know, or have experienced, this Prime Day shopping event not only drives, purchases and re engages customers, but also builds anticipation and excitement around the brand. So, Prime Day has become a cultural phenomenon. And people are eagerly awaiting its arrival each year, and they're just totally ready to snap up the best deals. So, while discount or money off might seem like a simple, perhaps even over used strategy, remember, it's all in how you implement it. So, while discounts or money off might seem like a simple, perhaps even overused strategy. Remember, it's all about how you implement it. So, by coupling your discounts with urgency and creating an event around it, you can create excitement and motivate your audience to act swiftly and quickly.
Laura 15:56
So moving on to our third promotional type, I want to dive into the ease of service utilization, this might not be as obvious. And it really focuses on how user friendly your product or services you see, our brains are always looking in marketing psychology for the path of least resistance. So if you can make your product or service easy to use, customers will naturally gravitate towards it. It's the principle behind the don't make me think approach and in user experience design, the less effort it takes for a customer to understand and utilize your service, the more likely they are to do so and do so repeatedly. So let's take a look at some companies that have turned this principle into a high art form. companies like Uber and Amazon Prime, for instance, have built their entire business models around this idea of making things as simple and as convenient as possible for their users. Think about Uber, what was once a time consuming task of hailing a cab or arranging for a taxi has been simplified to a few taps on your smartphone. You can see the rides location in real time and know the fare before you
book and have the assurance of a safe ride. So just eliminates all the uncertainty and just a straightforward convenient service.
Laura 17:12
Similarly, Amazon Prime with its one-day delivery is a vast selection of movies and music and deals and the result is audiences want to keep coming back. In these cases, companies have removed as many barriers as possible, and they've made their services incredibly easy and intuitive to use. And this principle can be applied to promotions for your own products and services. So, think about it. How can you make your services more accessible, more user friendly, and then include that as a promotion for your organization. If you can achieve this, you're much more likely to see increased engagement from your buyers. And this ease of service utilization principle serves as a reminder that sometimes the simplest approach is the best one. So, the easier you make it for your audience to say yes, the more likely they will. A few examples of this that I also often see in the marketplace is an addition of customized support. This is one of the best ways to include an ease of service with a product or an offer. And the way in which you might want to consider doing that is adding on one-on-one support calls, custom onboarding calls, custom planning sessions. Anything that people feel like was created just for them. We have seen tremendous success with our clients. I had one client in particular that was looking to double enrollment for her highest ticket mastermind. And I suggested that we created an operational process by which every single person that purchased this high end mastermind service received a personalized plan for their business moving forward. This sold so well. Well, the operations team might have been cursing me for a day or two, I'm not going to deny that that probably took place. The result they saw in their sales and marketing was well worth the hiring of additional operational support. So this is a great example of removing a barrier of I'm just going to get swept up in the crowd. This isn't going to be built for me and help them get a customized and specific answer to the questions that they have going into an expensive high ticket mastermind.
Laura 19:46
As we round out our discussion on powerful promotional strategies I want to share with you the last strategy that I use often which is the freemium model. And this approach is a lot like magicians too. of letting you pick a card any card for free. But if you want to see how the trick ends, well, that's a little extra. So the freemium model works by offering basic services for free and more advanced or premium services for a fee. It's a common strategy for many digital platforms, and software as service businesses. And the beauty of this model is it just lowers the barrier for entry for new users by reducing the perceived risk and it gives users a taste of your service without any financial commitment, really allowing them to try before they buy. So, think of Spotify, the music streaming giant users can listen to music for free with some limitations and ads, but for a monthly subscription, they get ad free listening, and they can
download songs for offline playback and enjoy better sound quality. It's a classic freemium model in action, just offering an enhanced experience for a price.
Laura 20:56
So similarly, LinkedIn, and if you're on LinkedIn, I hope you connect with me and you're listening now. But LinkedIn provides basic networking and job searching tools for free as you know, but if you want to unlock the platform's full suite, like advanced search filters, or who viewed your profile feature, which can be strangely addicting to see who's stalking you, and online learning courses, there's a premium subscription as many of you probably know and have. And these companies have found a way to attract and engage new users with free access, while also driving revenue for premium offerings. And this lets people see the value of the service at no cost and making the decision to upgrade and invest much easier. So something we can learn from the freemium model is the power of reducing the risk for the customer. By giving them a chance to try you out at your service and see the value it provides. You can build trust and make the decision to invest feel less risky, to try before you buy approach that can help drive customer engagement and boost conversions.
Laura 22:02
As you're listening to this podcast, I want you to think about your organization. And what I don't want you to do is dismiss any of these ideas by saying well, I'm not a software, the service that that doesn't apply to me, or I'm not Starbucks, that doesn't apply to me, what's really important is for you to think creatively about these types of promotions and how they can be applied across verticals, because that's when we see the big wins taking place. Maybe you're an online service provider, but you borrow a page from Starbucks book. Or maybe you're a product-based business, but you borrow a page from software as a services book. And this is where it gets really fun and really interesting and extremely powerful. So, I want to share with you last summer, I was working with a nonprofit educational organization that was grappling with a challenge of just re engaging a dormant email list. And they had some very aggressive and important enrollment goals to make on order to keep their funding and be able to continue the support of research through the lab for economic opportunity at Notre Dame, who's a client of ours. And they needed a way to offer incredible value that didn't cost a lot of money because there is nonprofit, and that would inspire action for immediate enrollment off of their waitlist. So, we rolled up our sleeves, and we created a time sensitive, free in person event. And it wasn't just an ordinary event. It brought all of these different people together in the Nashville area, local area celebrities sharing their wisdom and experiences. And in addition, they also received a complimentary eBook of value packed resource with knowledge that was specific to that event, and that the audience could keep forever.
Laura 23:58
So, the urgency was created by this one time live event. In addition to that there was exclusivity around the content at the event. And then they got to leave with this eBook. And those factors combined created a magnetic attraction. It was a symphony of the promotional strategies that we've discussed today. And the response was nothing short of phenomenal engagement of their list shot up by 65%. And we were able to re awaken a significant portion of their dormant email list. And it was like witnessing gardens bring back to life after a long winter. And it wasn't just a victory in terms of numbers. They had actually exceeded their enrollment goal by the end of the month. But it was a reaffirmation of their mission to educate and reach out to people who they knew they could help but had drifted away.
Laura 24:48
So, remember, promotions aren't just a means to ramp up your sales figures. They're a potent tool to reengage your audience infuse a dose of excitement in your offerings and add layers of Are you for your audience and more than anything else, they're a platform to magnify the impact of your mission. But the secret ingredient is really using these strategies effectively, thoughtfully and authentically. You want to keep your audience in your mission at the core of your promotional strategy and making sure that it resonates with their needs and desires not when promotions transform from just being a more marketing tactic, to becoming a mission driven engagement strategy. So, before I wrap up this episode, I just want to revisit this immense benefit of incorporating regular promotions in your marketing strategy. First, promotions are a fantastic way to ingrain engage your audience. They provide that spark of interest, a compelling reason for your audience to reconnect with your offerings. So, with the example of the educational nonprofit, the right promotion can breathe new life into a dormant customer list. Second, promotions add a layer of excitement to your brand. Through a well- structured promotion, you can generate buzz and anticipation which leads to more engaged and attentive audience. Third, promotions allow you to deliver additional value to their customers whether it's a gift with purchase a special discount, exclusive content, you're gifting your audience more reasons to love your brand. Finally, regular promotions allow you to amplify your mission. You're not just selling a product or service, but you're serving your audience in line with your organization's purpose. And at the end of the day, incorporating promotions into your marketing strategy is just way more than boosting sales. It's about building a stronger connection with your audience amplifying your mission and making a greater impact.
Laura 26:43
So, as I close out this podcast episode, I want to leave you with a final thought. Whether you're a nonprofit organization, an educational institution, a for profit, mission driven business, your marketing strategy can and should be a powerful tool for creating transformational outcomes and promotions. Although they can have a little bit of a bad rap, when done right can be an incredibly effective piece of that strategy. So if you're feeling inspired to ramp up your
promotional strategy, and you're just not sure where to start, or maybe you've tried promotions in the past without seeing the results you hope for remember, we are here to help at Joybrand creative, we are passionate at helping mission driven organizations like yours create impactful marketing strategies that not only drive results, but also spark meaningful change. So, if this podcast episode inspired you to start thinking about creating promotions that not only drive engagement, but genuinely serve your audience and mission, let's chat, you can just go to joy brand creative.com and book a consultation. And I'll give you an honest review of your current promotions, what you're doing now and what I would do differently, and we can discuss any needs and goals that you have to help create a promotional strategy that truly aligns with your organization and your mission. So, until next time, just keep driving that mission forward and remember, the right promotion can take your impact to the next level.
Laura 28:14
That's a wrap on another episode of the Mission-Driven Marketing podcast. We hope our discussion today sparked fresh insights and inspired you to continue using marketing as a force for good. Remember, every strategy and story shared here is another step towards making a positive impact. And if you found value in this episode, be sure to subscribe, share it with your network and visit us at joybrandcreative.com For more resources. I'm your host Laura Meyer signing off until next time, remember the change we wish to see begins with us keep making your mission matter and let's ignite change together.
Welcome to the Mission-Driven Marketing Podcast! Whether you're an admissions professional, marketing strategist, or educational leader, this podcast provides you with actionable ideas and inspiration to drive meaningful enrollment growth. With years of experience in the field, your host Laura Meyer brings her expertise and passion to every episode, offering insightful discussions and practical strategies to help increase enrollments for educational institutions. Join us as we delve into topics such as personalized marketing techniques, digital strategies, community engagement, and the power of storytelling to connect with prospective students. Get ready to embark on a mission to transform your institution's enrollment strategies and make a lasting impact in the educational landscape.