How To Create A Marketing Offer That Creates New Sales (and rewards loyal customers)

Effective postcard offers

It’s no secret that your prospects and customers are seriously overwhelmed with marketing.

This means you need to be even smarter in how you market to them…

Because today consumers are smart—

They KNOW when they’re being marketed to.

But here’s the bold-faced truth I just can’t overstress:

If your postcard doesn’t immediately grab and KEEP your prospect’s attention, you’ve just flushed money down the toilet.

Toilet full of money

 

That picture— yikes!

Let’s face it:

The whole reason you’re spending precious money on marketing is to generate MORE business for your company. (Hello, revenue!)

So your postcard has to be GENIUS.

Man holding lightbulb

 

More specifically:

Your postcard needs to speedily grab your prospect’s attention so they keep on reading your marketing message.

Here’s a secret about marketing most small business owners forget…

The only reason someone LOOKS at your postcard is to answer this golden question:

What’s in it for ME?

What does your prospect get from paying attention to your postcard?

The answer:

YOUR OFFER.

Your business’s offer is the #1 reason your prospect even reads your postcard.

If your prospect doesn’t GET something valuable from reading your postcard, there’s no point.

So your offer has got to be better than good…

It needs to be something your prospect can’t easily say NO to.

FREE report: Download 128 proven winning offers you can totally steal

Here’s what an offer is:

It’s a special rate, a sale, a discount…

Something your prospect gets in exchange for doing business with you.

It’s one of the 10 elements of successful postcard design.

Now I know what you’re thinking…

It may seem counter intuitive to give people a price break especially if you’re struggling with your revenue.

And it may seem even crazier to discount your services when you already have customers lining up to pay your normal rates—

But there is more to it than meets the eye.

Allow me to explain…

There are 2 major functions that a fantastic offer plays in your marketing:

  1. Enticing new customers to try your product or service,
  2. Rewarding current customers and ensuring future loyalty.

Successful marketing effectively achieves those 2 functions.

You want to bring in NEW customers, but at the same time…

Nurture and reward your current customers so they continue buying from you.

You see, if you neglect new prospects, your business will plateau.

But if you ignore your current customers, your business will see high turnover, and your business will be a continuous uphill battle.

Man rolling boulder uphill

 

How NOT FUN does that look?

So you need to have an offer that actually compels your prospects and customers to ACT so you bring in more business.

Here’s how to market to new prospects:

The offer you present to prospects will be different from what you offer your current customers.

Your offer needs to have the following attributes:

1. Provide a High-Value Offer on Your Marketing Materials

Do your homework. Come up with something that would be considered a great value in your industry.

Check out this incredible offer from this dentist.

See the darker green box on the right offering a FREE initial exam plus x-rays for EACH family member?

Good dental postcard offer example

 

You can see that a FREE initial exam plus x-rays for each family member would be an incredible value (savings) for a family.

This offer is definitely high value and pretty much guaranteed to drive in new clients for this dentist.

Here’s a BAD example of a high value offer:

5% OFF Haircut & Style

Big whoop, right?

The 5%-off incentive is not valuable enough to inspire action, especially given that haircuts usually range from $10-$25.

2. But Make Sure Your Offer Is Low-Cost Enough to Be Viable

The prospect needs to feel as if they’re getting a steal, especially if they’re trying something for the first time.

Here’s a trick that works:

Offer something for FREE!

Anything for free is enticing.

Even affluent business owners I know appreciate a free offer.

But don’t attach too many strings, or you’ll lose the customer’s trust.

And don’t be afraid to offer something for free. The profit you gain from a lifelong customer far outweighs the price of a free promotion.

Check out this vet’s postcard:

Good vet postcard offer example

 

Here’s a bad low cost example:

$400 OFF Outdoor Kitchen!

You may know $400 off a kitchen is a great savings, but when the dollar amount is too high, it frightens away your prospects because it doesn’t seem legitimate.

3. Be Believable

Your offer has to be believable. If it sounds too good to be true, your prospects won’t respond to the offer because the trust isn’t there.

Great example: buy one, get one! (BOGO)

BOGOs work because they’re believable. A BOGO makes sense to the prospect because buying something to get something seems fair (and believable.)

Good car wash postcard offer example

Bad example: FREE* Phone!

The prospect instinctively knows a free phone is unlikely. Plus, that asterisk immediately tells the prospect there are strings attached to the free phone offer, which loses trust.

Our Results Manager tracks successful offers based on industry.

Here are a few more examples that were great successes for our clients:

  • Dental—FREE Teeth Whitening
  • Chiropractic—FREE Massage ($260 value)
  • Landscaping—First Two Lawn Cuts FREE
  • Restaurant—Celebrate your anniversary with a FREE dinner on us!

These were successful because they offered something that had a high perceived value, for free!

Free spelled out with ornaments

 

When you use FREE in your offer, as long as your prospect feels they are getting a great value, it will work.

Remember that you really need to understand and know your customer.

Also:

Price differs in many industries.

A free massage at Benson Chiropractic is worth $260, while a free dinner at The Grotto restaurant may be worth $15, but both are successful deals because the offer is valuable within their respective industries.

The idea is to give a great deal to your prospects so they want to come in and try your business out!

Now that you know how to market to new prospects…

Here’s the secret to marketing to your current customers:

To tailor an offer to your customers, you need to follow the same basic principles as a new prospects offer, but with an added condition.

  • High value
  • Low cost
  • Believability AND
  • A REWARD.

Your customers need to know they are getting this deal as an exclusive reward for their loyalty, and because you value their business. This is not an attempt to draw them in—you’ve already done that!

Concept on chalkboard of customer trust loyalty

 

Here are some examples of what reward offers look like:

  • Dental—Free cleaning on the first anniversary of your first visit!
  • Jewelry—A “secret sale” scratch-off coupon to customers who spent over $100 in a month!
  • Skin Care—$100 off next purchase, and a free sample product!
  • Theater or Entertainment Services—Save $10 off your next ticket!
Good dental postcard offer example

 

It’s important to reward your customers and continue the relationship.

Even a small gesture can go a long way.

Consider what you can offer and make sure your bottom line isn’t taking a huge hit.

If you can’t offer a free product or service (like a free dinner), scale down your offer to something that still offers value. For example, a free appetizer with any 2 entrees.

Follow these simple tips, and you’ll see your offer will do the work to bring in more sales and build loyalty!

The idea is this:

if you give a little you’ll get a lot back!

We track the offers that work in every industry—call one of our Marketing Consultants at 1(800) 628-1804 to find out what’s working now in your industry. Remember, our advice is always FREE!

Best,

Joy

P.S. Have you started planning your holiday marketing yet? Check out our holiday postcard designs now and get started… it’s NOT too early!

free-marketing-ebook

 

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