Everyone wants to save money, and that includes your customers. In fact, 92% of consumers cite price and value as the most important drivers behind brand loyalty. From price shopping to couponing, it’s not uncommon to see shoppers going above and beyond to get a great deal. Inevitably, there are few notable qualities that differentiate one retailer from another. This means companies who can’t keep up risk losing business to the competition
Rebate programs, also known as consumer incentive programs, have long been a popular marketing strategy. These programs give incentives to customers for their investment and providing a virtually instant way to save on an essential purchase. With mail-in options dating back decades and the growing popularity of instant opportunities, a successful consumer incentive program can help you grow your business, build loyalty, and see an increase in sales.
Creating a Consumer Incentive Program That Works
There’s a difference between any old rebate program and a great program deserving of notice. With these tricks and techniques, you can maximize the benefits provided by your consumer incentive program. And as a result, can create significant advantages for your business. With a proper perspective on what a well-operated strategy can offer, it’s possible to go beyond a simple bump in sales.
Market to Your Existing Customers
Many businesses anticipate that incentives will draw in new shoppers, but that’s not the only place you can shine. By targeting existing customers, you’re far more likely to foster loyalty and see continued sales, putting the money saved through a consumer incentive program back into your pockets.
When offering rebate incentives, consider utilizing other promotions like sales or future savings opportunities. This way customers are motivated to spend their incentive dollars with you, not somewhere else. Whether you provide a prepaid store card, a check, or physical branded bonus items, your business will be best served by an approach that fosters future spending.
There’s no question that incentives can make a huge difference for an untapped market. But it’s your existing customers that are far more likely to help you get there. For marketing strategy help, take a look at these 4 reasons why your marketing efforts might be falling through (and how to fix them).
Learn About Your Customers
A rebate isn’t like a coupon that just anyone can use. Instead, customers will need to meet specific criteria and provide personal information–such as names, addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses, to receive their incentives. What you do with this information, however, is up to you.
Taking advantage of the opportunity to collect and utilize customer data. You’ll be surprised how much it will promote your in-house marketing efforts. For example, urging customers to opt in to e-mail marketing campaigns and social media subscriptions can help you easily expand your marketing reach to a proven audience.
The more information you have on your customers, the better. An effective consumer incentive program provides a chance for you to capitalize on this, successfully driving sales while building a better foundation for future marketing.
Utilize Customer Feedback
Do customers like your incentive options? What about your sales and promotions? Your email messages? Instead of assuming they do, take time now to ask them.
The rebate process requires collecting information right off the bat. As a result, most customers aren’t bothered by a few more questions at the end of the sign-up process. This becomes even less of a hassle with fast and easy multiple-choice options. Rather than collecting the bare minimum and moving on, take time to develop insightful, valuable questions that can shed light on your marketing efforts. Consider soliciting opinions on:
- Other products purchased
- Email content
- Product feedback
- Favorite promotions or sales
- Feedback on upcoming products
When looking for feedback, try to avoid polar questions with solely yes or no answers, multi-part questions, and overly complex queries to increase the odds of yielding beneficial results.
Make Accuracy a Priority
At the end of the day, your rebate program is meant to bring value to your customers. In order to do that, it’s imperative that your rebate fulfillment is efficient and accurate. At Incentive Insights, we utilize a double blind verification process to process your customer’s rebates.
This process allows you to ensure that your customer submissions are being paid out for purchases that meet all the necessary requirements. Additionally, this process allows you to ensure your submissions are valid.
Once this process is complete, your customers will then receive their rebates faster and more efficiently, resulting in a highly-successful rebate program.
Making Incentives Work for You
Rebate programs do wonders for sales on a stand-alone basis, convincing shoppers to spend with you in order to save big. However, with a little strategizing, it’s possible to do so much more for the benefit of your business. Your consumer incentive program can play a sizable role in your marketing efforts, by utilizing customer data, collecting feedback, and so much more. With a little creativity and the right processor, you can turn simple savings into amazing advantages.
Want to learn more? Get in touch with us today to start your own winning approach to incentives!
