Twelve Steps to Take Before Launching Any Promotion

There's a selection of steps you ought to go through, even in case you think you already know what you are doing to be definite success each and every time. In doing so, you may be surprised by what you will learn about your business, the people you have hired to work for you, and your role and perception in the community.

You could open a promotion book, pick any page, pick a tactic, and give it a try. However, that is not making promotion a lifestyle and it won't get you to make use of promotional tactics in the most effective manner.


1. Select your objectives. Is your aim to stimulate trial purchases by new customers or to stimulate more frequent purchases by current customers? Are you aiming to increase your average transaction, enhance your picture, boost worker productivity or morale, stimulate community awareness, or a combination of these? These are all important goals, but you need to select which you need to accomplish first, second, and so on… and which are most basically and effectively executed.

2. Be specific. If your aim is to get new customers to try you out, what is a reasonable goal--an increase in new customers of five percent, ten percent, or 15 percent? Would it be reasonable to shoot for an increase in customer frequency from purchases a month to? If your aim is to increase your average sale, what is reasonable increase based on your current pricing? If your aim is worker morale, how much are you able to reduce undesirable worker turnover by walking this promotion?

3. Be realistic in your goals. Success is never achieved in fell swoop. Keep in mind, this is a lifestyle. Each incremental improvement builds on the last. In case you get ambitious, you & your staff will quickly become frustrated & disappointed, & you will be less enthusiastic next time. Set your goals high to make a difference & low to have the best chance of success.

4. Generating your plan. One time you have established your objectives & selected some tactics, you must choose how to make those tactics successful. What are you able to afford, & how are you able to maximize your results?

Think about such aspects as timing; frequency; capitalizing on local events; season population variation; competitive challenges that demand additional work & provide a reward; variable costs of materials, labor, & actual estate; & other factors that are matchless to your situation.

Generate a carefully thought-out plan for each promotion, & make positive that each promotion is slotted in to its proper place in your long-term objectives.

5. Calculate your payout.  every promotional tactic that is intended to increase sales ought to have a measurable result & produce a profit. You ought to know how plenty of new customers you need in order to cover the costs of your promotion. How plenty of of those new customers must you convert to regular customers to think about the promotion a success? In case you do your home work ahead of time, you'll be able to tell how realistic your objectives are & what, if any, adjustments are necessary for next time.

6. Zero in on your target. What type of customer does your business attract--upscale, blue-collar, families, singles, ethnic groups? Ideally, the group or groups that are predominant in your neighborhood (within a ten minute drive from your front door) ought to be most interested in your idea. One time you have zeroed in on your target audience, review your tactical options & pick those that would most appeal to that audience & would be the most appropriate.


Keep in mind, in case you can measure it, you can manage it. Or, as Yogi Berra one time said, "If you don't know where you are going, you might finish up someplace else!"

Improving worker morale or improving the picture of your business is more difficult, but not impossible to measure. Ask yourself or your bookkeeper or accountant, "What does it cost us to hire & train a new worker?" or "How much traffic will an improved picture generate?" In most cases, you can discover a way to track the results of a promotion.

7. Check the calendar. Be aware of special holidays or events that could help or hurt your promotion. In addition, give yourself time… you should not be mailing announcements today for a promotion that starts tomorrow. You don't require New Year's noisemakers delivered in January. Leave additional time to make definite that each element of your promotion is in place in time. Leave time for generating, producing, & implementing each element. Make a promotion calendar or schedule showing each phase, & pad the time a tiny to permit for the inevitable changes & delays that will occur.

8. Refine you products & services. Be definite that the service or product you offer is right for your target customers--that you are offering the right varieties, with the most customer appeal, the right pricing, & the right presentation. Keep track of what is most popular, what is producing the most sales, & what is producing the most sales, & what is producing the larges profit margin.

Compare what you know with what you competitors are offering. Survey your customers by questionnaire or on-on-one conversations. Take the temperature of your promotion, & be a nice listener by leaving your ego & your preconceived ideas out of it.

9. Polish the brass. Go a step beyond your regular maintenance procedures. Make definite that your selling, operating, & customer areas are attractive; that your physical space is tidy & tidy; that any background music appeals to your audience; that disagreeable sounds or odors are neutralized; that fading paint, broken door handles, & any other flaws are corrected. It all sells, even sparkling bathrooms. You may not see the dirty windows or the litter because you pass them every day & they have become invisible, but your customers will.

10. Check the logistics. You can execute your tactics with maximum difficulty by ensuring that you have the technical know-how, the space, and the resources to handle the promotion without disrupting customer support or staff efficiency. Plenty of otherwise successful promotions have been ruined by insufficient or poorly trained staff, poor product quality, or equipment failure.

11 Cheerlead. Hold a team meeting of all of your employees and describe the objectives, the rationale, the implementation and the fun of your upcoming promotion. Let employees know what is expected of them, what is in it for them personally, and how much you case about their job satisfaction and feedback. They are your customers , and you ought to work as hard to earn their loyalty. It is the right thing to do, and it pays!

Great promotions do not occur by luck or happenstance. They are well planned, well executed, measured and improved on for the future. By taking these steps, you'll dramatically increase the odds that the time, hard work, and money you put in to your promotions will payoff for you and your bottom line.

12. Plan your analysis. Successful promotional activity is a learning system. You take lessons away from each hard work, and you build on them. Setting specific objectives lets you measure the success of your promotion. For example, before your promotion even begins, you might prepare brief customer and worker questionnaires that you can use afterward to solicit reactions. Review every aspect of your promotion, and collect the knowledge you need to make your next promotion even more effective.