Online Promotions - What clever mechanics can help a promotion go better? Or what practices should be avoided to have a successful promotion?

In three out of four cases, companies prefer to send unsegmented media messages. There are increased tools and know-how are growing, but the demand for targeting the public is decreasing.

Compared to 2006-2007, of all direct mail, e-mail or SMS communications with consumer bases, there are now 50% fewer cases in which segmented communication is communicated. Before, as direct communication with the public was done by mail, companies were more careful about targeting prohibitive costs caused companies to choose better which consumers to send messages to.

Currently, a "mail to the entire database" seems not to be something wrong, but the lack of relevance of the message to a part of the audience leads to unsubscribing from newsletters or subsequent rejection of the brand. The solution? Message differentiation and correct segmentation, which although cost a little more brings positive results.

Method has more disadvantages than advantages. The database is indeed growing, but this is most often due to fake accounts that users make to increase their chances of winning. As for the share-to-Facebook function, 1-2% of Romanians use it. The solution? Requests noted in the brief to be really useful, such as tracking results in Analytics, instead of the "invite a friend “method.

Online Promotions

True. Small prizes give credibility to a campaign, the fact that people win gives others the incentive to participate. But it matters who wins, and the promotion mechanism should be based on the "May-the-best-win “concept. For example, in the case of contests such as "most likes or votes" will often win the contestant "most agitated", but not the best, and the popularization of the campaign is usually a fake one due to fake accounts. The simplest solution proposed by the speaker to solve the problem is a fixed number of prizes offered in the contest, within a determined period.

The method is 100% illegal, as shown by the terms of Use page of the network, which accepts promotions made only through dedicated applications. Such an initiative risks being punished by Facebook, but also by consumers. A like & share or comment contest attracts users who use the social network only for contests or are not good brand ambassadors. In addition, commentators for whom grammar is "optional", says, erode the brand and drive away value consumers. The prizes offered for a good comment, without users expecting a prize, can be an alternative to the projects currently being conducted on Facebook.

Most of the time, promotional sites are made in a hurry, and Flash needs a longer period of testing, costs more, changes are difficult to make and does not work on mobile. So, a memorable experience for the consumer turns into an unpleasant experience.

The speaker says that theoretically it is good, but practically it is useless. The duration of the promotion is too short, and the SEO results do not start to show immediately. Therefore, the solution for the brief would be to request an SEO friendly coded site (keywords in Page texts, friendly URLs).

An average participant has less than 10 entries in a promotion. A limitation of 5 or 10 registrations per day is indicated. Those who exceed the limit are always the "professional" competitors, who represent 0.1% of the total consumers, but who win over 25% of the prizes due to problem mechanics. He recommends a series of anti-fraud rules: limit on daily codes, uniqueness on mobile/e-mail, account validation via SMS, captcha code.

Users like Online Promotions

More posts, which become irrelevant to users, erode the brand. One solution would be paying Sponsored Posts to increase the reach of posts of interest.

The speaker says that, unfortunately, is what is happening at the moment. Consumers will feel that a company remembers them only when it wants to ask them for something. Solution: birthday or holiday wishes are not expensive and show the consumer that it is important for the brand not only during promotions.

On the one hand, retailers want to generate traffic in stores by using low prices, and on the other hand there are consumers, whom the average salary on economy, not higher than RON 1,700, obliges them to look for products as cheap as possible. How can Products be highlighted when most companies respond to market demand with price promotions?

Codrina Ciubotaru reminds that many customers forget about the product when they make a promotion, placing more emphasis on the mechanism or on the prize. The competitive advantage in a promotion comes from the brand identity itself, which should be respected at every opportunity.

Merchandising is another vital component in the success of a promotion: the islands installed in the store and the unconventional POSMs make the difference in a store where messages like " attention! Low price! “or " discount", and special displays can take the product out of the crowd.

Marketing and Online Promotions

You can no longer talk about marketing without bringing up the social media component. Codrina believes that the offline-online Mix can bring surprises for buyers, which they do not expect in the store, and bonuses in experience with the brand. So online must be integrated into the promotion mechanism, especially when the internet is now used by 83% of young people aged 15-24, 71% of those aged 25-34 (15% more than in 2010) and 62% of those aged 35-44, data extracted by Codrina from a GFK Romania Omnibus study, published in January 2013.

Using the "tailor-made" principle, online promotions that take into account the personality of the consumer will be appreciated. You must take into account the affinity towards the brand and reward those who are loyal to the brand. Also, in a promotion it is important to keep in mind the buyer's schedule and purchasing habits of the product – a buyer will be more relaxed on weekends and more open to participate in the activations proposed to him. The degree of difficulty of the registration mechanisms is often ignored, Codrina noted, and this must be adapted to the target audience. What matters is the ease with which people can participate in a campaign or check the existence of the remaining prizes in the game.

As an example of a campaign that successfully fulfils the proposed directions, the speaker recalled the "Recipe Receipt" online promotions, whereby consumers who purchased Hellmann's mayonnaise received on the receipt and a suggestion of a dish that could be prepared with the ingredients listed on the receipt. As a result of the campaign, which surprised buyers and emotionally involved them, sales increased by 44%.