Planning Promotions: 7 Questions to Ask
Over the past 30 years, I’ve deployed promotions as a salesman, designed them as a Marketing Manager, relied on them as Head of Marketing, and approved them as a General Manager. Over time, one thing remains constant: promotions that have strong plans with clear goals, enticing incentives, buy-ins from stakeholders and effective communications - truly work.
Now, in my role as VP of Marketing at AD, I get to apply my learning from experience with supplier partners and member distributors. When discussing promotions, I find the following questions useful to help ensure success.
- Do you have clear goals? These should include sales lift, timing, impact to profit, as well as soft metrics such as goodwill or brand building. Promotions are investments that could include price concessions, trips, prizes, marketing support, training, samples and more. You need to be able to show what your company will get in return.
- Do you have an exciting offer? It's critical that you know your audience, act on learning from past experiences, and don't "cheap-out." In today's world, your audience is constantly presented with all kinds of special offers - your job is to make your offer standout. Think of the offer as the equivalent to the parachute opening after jumping out of a plane - same as if your chute doesn't open; if your offer is weak, the rest of your plan is doomed.
- Is the promotion timed right? As a rule of thumb, three to four months is a good period to drive into stock or sales promotions in the professional distribution channel. Loyalty Promotions are completely different in that you need to plan for several years vs. several months. If done properly, loyalty programs are are like perennial garden plants; the first year they sleep, the second year they creep, and in the third year they leap.
- Are your goals shared? Connect with stakeholders to get buy-in to your goals and to embed them into the appropriate cross-functional plans. This sounds simple, but mismatched objectives are one of the top reasons for promotional shortfalls.
- Is your team educated? Don't assume your offer is self-explanatory; your sales teams will need to be well educated and provided with tools to effectively communicate your offer. In today's competitive marketplace, investments in educational content, demonstration materials, sales pieces and samples are simply a cost of doing business. Marketing needs to sell it to sales and get them comfortable selling it themselves.
- Do you have a communication plan? This should include who you are targeting, what the message is, when you will send it and how you will communicate it. Don't make the mistake of sending an email at the start of a promotion and thinking you are done.
- Do you have a tracking mechanism? The adage "things that are measured are acted upon" applies here. Salespeople tend to be competitive and no one wants to be at the bottom of the totem pole. Don't only report on sales vs. targets, but also vs. regions and local territories. The key is to make these reports timely and visible throughout the organization.
And while you can't control what happens in the economy, or how a competitor reacts, or the engagement level of your stakeholders, you can and should control your plans. These questions don't guarantee success, but they will definitely put you in a position to succeed.
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