How to Implement an Effective Incentive Marketing Program?
If you own a small or medium-sized business, then you need not ignore the power of incentive marketing platforms. If you run an online business, then you can also take advantage of this marketing technique. What incentive marketing actually does is two-fold. First, it drives traffic to your website or to your blog. Second, it gets the word out about your business, products, or services to potential costumers or customers.
You may be wondering what incentive marketing actually is. Incentive means "no gain" or "reward". Essentially, incentive marketing is a specific plan to persuade people to perform something you wish them to do for you, in return for achieving an objective, typically an incentive. Oftentimes, these folks are your costumers or customers. In incentive marketing, you are your customer or customer. In other words, your rewards are your purchases.
For many reasons, including maintaining loyalty to their employers, providing employees with the tools needed to succeed, and instilling a sense of ownership of their work, incentive marketing for employers in Australian businesses is extremely popular. According to one survey, seventy-nine percent of businesses in Australia use some form of an incentive program to retain and attract high-quality staff members. The most common incentives offered to employees include travel rewards and gifts for reaching particular milestones.
Australian businesses have been known to give employees cash incentives for increasing sales, or for increasing productivity. At the same time, businesses have been known to award employees with free products or services in order to increase customer satisfaction. Many retail chains offer a reward every time a customer makes a purchase. Some companies offer car bonuses, while others provide travel bonuses. This can be incentive marketing for your company in a number of different ways.
The basic premise behind incentive marketing strategies is to create a situation where you are rewarded for doing a good job. For example, if you are consistently making fifty sales per week, you could receive a gift card or coupon for fifty dollars. The idea is that every time you make a sale, you will get this type of benefit, but it doesn't have to be monetary. If you go out to dinner with a friend five nights per week and make fifty purchases, you could receive a $100 dinner voucher or coupon. As you can see, incentive marketing strategies can encompass a lot more than just giving a product away. You are being rewarded for a job well done.
Even though incentive marketing strategies are becoming more widely used by businesses in Australia, there are still many aspects of the strategy that should not be overlooked. One of these is employee benefits. Although most employers realize the importance of rewarding employees for positive performance, not all do so. In order for an employee benefits program to be effective, it needs to be comprehensive, including not only a paycheck incentive but also things like free business insurance and even discounts on food and drinks at work.
Bonus incentives can be another powerful tool in an incentive marketing platform. These can take many forms, from paid gym memberships to a gift card for a shopping spree at a popular department store. Bonus incentives can give a business a lot of power since the amount that is earned on a given purchase can oftentimes be far greater than what has been paid out in the form of a regular salary. If you have ever received a bonus, then you know how powerful this can be. Incentive reward programs can be a powerful weapon in the hands of a business owner, as long as they are implemented correctly.
There are a number of other ways that incentive marketing can be utilized, especially in the areas of customer retention and loyalty. Incentive programs that offer discounts or freebies to customers who stay with a certain company for an extended period of time are excellent channel partners. These same channels can also offer their loyal customer's incentive marketing discounts or freebies that they can use to build loyalty. Loyalty programs that reward customers for referring other customers are also incredibly powerful. Channel partners that offer incentives to their sales representatives, such as cash rewards or free airline tickets are great for increasing a business's returns on investment. And, of course, incentive marketing can mean big profits for the companies that are willing to invest in it and build their reputation and customer base by offering these types of programs.
