thoughts on / knowledge of / resources for - promotions in marketing

Question

Anyone have resources you look to or knowledge of how to go about promotions? OR what are your thoughts on promotions as a customer? What do you respond to, what are you off-put by? I'm also interested if you have thoughts on sustainable/ethical brands and promotions (I have a lot of feelings about this last part especially and it would be great to hear some other perspectives). 
 (Why: I'm starting some automated Mailchimp marketing - an email sent on a customer's birthday, for example - and I'm trying to figure out things like should I offer a percentage discount or a flat dollar amount off on an order.)

Margaret Bloom · Accepted Answer

My thoughts : As a customer I am typically drawn to consistency and transparency of promotions from brands. I never buy anything full price Lands End, Vistaprint or Blurb because I know once/month they do a 40% off promotion. Other brands I know don't ever give more than 10-20% off so I know not to wait around for promotions more than that. Room and Board, a furniture company, never does sales. It's part of their mission of transparency in pricing to not pressure customers to make the wrong decision. I love a birthday promotion. I love the thought of a referral promotion but don't typically send them to my friends. I am also a big fan of added value promotions (ie, jewelry storage bag, cleaning cloth, ring box, etc.) for minimum purchse amount. I especially like this around holidays because I am typically buying multiple gifts for other people, and it can be an enticing added value for the receiver or myself.

Lyon McCandless · Answer

So reading Margaret's comment and tying in my suggestion for the birthday promotion... my thought was friend/family referral + birthday promotion... because I've always thought (especially for an item like yours which makes a great present for someone else) that it'd be nice if you received a birthday promotion 30 days before your birthday but it was really a chance for the birthday person to nudge his/her family/friend to get them a Thicket piece for their birthday with this awesome birthday promo code. So 30 days before the birthday, the birthday person would get an email that they could either forward to their family/friend with a birthday promotion code in it, or else the email would ask the birthday person for a family/friend's email so you can email that person the promo code to celebrate their birthday... it's like a coupon to save money + a reminder that it's the person's birthday coming up + a clear hint as to what they want. I think all those reasons are a home-run especially for a clueless boyfriend. 
 I've never seen this done before, and I'm not sure if that's because it's a bad idea or what. But that is how I prefer it because I don't really want to buy myself a necklace for my own birthday... 
 Let me know if that gibberish above did or didn't make any sense to you and I can try to clarify.

Dawn Cleveland · Answer

I agree with Lyon. I am signed up for Red Robin's birthday promotions. (the burger joint -- they have a location in Fashion Square). I get maybe 1-2 emails a month. I almost never follow up on them. EXCEPT, we go nearly every year for my birthday because my whole family can find something they like to eat and I get to eat free. 
 I could totally see a birthday 50% off (or 40% off) email working, as it's a great way for me to ensure that I get something I want for my birthday. ("Treat yourself!"). I get the email 2.5 weeks before my birthday (so I can plan) and i have 3 or 4 weeks to use it (not just on my actual birthday). I LOVE this promotion because it gives me the flexibility to use it on my terms. 
 One more thing: If it's on the purchase of 1 item, and you provide a code, the birthday girl can send the code to a significant other or parent, etc., for them to buy it for her. Even if she sends it to a friend who uses the code for themselves (and not as a birthday gift), are you getting the same effect? People loving your jewelry? 
 One other thing: what Lyon suggested about having the birthday person enter in their significant other's email address -- that adds them to your email list too. For better or worse. Perhaps then the boyfriend/husband would automatically receive quarterly/seasonal reminder emails... As always, an "Unsubscribe" is critical to keeping goodwill with your customers.

Lyon McCandless · Answer

Correct, I was thinking that it'd be great to get the birthday person to enter in their friend/family's email to grow your email list. However, because it would be a new email to that friend/family, the email might get caught in the Spam or Promotions folder and the person might not ever see it. Which is why forwarding the email, or having the email reference the Birthday girl's name and/or email address, might help make it more legit for the email scanner and the email recipient. 
 
 I like Dawn's idea of having a designated promo code for that birthday person to send out too. It's the matter of finding a subtle way to nudge people into asking for a specific gift or being overly pushy with demanding a specific gift.

Dawn Cleveland · Answer

Along those lines, do you have a way to track a wish list? When it comes to birthday gifts, there are all types, depending on your own personality and the dynamics in the marriage/relationship. Some women want to be completely surprised (no wish list), some want to drop a little hint (send him the website), and some want to say "I want that exactly" (with "pick this item in gold, 20" chain, with matching earrings, etc.) I have been at all of these stages with varying relatives in my life. I prefer the surprise, but also like to help out a family member who has a difficult time making decisions. 
 Is there a way to capture it all? Perhaps that is something to think about in the future, after you have a more established web presence?

Margaret Bloom · Answer

Ha, this is amazing timing because I just did this for Thicket in particular! For my birthday I asked my husband to give me Thicket earrings. I told him I wanted studs, but asked him to pick out the particular pair. I'm sure integrating a wishlist button might be kind of complicated, but maybe there's a way to create a separate email list for one-time emails that 'drop the hint' like Dawn says... Maybe there's a place that I could have put in my husband's email address on your site that would send him an email saying something like "Here's a hint... someone in your life wants a piece of Thicket jewelry!", or something along those lines.

Jay Lester · Answer

Training customers to expect promotions is a real problem for many established retailers. I'm like Margaret and there are stores where I never buy anything full price (e.g., Banana Republic). The easy way to avoid this trap is to always have a real reason for a promotion. Birthdays, grand openings, referrals, new partnerships, etc - these will all keep you out of future trouble and make sense to the consumer. 
 The only downside of things like birthday promotions is that they require a high level of customer engagement to get the info, so they're not going to move the needle until your customer base is large enough. You can set up programs like that now but realize it may not do anything to your sales for quite a while (years). 
 From my perspective, the strongest fashion/jewelry promotions are usually linked to news around the product line. This kind of promotion has a dual function -- in addition to goosing sales, it has the potential to get the media and consumers talking about your product and sharing information about your brand on their own, and that can give you a nice ROI on the discounts you're offering. 
 If you need some ideas, Alex & Ani used to run reasonable email campaigns although I haven't really looked at them recently.

thoughts on / knowledge of / resources for - promotions in marketing

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