Having an amazing product or service only goes so far—especially when you’re trying to convert new leads or re-engage lapsed customers.
Sometimes, the strength of your brand’s products just isn’t enough.
So what can you do? How do you convince leads who are on the fence to take that step and make a purchase?
It All Comes Down to Your Offer.
An offer adds value to your product by saving money for your customers. Whether that’s through a discount code, GWPs, or free shipping, all offers add value.
Offers can be useful in almost all areas of marketing, but they’re especially critical in converting new leads. Making a first purchase with a business is a big decision for a customer to make, and a generous offer helps soothe the anxiety your prospects might have.
Your brand is new and unfamiliar to them. They’re taking a risk, and they often need some extra convincing to commit to a purchase.
Similarly, offers are staples of winback campaigns to re-engage lapsed customers. Your regular communications aren’t enough to get these “lost” customers to buy; they need added value before they’re ready to return.
Not every offer will work with every prospect. Ideally, you’ll have several offers in your welcome and winback flows to increase the chances that one of them will lead to a conversion.
Need some ideas for where to start? Let’s look at 8 types of offers you can implement in your marketing strategy to convert leads and nurture your brand’s relationship with customers.
1. % Off Discount.
Percentage-based discounts are a tried and true classic offer. The amount your customers save is proportional to the amount they spend.
Not comfortable putting your entire stock on sale? Apply a discount percentage to a certain category of products or even a single product line.
2. $ Off Discount.
Instead of offering a certain percentage off, dollar amount or cash discounts reduce prices by a set amount.
Think of a coupon that reads “get $20 off your next purchase.” Applied to a $200 product, that’s a 10% discount. Applied to a $40 product, and it’s 50%. Even though the amount saved remains the same, the perceived value changes.
Tip: Mix and match percentage-based and dollar amount discounts depending on which ones appear more valuable to your prospects.
3. BOGO Deals.
Buy-one-get-one or BOGO deals are great for products that people might want more than one of, like consumables or apparel.
Don’t be fooled by the name—BOGO deals don’t have to be “buy one product, get one free.” BOGOs can include promotions like “buy four, get one free” and “buy one, get one 40% off.”
Tip: Run an A/B test comparing BOGO deals that offer the same value in different ways, like “buy two, get one free” and “buy one, get one 50% off.” See which version your audience responds to more for future campaigns.
4. Free Shipping.
Nobody likes when they get to the checkout of their digital cart and finds extra fees tacked on to their bill. In fact, according to Shopify, almost 50% of abandoned carts are due to shipping costs.
Free shipping boosts sales. Customers will spend more in order to get free shipping, and if they can’t, there’s a good chance they’ll take their business to a site with free shipping or even a brick-and-mortar store.
Free shipping offers can take many forms. Maybe it’s only for first-time customers as a welcome gift, or only for orders over a certain amount. Offer free shipping as a limited-time promotion or for certain geographic locations. Be generous with shipping costs to keep customers from going elsewhere.
Tip: Consider offering free shipping to all customers by building shipping costs into your prices. (Shopify has a handy profit margin calculator that can help.)
5. GWPs or Gifts With Purchase.
Who doesn’t love free stuff?
GWPs or “gifts with purchase” are freebies included with a customer’s purchase. They can be helpful accessories that support the product they’re purchasing, branded trinkets or apparel for free advertising, or limited-time seasonal products.
A GWP doesn’t even have to be a physical product—it can be an ebook, webinar, or access to a whole library of content!
Tip: Tell customers the monetary value of the GWP they’re receiving in addition to listing features and benefits of their gift.
6. Product Bundles.
Rather than putting a discount on individual products, bundles offer savings to customers buying several products at once.
Imagine a store that sells artisan soaps. Each bar of soap costs $10, but a bundle of 5 soaps might cost just $40. Bought individually, those same bars of soap would cost $50, so the bundle offers a 20% discount.
In the above example, that bundle is essentially a BOGO deal of “buy four, get one.” But not all bundles are BOGOs. Bundles can include exclusive products only available through the bundle, helpful add-ons, or a sampling across your entire product range.
Tip: Look at your sales records to see which products people are most likely to buy together, and consider making a discounted bundle of those products for first-time buyers.
7. Tiered Discounts.
In a tiered discount, the more you spend, the more you save.
The same tiered discount can be written two ways, either as percentage-based or amount-based:
“Spend $50, save 10%. Spend $100, save 20%. Spend $200, save 25%.”
“Spend $50, save $5. Spend $100, save $20. Spend $200, save $50.”
Tiered discounts encourage your customers to make bigger purchases and to opt for high-ticket items they wouldn’t ordinarily get.
Tip: Try including a progress bar that lets customers visualize how close they are to reaching the next tier as they fill their cart.
8. Cashback.
A cashback offer promises a discount on a customer’s next purchase. You can combine a cashback offer with other kinds of offers (percentage-based, tiered, etc.), but the important part is that the discount does not apply to the initial purchase.
Cashback is great for businesses that struggle to land second purchases. Cashback is only valuable to your customers if they make a second purchase and apply that discount.
Cashback offers may look like “Spend $100, get $10 off your next purchase,” “Your purchase of $100+ earns 10% cashback,” or even a loyalty points program. Focus on your customer’s future savings, even if that second purchase may be weeks or months away (depending on your industry’s customer cycle).
Tip: If your business already has a loyalty program that includes cashback points, try making a campaign that gives customers a limited-time multiplier. Maybe their first purchase will give them double or triple cashback than your usual rate.
Ready to build a welcome flow that turns leads into loyal customers, and a winback campaign that reminds customers why they first fell in love with your brand? We sure are! Schedule a call, and let our team help you craft a digital marketing strategy that converts leads, rewards returning customers, and boosts your business.
