I attended a session this morning that talked about the three components of a marketing piece - the target market, the offer and the copy. I won't debate today additional items that should or should not be added to those three. But within the context of these three, I was amazed that the speaker did not elaborate on his previous comments about testing and measuring in reference to the offer.
The most cost efficient improvement one can make in their marketing plan
Testing and tracking in search of DATA (not the Star Trek TNG character!) is my passion in marketing. And testing on the OFFER is the most cost efficient improvement one can make in their marketing plan.
For example, if you can get the same response level (and sometimes more) by offering $15 dollars off rather than $20 off, why wouldn't you? Does 15% have a higher perceived value than $5 off a product or service you sell?
Or, is a coupon a better investment than a rebate? There are processing fees and production costs for both, but rebates have a higher slippage (lack of redemption) rate than coupons, so perhaps you can offer a higher value on the rebate, which is now REWARDING customers, rather than trying to get customers.
Testing and tracking the results is key to any marketing program.
Testing the offer is:
- one of the easiest things to test (just change pricing and compare dollar value to percentages),
- fairly easy to track (e.g., with coupon codes) and
- the most immediate means to increase your profits.
Additionally, testing the offer helps you to:
- identify the lowest cost incentive that motivates a purchase by your customers,
- provide insight into your overall pricing strategy and
- allow for temporary modification of pricing, against a competitor, without diluting your pricing strategy and positioning in the marketplace.
Happy testing!
If you want help developing a strategic marketing plan that helps you identify that ideal pricing and offer strategy, please contact us. We specialize in multi-channel marketing plans that increase your ROI and build momentum year after year.
