How to create irresistible Special Offers and Promotions – Part 1
In last week’s post, “The success formula for marketing that works” I gave you the 6 critical elements you must have in any Salon Ad, brochure, banner, website etc. if you want your advertising to work. By ‘work’ I mean sell services and put profit in your bank account. As a quick recap here are the 6 critical elements you must have in every piece of marketing material.
- Element 1: An attention grabbing headline
- Element 2: A compelling, irresistible offer
- Element 3: A risk reversal guarantee
- Element 4: A customer testimonial
- Element 5: Scarcity
- Element 6: A strong call to action
Last week we did a quick overview of each of the 6 elements, but in this post I want to focus on Element # 2: creating a compelling, irresistible offer. Let me remind you of the definition of Marketing we spoke about previously – Marketing is salesmanship in print. At the heart of good salesmanship is the ability to create irresistible, compelling offers that your customers can’t say no to. In fact, your offer is the most important part of your ad because this is what the customer will buy. Everything else in the ad will revolve around the offer. We didn’t have the space in last week’s post to talk in depth on creating a compelling offer, so I want to spend the next three weeks teaching you how to produce irresistible value added offers.
Before I show you how to create your offer, I want to show you what not to do! Let’s do a quick case study of real South African Salon Marketing to show you two common mistakes that you must avoid. Please note that as I show you these ads, I have blanked out the names and numbers of Salons on the adverts because the intention here is to instruct and educate not embarrass or belittle.
Mistake # 1: Attract customers through low pricing and discounting
The only way most Salon Owners know how to create a special offer is by offering a discount or lowering prices. But it is important to realise that a discount is not an offer – it is an act of desperation! So when you make an offer in your next advert, it has to have a lot more than a discount because discounts are simply not compelling enough. The dictionary defines compelling as, “having a powerful and irresistible effect.” Your customers do not lie in bed at night thinking to themselves, “I can’t wait until my Beauty Therapist sends me a discount.” Consumers have always wanted more than they say they want. They want cool stuff, they want extras, they want added value. So never discount down, bonus up.
Take a look at this Salon ad I saw driving down a busy road in Johannesburg. I am sure you have seen ad’s like this before so let’s
Don't try and attract clients by lowering your prices!
examine it quickly. This Salon is trying to attract customers by lowering their prices. There are a few problems with this marketing strategy. Let me name a few.
1. For every set of Nails they sell they are losing a very real R200. Why work harder and longer for less? Didn’t you go into business to make money? At Salon Management Studio, we teach our clients to increase prices when they create special offers.
2. This kind of marketing strategy attracts the wrong type of client – it attracts customers who care about price, not value or quality.
3. If the only reason you give customers to choose you over your competition is a low price then you are in deep trouble. Just today I was talking to a customer who saw two Salons in the same road on the East Rand advertising the same service. Salon A discounted the service 20% and Salon B discounted the same service for 30%.
4. It teaches your customers to expect low prices in the future. Why would any customer come back for their next set of nails and pay full price?
5. What message does this advert communicate about the skill of the Nail Tech? After all, what Professional would work for R99 an hour less expenses?
6. What message does this advert communicate about the quality of nail products used? How can a Salon use a professional product while charging such low prices?
I am sure that you have competitors in your trading zone who run adverts like this. You might even stress about how you are going to compete against an offer like this. Well it is easier than you think. With a little sales thinking and marketing training from Salon Management Studio, all you need to do is counter this sign with your own ad that boldy says, “We fix R99 nails.”
Next week we will take a look at another common mistake Salon Owners make when they create their special offers and then I will give you practical advice on how to value add and create compelling offers that make it impossible for your competitors outsell you.
