On the surface, it seems easier for consumers just to go out and buy a product at a discounted rate than to fill out a rebate form. But there are several advantages to offering rebates instead of store discounts, for both your business and your customers.
Here are seven ways marketers can tap rebate programs to improve sales and enhance the overall brand experience.
1. Tailor Rebates to Fit Your Marketing Needs Retailers will often twist your arm to support discounts, resulting in a new base line cost. Profit on those reduced prices will be lost and most likely not recouped. A rebate is a temporary discount that you can start and stop to fit your marketing plan.
2. Think Like a Consumer Many consumers are looking for the lowest cost with the least amount of hassle. Create your program to clearly indicate the savings from the rebate offered and make the process for the consumer as simple and efficient as possible.
3. Create an Experience for Your Customers Store discounts have limited marketing benefit in building consumer loyalty. A rebate can drive options to learn more about your customer, be personalized to enhance your brand involvement, and reward your loyal brand users.
4. Reward Your Customers, Not Someone Else Store discounts are like shared promotional dollars. This means that everyone pays in and the customer’s reward is decided by the store, not the manufacturer. Rebates are not co-mingled funds; instead, they are paid when your product gets sold. As a result, new shelf space opens up for your products.
5. Stand Out from the Clutter of Store Discounts In today’s economy, all those discounts are one big generic blur. You will not get credit in the consumer’s mind for your concessions. A rebate, however, has a specific call to action that is recognized as being offered by you, further enhancing the consumer’s experience with your brand.
6. Integrate with Other Promotions Store discounts will not drive additional sales for your organization. A rebate can be tied in to other promotional tools to drive a specific customer back to a particular store to make a future purchase. You will experience a lift in sales and so will your retailers.
7. Make Results Tangible Be clear in your communications with your customers. Tell them when they will receive their rebate check and the hard savings they derive from it.
Dean Fitch is executive vice president sales and marketing, Skybridge Marketing Group. He can be reached at [email protected].
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