Slow moving stock calls for creative ways to increase sales
Mr Kalule has just started a men’s garments shop on a street next to Madam Nina’s unisex salon. Sales are taking a while to pick up. This is not good as he is anxious to keep up with his loan repayments. Madam Nina is unable to offer advice as her salon is also experiencing low customer traffic. Question is: what do they need to do to bring in more customers?
A good marketing strategy would be for the business owners to do a giveaway campaign.
Giveaways attract a quick response especially when it’s a good deal offer and is for a limited time only.
Take Tangerine, the internet service provider, for example. At Tangerine’s launch they offered customers free MiFis as well as free data bundles ranging from 15 GB to 50 GB. This strategy secured a substantial customer base for the company, giving them a chance to break into the market that was dominated by large telecom companies.
Obtaining feedback from end users
As potential customers touch, feel and savor your products and services, request them to give their impressions. These reviews will give you valuable information on any improvements you can make to the product.
Pay close attention to the features that stand out in the customers’ experience of the product. You will do well to highlight these particular features in your marketing materials.
Allow your customers to try the product and offer feedback
Gives the product a chance to prove itself
New products and services are regarded with uncertainty by a large proportion of the market. Other consumers may not be convinced of their need for the product or that yours is the best among a wide variety of available options. In order to win them over, you may need to let them have a taste of your product or service, at no cost to them.
Online sellers use giveaways to promote their product against the many available options
This model has been used widely for online products and subscriptions, a market that is overflowing with variety of products. Take the Apple Music service for instance. They offer a three month free trial, after which they charge $5.00 per month. The assumption being made is that after a customer has experienced the service, they will be willing to continue with it. This would not be achieved if they had never experienced it, not being convinced that they actually need it.
The need to give a product a chance is even more pronounced if there has been a difficulty with a previously launched product. (Recall the Samsung Galaxy Note 7’s 2016 introduction to the market where faulty batteries caused several of them to explode). Such unpleasant incidents can happen to any brand.
Giveaways help your brand to gain back the faith of the market and give your product a chance to build up a customer base. Before people will spend their money on a product that hasn’t got a track record of quality, they may have to be convinced of its worth by testing it at no cost to themselves.
Other potential customers will also make buying decisions based on the reviews given by the early users. It is easier for them to believe another customer that has experienced the product for themselves.
This was the idea behind Cosmopolitan magazine’s sharing of a video of 5 women trying out and reviewing Rihanna’s Wildest Savage X Fenty Lingerie.
Word of Mouth
People feel good when they are the first in their circles to share about a new experience they have had. Having been the first to discover an exciting new product or service raises their social status. It makes them more likely to talk about things that make them look good to others.
Create word of mouth around your product
The end goal is to create word of mouth around your product. Take the example of a new free service you are offering at your salon. One lady uses this high value service and is impressed by it. She is then in the admirable position of letting her friends and family know that not only has she accessed a high value product, but that they can also access it for free for a limited time period.
Giving away good value products will communicate to your customers that you value their business and that you are confident about the quality of your product. Use this marketing idea to widen and solidify your customer base.