Sales promotions can be an effective way to boost your short-term sales, increase brand awareness and attract new customers. However, this doesn’t mean that running a sales promotion is easy.
In this blog, our experts will discuss 7 examples of sales promotions to inspire you and help you run your own successful sales promotion.
What is a sales promotion?
Put simply, a sales promotion is a short-term marketing strategy that businesses use to generate interest in their products or services. They’re primarily designed to increase sales, leads or revenue over a short period of time, often to reach a specific goal. However, they can also increase brand awareness, create loyal customers and boost customer acquisition over the long term.
Read on for 7 sales promotion ideas, including real-world examples and the goals they can achieve.
1. ‘Buy 1, get 1 free’ promotion
A buy 1, get 1 free promotion (often referred to as BOGOF or simply BOGO) is one of the most popular and widely known promotion types. Offering 2 products for the price of 1 is highly effective and usually works better than offering a 50% discount. This is because the second product is ‘free’, a powerful motivator incentivising customers to shop. BOGO deals are often on specific products to clear excess or poorly selling stock in a short time frame.
Although this kind of promotion is usually associated with products, it can also work for service-based businesses. For example, a spa might offer a BOGO deal on a specific service to increase bookings during a slow time of year or to attract new customers.
BOGO variations
In addition to the most well-known ‘buy 1, get 1 free’ deal, there are several BOGO variations:
- Percentage off. Customers purchase a product and get a percentage (such as 50%) off the second item they purchase.
- Value discount. Customers purchase a product and get the second item at a discounted price (for example, £20 off).
- Buy X, get Y. For this variation, customers might purchase more than one item to receive a free product or discount. For example, ‘buy 2 get 1 free’ or ‘buy 3 items and get 20% off’.
BOGOF example: Domino’s Pizza ‘Two for Tuesday’ deal
Since 2014, Domino’s Pizza has offered a nationwide Two for Tuesday deal (buy one, get one free) on all medium and large pizzas. By offering this sales promotion on a usually quiet day of the week, Domino’s Pizza has significantly increased its midweek sales, generated extra revenue and helped smooth out the ups and downs of daily sales during a typical week.
2. Free gift with purchase promotion
This sales promotion is simple: when customers spend over a certain amount or purchase a specific item, they receive a free gift. Running a free gift with purchase promotion effectively incentivises customers on the fence about making a purchase to commit.
The free gift should be valuable enough to motivate customers to make a purchase. If you’re offering a free gift with a specific item, there should be a link between the two offers. For example, you might offer customers 2 free pillows when they purchase a duvet.
If you’re offering customers who spend over a certain amount of money a free gift, set this amount over your average order value to encourage more spending. For example, if your average order value if £70, you might offer a free gift if customers spend over £100.
Example: Bird and Blend ‘free pouch of tea’
To celebrate National Tea Day, Bird and Blend offered customers a free pouch of their best-selling tea when they spent over £30. This gift was advertised as an ‘online exclusive free gift’ and ‘best-selling’ to increase customers’ perceived value of the gift. Their homepage also features a countdown timer to give customers a sense of urgency.
Example: VAX ‘free toolkit’
Another company using this kind of sales promotion is VAX. They offer a free toolkit ‘worth over £50’ with many of their best-selling vacuum cleaners. By stating the value of the toolkit, VAX emphasises the value of this free gift and helps to differentiate their product from their competitors.
3. Discount for first-time customers
More than 90% of consumers have used coupons at some point. Offering a discount code to new customers can be a particularly effective strategy. Acquiring new customers is typically more expensive than retaining existing customers, so offering a discount helps to remove the barrier to making their first purchase.
Rather than offering a discount code immediately, a common tactic is to ask new customers for their email addresses in exchange for a discount code. This allows you to capture their data and retarget them through email marketing campaigns.
Example: Third Rock Clothing’s new customer discount
The outdoor and climbing clothing brand Third Rock offers new customers 15% off their first order. This incentivises new customers who are on the fence about purchasing to commit. This brand rarely offers discounts and sales, which makes the new customer discount code more attractive.
4. Limited-time free shipping
Over 50% of online shoppers say that free delivery is the main reason why they decide to make a purchase. Offering free shipping for a limited time is a great way to incentivise shoppers to make an immediate purchase and reduce cart abandonment, especially when combined with another sales promotion.
The offering of free shipping should be mentioned throughout your site, such as on website banners. A prominent countdown timer can also help convey a sense of urgency to potential customers.
Example: Wayfair free delivery with code
The online company Wayfair offers free delivery on a range of their best-selling products for a limited time. This allows them to showcase their top products with an incentive to purchase them immediately, even if they hadn’t been thinking about purchasing one of these items. They also advertise the date the limited-time offer expires to instil a feeling of urgency.
5. Referral discount
Another sales promotion that can be used to increase customer acquisition is referral discounts. Most companies offer a discount code (such as X amount off or X% off) when the referral has spent over a certain amount of money. A well-structured referral program helps to increase brand awareness by turning your existing customers into loyal brand ambassadors who promote your brand on your behalf.
Example: SNUG ‘Give £100, get £100’
The sofa brand SNUG offers a referral scheme. A referred customer gets £100 off their first order, and provided they’ve spent over £500, the person who referred them also gets £100 off their next order. By offering a significant discount to both the referred person and the referrer, SNUG makes this doubly attractive to encourage their existing customers to promote their brand.
6. Flash sales
Running a flash sale can be a great way to create a sense of urgency and motivate customers to make a purchase immediately. This type of sales promotion can help boost sales over the short term and is incredibly useful if you need a temporary boost in revenue. Flash sales are especially common tactics for seasonal events like Black Friday and Cyber Monday, but some companies also choose to have regular or recurring sales.
A flash sale should last shorter than a standard sale window and offer significant discounts that motivate customers. You may have a site-wide flash sale or offer discounts on a limited selection of products.
Flash sales should always be promoted on social media and through email marketing campaigns to ensure that your customer base is both aware of the sale and excited about the prospect of making a discounted purchase.
Example: DUSK flash sale
The furniture and homeware brand DUSK often offers flash sales to motivate its customers. For example, it’s currently offering up to 75% off specially selected collections. The flash sale is advertised on its website banner with a countdown timer to increase the sense of urgency.
Because their brand is focused on offering luxury and quality furniture at affordable prices, running flash sales works exceptionally well for their target audience.
7. Charitable cause promotions
A charitable sales promotion can be incredibly effective, provided it aligns with your brand’s messaging and your target audience. For example, you might opt to have a portion of your profits go to a charity you support for a limited period of time. The charity could be related to your industry or one that supports a topical issue.
Running a sales promotion helps you showcase your brand values and attract customers who have similar values. It also motivates customers to make a purchase by giving them the feel-good factor, knowing their money is going to a good cause.
Example: Passenger Clothing Green Friday
As a sustainable clothing brand, Passenger decided to participate in Green Friday rather than the traditional Black Friday. In 2022, they advertised that they would plant 5 trees and protect 1,000 square metres of rainforest with every purchase. This helped to communicate their brand values with their existing customers and target audience while still offering an incentive to make a purchase.
Prize Promotions
Although running a sales promotion can effectively boost short-term sales, it can be challenging to have a real, long-term impact. With many companies offering the above sales promotions, you might need to do something different to create a real buzz around your brand.
Why not try running a prize promotion instead?
At Another Way, we create incredible prize promotions that powerfully connect with your target audience and produce long-lasting results. Our expert team can design bespoke, ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ experiences and prizes that really get people talking about your brand.
Our founder, Andrew, has been active in the Promotional Marketing industry for over 10 years. From Airbnb to Ocado, he’s worked with big brands to create effective promotional campaigns that drive revenue, build brand loyalty and attract new customers.
Check out our campaign inspiration to see what we can achieve, whatever your budget.
We don’t just design amazing prizes – our professional team will handle every aspect of your promotional campaign, from creating the initial concept to winner selection and global fulfilment.
We offer:
- Unique prizes and experiences
- Prize promotional mechanics
- Pan-European and global prize fulfilment
- Winner management, selection and entry judging
- UK and multi-territory terms and conditions
- Loyalty reward schemes and consumer incentives
- Complete campaign management
If you’re interested in working with us on your next promotional campaign, call us at 0778 948 5123 or email us at [email protected].
Or, you can complete our online form, and a member of our team will contact you as soon as possible.
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