Successful Promotion Tactics for FMCG Brands
By Michael Jess on August 4th, 2017
It can be tricky for fast-moving consumer goods brands to nail a promotion tactic. The environment itself is already challenging and fast-paced, and attempts to clearly communicate with customers can get lost in the crowd. Not to mention the risk that comes with a poorly-constructed promotion and the damage it can cause.
So, how do you achieve a great marketing campaign that increases sales?
Here are some of the best tactics for FMCG brands.
Go online
It’s all about going online nowadays – if your brand doesn’t have an online presence yet, it’s time to change that. Going online means your promotions can be more targeted, easier to run and track and can give you a better understanding of who your customer is.
Some of the benefits are:
- Customers can subscribe to your brand via computer or mobile, allowing you to gain opportunities for future marketing to them
- You can thank your customers via email, resulting in better brand loyalty and engagement
- No need to worry about safely storing paper-based promotional competitions, required by Australian Privacy Laws
- Build direct and strong relationships with your customers, which translates into brand loyalty and repeat sales
- You can gain much greater reach with your promotions
Incentivise specific stores to increase sales
As an FMCG brand, you’re often reliant on stores to push your products in the right way, so offering stores an incentive to sell more can be a great way to get your product prioritised over others in your category.
You could offer tailored rewards to stores who achieve growth targets or complete certain activities, like adding more products to their range or utlising in-store displays. Gamifying this and allowing stores to see where they rank against competitors can also increase their engagement with your brand.
At Edge, we’ve created online portals for brands who want to allow store owners to keep track of rewards they’ve earned. As an added bonus, the portal is a useful way to keep partners up to date on company news too.
‘Try me free’ for brand awareness
Everybody loves a freebie, and they are a great way of showcasing your brand, encouraging product trial and building a customer base.
A clever promotion that invites customers to try your product for free can also be an opportunity to capture their valuable feedback. For example, you could simply offer customers who purchase a specific product during a promotional period their money back in the form of a branded eftpos Gift Card if they trial the product and provide their feedback via a branded claim site. Asking a customer for their input also strengthens their relationship with your brand.
It’s a win-win for your company and the customer!
Buy 1, get 1 free
You may not want to give away free product, but you can incentivise customers with a free gift of another kind. Kellogg’s is currently running an offer to buy one of their specially marked products and get a free movie ticket. The reward, which has broad appeal, can be redeemed simply by retaining the purchase receipt and entering it online.
Generate word-of-mouth referrals – and use social media to your advantage
Invest in a campaign that customers can relate to at a personal level, so much so, that they can start talking to their friends, family and coworkers about it. Many big brands use this tactic to market their products, such as Pepsi and Coca-Cola. This type of campaigns can be especially successful if run in social media. For example, Pepsi ran a Vine campaign that consisted of engaging directly with customers, asking them to post a short video of the craziest thing they had done and use the hashtag #LiveForNow.
Bear in mind that in our constantly connected social media world, word-of-mouth today can be as simple as a video customers can tag their friends in. The American company Chatbooks, which offers easy-to-make photo books, is a great example of this – they went from a relatively unknown Utah startup to gaining 3 million views in two days, thanks to a viral and hilarious marketing video that resonates with busy parents who want an easy way to capture everyday moments. The video has now reached 58 million views and counting, and it’s been a total success. It had little to do with the product itself and much more to do with the struggle parents face to find the time to do anything else other than parenting when raising a family – something that most FMCG customers with families can relate to.
Run social media competitions
Engage with your customers, get to know them on a more personal level and increase brand awareness with a social media competition. As mentioned above, try to pick something your customers can easily relate to, that way, they’re more likely to engage with your campaign. You can always theme the competitions with certain seasonalities, such as Mother’s Day or Christmas – but you can also use them as a way of understanding how your customer perceive your brand.
The below example from Aussie beer brand XXXX Summer Bright Lager enabled consumers to upload an Instagram photo to personalise a t-shirt prize. This allowed the brand to gain a lot of user-generated content which helps build their awareness, and capture email addresses of customers who purchased products so they could send them additional marketing in the future.
Successful promotions for FMCG brands
In order to run an effective promotion and boost sales, remember to always go back to basics: which is first and foremost connecting with your customer on a personal level. Campaigns that engage consumers on issues that matter to them are always more memorable, and can help build brand loyalty for your FMCG business.
Michael Jess
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