Incentive marketing
| Incentive marketing |
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| See also |
Incentive marketing - this is one of the marketing departments. It is designed to attract as many consumers as possible by offering them samples of the products they can then buy from the trader. In addition, the phenomenon also boils down to offering various gifts or gifts in kind to build positive memories with the brand of the entrepreneur using the method. It also happens that traders support various types of events in order to encourage consumers or to build a good image. These can be industry conferences, student initiatives or simply competitions in shopping malls. The prizes distributed during a given event are varied. These can be any kind of discount coupons or special promotions for the purchase of products using this method of enterprise.
Positive influence on life of consumers
As the research indicates, incentive marketing may have a positive impact on the life of consumers and shape positive attitudes. By promoting healthy products or dietary things. By encouraging them to switch to the products, they are automatically able to change their attitude to exercise and maintain a healthy lifestyle.
Negative influence of incentive marketing
Nevertheless, in times when it is important to achieve specific sales targets and increase the market share of incentive marketing, it is a misused tool. A large proportion of businesses, in particular virtual businesses, use methods that can be perceived negatively by consumers. Especially as annoying, invasive or undesirable.
The above can be observed in particular in the case of people, whom are so called “millenials”. Their large-scale use of computer and mobile devices makes them vulnerable to pop-ups or emails spamming their inboxes. They encourage the use of a company's offer without providing any added value in return [1].
While this may have a tangible impact on the company in the short term (in the form of an increase in online business interest), it may have a negative impact in the future. Millennials have it in common that in a very short time they are able to organize and then incite to issue negative online opinions reducing the confidence of the company in the eyes of other, potential consumers [2].
Referral system
Incentive marketing is also one that encourages existing customers to recommend a company's products. In return, they are able to receive benefits such as loyalty cards, cash benefits or non-monetary benefits. Thanks to this, companies are able to receive the right volume of sales, while consumers feel that they gain real value by recommending the products they have tested to their friends. This creates a win-win situation in which the company and consumers benefit.
In principle, the scheme is based on the fact that, for example, by providing a referral link or a specific password tailored to the individual consumer, special points are credited to the referral consumer's account to enable him/her to subsequently exchange his/her marketing and sales activities for specific benefits. The aim is to encourage consumers to build deeper relationships with the brand and engage in the sales process of the company[3]. Above mentioned methods may occur in situations, among other things, such as:
- Referral links
- Special coupons
- Loyalty cards
Footnotes
References
- Berman, B., (2015) Referral marketing: Harnessing the power of your customers "Business Horizons", BUSHOR-1249
- Doherty, N. F., Ellis-Chadwick, F., (2012) Web advertising: the role of email marketing "Journal of Business Research", 65(6)
- Taken Smith, K., (2011) Digital marketing strategies that Millennials find appealing, motivating, or just annoying "Journal of Strategic Marketing" Vol. 19, No. 6
Author: Kinga Adamska
