Like the rest of the world, you’re probably bombarded by all kinds of special offers every single day, and you likely ignore the vast majority of them. When we see the same things sent to us over and over again, we can start to zone out, and only the most interesting things get through. As a marketer, here are a few ways you can make your own offers interesting enough to catch the eye.
Unique Twists
At this stage, seeing a flyer come through the door promising 20% off, or an ad online for a 1-month free trial, simply won’t inspire anything in customers and the brain often just filters them out. To grab attention, you need to offer some unique twist, and for some great examples of putting twists on old concepts, the online casino industry is a great place to start.
For example, look at a game of roulette, about as classic as it gets a history dating back at least 500 years. Despite the age and simplicity of the concept, you can find modern examples like the Betfair Spin Till You Win or Lightning Roulette from Evolution that add extra bonus features to the original game. These extras, whether they are special instant win modes or things like random win multipliers, can give them enough distinction to make them more interesting to players.
Careful Branding
In some cases, a twist may not even be necessary if the presentation itself is well done. Attaching a clever and relevant name to a promotion, or putting it out there in an interesting format, can do a lot to make it stand out. Large companies from supermarkets to gyms have all made use of this technique in the past by attaching witty names to their offers, although few examples compare to the success that McDonald’s have had in the UK with their idea.
The McDonald’s Monopoly promotion is now a yearly event where customers can win a wide range of prizes both large and small by buying food items. In reality, the underlying system is similar to other giveaways, but thanks to the framing and the combination of two major brands, it has become a major event that even attracts national news attention each year.
Going Big
This is more of a brute-force strategy compared to the others, but if the resources are on hand, you can make your offer competitive simply by ramping up the scale. Naturally, this has to be very carefully calculated in terms of investment and returns, but if executed correctly it can generate massive attention.
Another UK example comes in the form of a marketing war in the 1990s commonly referred to as the Baked Bean Wars. Essentially, it was a case of supermarkets cutting the costs of the staple food baked beans in an effort to get people into their stores. Prices kept getting cut lower and lower until it ended with one supermarket actually paying customers to take them and getting a lot of free advertising along with it.
These are far from the only tricks in the marketing handbook when it comes to promoting offers but hopefully they can start you thinking on your own ways to stand out in a very crowded market!
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