Seven Oaks Consulting  

Many of my consulting clients ask me about incentives. How can they get customers to respond to an offer? What makes customers respond? Is it a gift, the creative, the message? 

Actually, it can be one of those things, or all of the above, or none of the above.

The mantra of the direct marketer is test, measure, tinker, test again. In other words:

• When you develop an incentive, schedule a simple split-test. Test your original concept, ad or direct mail package again one that changes the incentive.  Which one gets more sales or leads for you? That's the winner.  Now test it again to be sure. If the results are the same, you've got a winning incentive.  If they're not the same, tinker with the incentive, test against the control, and repeat the process until you have a winner.
• Always think from the perspective of your customers. What does your customer value? That's the key to an incentive.
• Don't get carried away by what other people or companies offer as incentives. An incentive has to be true to your brand, your message, your product - and most importantly, to your customers' needs and wants. 

Some simple incentives to try include:

• Free articles, white papers, booklets or information: If you're in an information or service-focused business, like coaching, consulting, healthcare or the like, these incentives may work for you.
• Free gift with purchase, buy one get one (BOGO) offers, or mystery gifts.  You may need to test which one works for you. Keep gifts within your brand.  For my model horse business, for example, we may give away magnets with pictures of customers' painted horse models on them.  Customers love collecting the magnets and sharing pictures of their artwork with us.
• Free shipping. For online retailers, shipping is often the cost that customers grumble about, but can't avoid.  Test free shipping against fast shipping and other shipping options to find out what your customers value.

There are many incentives that build your brand and don't cost you an arm and a leg. If you thought an incentive was a fancy pen, a notepad with your logo on it or a calendar - think again!

Before I forget, I want to recommend a book to you.  The book is called Being Direct: Making Advertising Pay and is by the legendary father of direct marketing, Lester Wunderman. Part autobiography, part history of the industry, and a fascinating look into the world of dire ct marketing, you'll not only learn about direct marketing but enjoy reading it too.  The link is here to the book: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0394540638?ie=UTF8&tag=equinartcreat-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0394540638