Most businesses use incentivized marketing to supplement the bottom line. As a way of drawing new customers, an incentive can be something as simple as a free gift for a purchase or something more elaborate like a service. But whatever your incentive is, it should benefit your customers in some way, so that they come back again.
Of course, if you are setting up an employee incentive program, this doesn't just end there. You need to make sure that each individual incentive program supports one another and, ultimately, benefits you and your business. Your marketing department needs to work closely with your marketing managers, but you also need to understand the difference between individual incentives and group incentives.
Individual incentives are those that apply to an individual and are not necessarily earned. Examples include free samples, which will cost money, points and passes on your loyalty program, etc.
In this case, your business is actually competing with several other companies who are selling a similar program. Why would you want to spend your advertising dollars attracting the attention of someone else who offers a better opportunity? The answer is: because the individual incentivized marketing is typically an extension of your overall marketing plan.
Multi-level marketing, however, is where a business offers multiple types of incentives to the customers in its primary marketing scheme. This can help the business attract new customers in its efforts to improve the bottom line.
You can choose to offer a membership service, cash incentives for referrals, business gifts and other discounts that help the business continue to grow. Incentive marketing programs can offer products, services, referral bonuses, customer incentives and business perks.
For business owners and managers, it is important to remember that the key to motivating their employees is making sure that incentives make sense for the business. The employee must feel that he or she is rewarded for a job well done and that the reward is only given because the person was engaged in a project that provided value to the business.
If the value is only worth a discount or small percentage off of the price of the product, the incentive isn't going to be very effective in motivating the worker. The employee should be more interested in the things that make the business successful rather than what the worker was paid for.
Any type of incentive marketing program that provides rewards that are based solely on the number of people who purchase the business' products is ineffective. People love to receive a small prize for doing a small thing. You have to think about this approach if you want to encourage employees to go out and market your products.
You can offer business gifts at specific times or in specific stores. Once a reward is established, you can tweak the reward so that it fits the mood of the person doing the marketing. For example, if a retail employee is promoting your products and wants a reward, you could offer a small item of clothing from the same brand.
The thing to remember when offering incentives is that you need to set up the incentive in such a way that it is meaningful to the business. If the rewards do not add up, people won't see any real purpose to using the incentive, and they will look elsewhere for their motivation.
Don't use your incentive marketing plan to make money. Instead, use it to improve the level of performance on the part of the employees and create a feeling that you care about your business.
