By Julian Kent, Sales Director, Multi Resource Marketing Ltd
Most promotional activities aim to generate more sales for the client and provide a good return on investment made in delivering the promotional offer.
Predicting the success of an individual promotion has always been a challenge and in these turbulent economic times, such predictions have become even more tricky.
The golden rules for the incentive being financially worthwhile, aspirational, and unique will always apply. However, accurately predicting consumer behaviour towards a particular promotional activity is somewhat of a holy grail.
Whilst we all know giving back 100% of a retail cost will outperform a 1% refund, not all propositions are as straightforward. Service providers such as MRM, who are IPM members, can advise on the relative response rates for various types of promotion, based on many years of individual and collective industry sharp-end experience. There will always be a plus or minus factor on any indicated volume but having a well-researched benchmark is a great place to start.
Why does this matter? Well, if a decision is required as to whether a redemption service is to be handled in-house or via an outsourced facility, then a good place to start is the anticipated take-up volume. It may be non-disruptive to handle a few daily claims within the agency or marketing department of a business, but when this turns into tens, hundreds or thousands per day, capacity is soon exhausted.
A key advantage of outsourcing is scalability. Experienced Promotional Support Service companies will be familiar with aggregating daily demand across many clients. Their flexible working practices allow them to absorb peaks and troughs through automated systems and processes.
The buying power of a service consolidator compared with an ad hoc user is a further aspect where outsourcing can deliver a benefit. This especially applies to areas that have recently experienced significant cost increases, such as carriage and packaging material costs.
A full-service Promotional Support Service provider, such as MRM, will combine a range of services including Warehousing, Order Processing, Stock Management, Customer Management, Payment Processing, and IT integration. These modular elements are combined as required to meet the service need as it develops.
MRM has been providing Promotional Support Services for agency and direct clients for 30 years, winning many coveted IPM awards for the services provided. Our IT and reporting systems provide access to real-time information that enables clients to maintain control from wherever they may be. Digital platforms can assist in the delivery of promotional services such as Cashback, Prize Draws and Loyalty Schemes. Our business processes are certified to ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO 27001 standards, giving further assurance that the promoting company’s hard-won brand image will be protected and enhanced by the work we undertake.
Our passion is your guarantee.
