Incentive Marketing is the practice of using incentives to encourage customers or employees to make a purchase or to perform a particular action. Business Dictionary defines incentive marketing company as "the use of various persuasive techniques to encourage the sale or purchase of goods or services". To me, the term incentive marketing sounds more like something an artificial intelligence robot pretending to be a human marketing executive would say while waving a big board labeled with promotional merchandise. However, I am not a robot and I believe in using incentives in business to increase sales or to increase employee productivity. If you have not yet heard the term incentive marketing, then allow me to fill you in.
The motivation behind incentive marketing is finding the best way to reward our valued customers or associates so they will continue to do a good job for us. Motivational marketing techniques such as giving a bonus, special incentive or reward program can be used to encourage a key employee to increase his/her productivity and performance. This would then yield a larger increase in overall profit.
Other examples of incentive marketing programs include providing a bonus or gift card to loyal customers or clients every time that he/she makes a purchase from your company. Likewise, you could provide loyalty incentives or rewards every time that your customer refers a new client or buys a product. These types of programs are known as "reward programs". They are usually run by the human resources department since most employees do not like the thought of being rewarded for doing a bad job.
There are many reasons why a manager may decide to use incentive marketing programs within his/her organization. One reason is that they believe that if their employees perform well, they will receive a reward or bonus of some kind. This can be a substantial benefit to employees because it motivates them to work harder. Another reason why managers may opt to offer incentive programs within their organization is to reach a specific group of people. For example, if you want to encourage the members of your target audience to become loyal and stay with your company, you could give them a gift card when they make a purchase.
Another type of incentive marketing is through the use of various motivational devices. These can range from items of personal utility, such as pens, mugs, clothes, and etc., to items that are perceived to have monetary value, such as tickets to special events, tickets to sporting events, or even money. Motivational devices may be used to motivate an employee through the thought of earning something each time that they do a good job. They can also be used to reward a person for outstanding service to the company. Many companies also use incentive marketing to motivate and retain current customers by offering them discounts or free products, or other forms of monetary appreciation.
Some forms of incentive marketing can be more personal than others. For instance, companies may use toys, gift certificates, clothing, and the like, to reward employees for accomplishments. However, other types of motivation could include promotional items that contain logos, information about the incentive marketing company, and other things that are more tangible and functional, such as business cards.
In addition to using incentive marketing strategies to reward people for performance, they could also be used to encourage customers to become loyal customers. This is done through reward programs such as providing consumers with "free" samples of their products. These samples may come with embedded incentives, such as a pen or mouse that contains the company's logo and contact information. When the consumer uses the item and makes a purchase, he or she is rewarded with additional discounts or other forms of reward.
There are many other types of incentive marketing strategies that can be implemented in order to increase the profitability of your business. For example, you could offer cash incentives for customers who bring new clients into the business. Or you could offer non-monetary rewards, such as certificates of appreciation. Regardless of what incentive marketing strategy you decide to implement, you should always make sure that you reward your customers fairly and in a manner that will actually help their performance in the business.
