Prize Marketing

One of the best ways that marketing professionals can draw in potential clients and customers is to offer special incentives in order to interest people in their service or product. Prize marketing is one of the oldest, but still one of the most viable, forms of marketing.

Everybody has experienced prize marketing at some point. Whether the good kind, where special incentives and possible prizes are offered to individuals in order to get them to observe a product or receive a special demonstration (such as in the infamous case of time shares) or in the modern age, where offers such as being the fifth “like” on a Facebook page can win you a special prize, it is one of the most prevalent forms of marketing – one that is already discussed in most marketing degree programs.

But there is more to prize marketing than just giving things away for free. In cases where individuals receive some sort of prize for sitting through long conferences, lectures, or demonstrations, the prize that is given away must be equal to the effort that must be made on the potential client or customers part in order to win. This delicate balance is one that many students will discuss in the client relations aspect of their marketing degree program.

Conversely, it is also important in many cases that the prize be relevant to the product or service that is being offered. For example, a maid service that is looking to win potential new clients may offer a large number of prizes that offer free cleaning for a week. This enables the business to build a relationship with the client, to showcase their service, and to possibly continue the relationship after the initial prize period is over.

Prize marketing may target either potential clients or existing clients and customers, as well. This is often the case with companies that offer individuals the possibility of winning a major prize by buying their product. While a customer may not necessarily be driven to buy the product because of the promotion, a customer who already purchases the product on occasion may be influenced to buy it more often or to choose it in favor of an alternative.

Some marketing agencies have even found a way to put an unusual but playful spin on this same idea by choosing people at random and giving them a chance to use their product or service, then promoting the product by having the customer – who had no prior relationship with the company and who is not tied to the product – give testimony as to how great the product really is.

There are many unique advantages to prize marketing, and a creative marketing professional will know how to play with this concept and give it a fresh spin. In a marketing degree program a student will learn how advantageous these kinds of marketing are in winning over and securing new customers.