Creative & Copywriting : Test How Offers Can Grow Your Brand

Increased order sizes and expedited purchase cycles are just two benefits

Regardless of the channels in which you sell, testing is invaluable to your business. And offer testing, in particular, is misunderstood in both practice and power. Yet testing seems complicated and time consuming. Is it worth it? The answer: You can't afford NOT to test.

Each program you're running has many elements that could be doing their job well — or failing. The ONLY way you'll ever know what works best to help you win customers is to test as many of these elements as possible in a disciplined environment.

Offer Testing Increases Order Sizes, Speeds Up Purchase Cycles
An offer is something you dangle in front of prospects and customers to change their behavior. If you want your average order size to be higher, make them an offer that slightly raises the bar for how much they'd normally spend. Let's say your average first order is $55. If you're prospecting for new customers, develop an offer to get that first order $10 or $20 higher.

Your offer can — and should — speed up consumer response, too. A direct mail offer shouldn't give consumers more than 15 days to respond from the day the piece lands in their mailbox. Since it's a more immediate media, email offers should be five days or less. In fact, same-day promotions or limited-hour deals can also prove quite effective. If prospects have too much time to think about an offer, they'll put it aside and forget about it, even if they were motivated to act at the time they saw the promotion. Push consumers to act when an offer is top of mind.

What Makes a Great Offer?
So often I hear people say, "We don't have an offer because we don't want to discount." The irony of that statement: A discount is usually the last thing I'd suggest as a really great offer, although it still must be tested. The offers I've seen work best have been relevant, interesting or different "gifts," ranging from online-fulfilled gift cards for sister companies to signed, framed, limited edition photographs.

A winning offer has something that reminds people of your brand when they use the product or enjoy the offer. It also must have perceived value, but not so much that someone will order and then return the item just to get the offer. B-to-B marketers should have offers just as B-to-C marketers do, but their offers may be different in scope or purpose.

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