You know that special offers are an important marketing tool because you’ve certainly purchased something when a deal was too good to miss. That doesn’t mean that all special offers are the same, though.

Think about special offers as though they were wrenches.

If I asked you to hand me a wrench, your first question would be ‘Which one?’ Different projects require different types of wrenches because each one is specifically created for a particular task.

Special offers are no different! It takes the right one to accomplish your objectives. Below, we break them down into 3 different levels and discuss when you’d want to use each one.

Level 1: Evergreen Special Offers

Evergreen offers should appeal to the widest possible audience for the longest timeframe. They are primarily used to develop goodwill with your customers.

“A military discount or money off for a targeted group like local teachers is a great fit here,” says Tovah Coats, Client Success Manager at LeadsNearby. “These discounts look good on your site and help to define your brand.”

Evergreen special offers are not going to bring people running to your business, but they help someone get a sense of who you are and what you’re about. Feel free to look through this page of coupons that have been successful for our clients.

To Discount Or Not To Discount…

Even if the customer doesn’t ask for one of these specials directly, we recommend that you give it to them.

The unexpected discount still helps you achieve your goal of relationship-building as long as you make it clear.

Tovah says, “I tell clients that this only works when you start by telling the customer the regular price first and then letting them know that they have been given the discount. Otherwise, the customer doesn’t know that they’ve gotten something special. When you let them know, you turn it back into a win and you can hear the customer light up right over the phone.”

Level 2: Seasonal Special Offers

Seasonal offers are more specific than the evergreen offer because you are using them to generate the kind of business that you want to be doing. These offers have a slightly smaller appeal and will only help you within a certain window of time.

However, a holiday or season-related offer might be the reason people get a product or service they’ve been considering for a while. A good special offer here should motivate your customers to act.

A $39 AC tune-up during the month of May is a great example of a seasonal special offer.

This type of offer works for a few reasons:

The discounted price should generate a call that otherwise would not have been there.
When timed right, this special will help you combat a slower time of year by generating work when demand is low.
Getting into the house gives you a chance to check for bigger, more profitable problems.

You have to promote these specials because they should generate calls in a way that the evergreen promotions above do not. Organic social media, native ads, or marketing automation are reliable and predictable ways to promote a seasonal offer.

Level 3: Strategic Special Offers

This is when it gets serious! Strategic offers are the most extreme discounts, and they are run for a very limited time. These campaigns are going to work best with a highly visible marketing push. You should think about digital marketing techniques as well as traditional methods like mailers or radio ads.

Many times strategic deals are loss leaders to address very specific situations like hobbling a competitor, introducing a new service to your current clients, or expanding into a profitable area. (We even created our valuable PriMO analysis to give you this exact data!)

We Specialize In Specials

Once you understand what goal each type of special offer can help you achieve, you’ll understand which special offers to use and when.

The last thing you’d want to do is let a giant offer sit buried in your website or hire a blimp to tell people that you offer a 10% senior discount.

If you want to be successful, make sure that you are using the right tools for the right job.

At LeadsNearby, we can guide you on the finer points of crafting a selection of specials unique to your business! Call 919-758-8420 for a free consultation about your marketing strategy – or contact us online to learn more about making your specials special.

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