From Non-Starter to No-Brainer
Mark Walmsley
Arts & Culture Network Founder (+150k members) | The Rebrander, helping people and brands capture what makes them special | FRSA | FCIM | AGSM | BNI | Percussionist | Pirate
A few years back an insurance company decided to offer a new policy that insured sets of golf clubs for ￡35 per year.
On the face of it, this was a complete non-starter. Few sets of second-hand golf clubs are worth more than ￡35 and those that are, are usually covered by existing contents insurance policies.
However, the launch was a huge success through some clever, cost-effective partnership marketing.
In return for the ￡35, the policyholder received the following free benefits:
- 6 Nike golf balls
- A Calloway cap
- A free round of golf at any DeVere club
- 4x two for one vouchers to use at most courses
The perceived value of these free benefits was over ￡200.
The benefits were all obtained by the insurance company free of charge and return for a data share (This was before GDPR was even a glint in a compliance officer's eye).
Nike needed to shift some old stock and Calloway were happy to do a sampling exercise to their target market. Very few people play golf alone, so the vouchers were, at worse, cost-neutral for De Vere.
Golfers and their partners went crazy for the offer. They weren't engaging because they wanted or needed the insurance but because they wanted the benefits associated with the offer.
Remember, a person who buys a quarter-inch drill doesn't want a quarter-inch drill, they want a quarter-inch hole!
And if your prospect thinks they're getting the best end of the deal in the value exchange ... you've got 'em hooked.
So, find non-competing partners who need to reach the same demographic as you do and create a "welcome bundle" of benefits that cost you little or nothing.
For example, many magazine publishers will happily give away free trial subscriptions because enough people will pay to renew their subscription, especially if it's a digital subscription.
So, list the trade magazines and websites that offer subscriptions and reach your target audience and ask them for some free trial vouchers or codes.
If the perceived value of the benefits you offer is greater then the cost of what you are selling ... bingo!
Mark Walmsley
Global Brand Marketing Leader @ LivFul, Inc. | CIM MCIM Member
5 年That is an assumption. Maybe they want to turn the drill bit into a fancy pen and not use it to make a hole? (see: https://youtu.be/v7ezEaDyjho) What is correct though, is that "people don't want to buy a quarter-inch drill, they want a quarter-inch hole. (T. Levitt) The devil is in the detail ;-)